WORD FOR MISSION
Missionary reflection  on Sunday Liturgy

Ezekiel  34,11-12.15-17
Psalm  22
1Corinthians  15:20-26.28
Matthew  25:31-46

Reflections
The Word of God on the feast of Christ the King comes to us on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, and has an evident sense of recapitulation, sweeping over the past, the present and the future of individuals and of all human history. They are the ‘ages’ of the saving presence of Christ, who is always “Emmanuel” – God-with-us: He appeared at Bethlehem in human flesh, he comes and walks with us in our everyday lives, and he will come at the final stage as our Judge. His presence is always marked by love; it brings us comfort in suffering and gives us reason to hope, even as we await the final judgement. That final moment is described in today’s Gospel in words of extreme and terrifying severity (vv.41-46), that seem to be in complete contrast to the rest of the Gospel passage, which presents a good Jesus, “the friend of tax-collectors and sinners” (Lk.7:34), who became man to “Seek that which was lost” (Lk.9:10). Matthew symbolically places, right after the great scene of the judgement, a Jesus who, in his Pasch of love, “will be handed over to be crucified” (Mt.26:2).

Jesus, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (Jn.10) makes real the project of God, king-shepherd, described by Ezekiel (1st. Reading) with a wealth of verbs that express the concerned love for the sheep: he seeks them, he rescues them, keeps them all in view, tends to the injured, leads them to pasture... The Psalm then sings of the feeling of security and happiness given by having the shepherd nearby (Responsorial Psalm). And Paul, in the second Reading, affirms that all ills, including death, will be overcome and destroyed, thanks to the Resurrection of Christ.

For a correct understanding of the text from Mt.25 regarding the Judgement, we must keep in mind the literary style of judgement scenes, according to biblical literature (cf. Dn.7) and non-biblical too, where the aim is not to describe what will happen, but to teach how to behave in the present. Rather than information about the future, it is a programme for living in the present! In the light of the final judgement, Jesus reveals the quality our actions must have; He teaches us how to lead our lives so that we do not fall into constant error, but discover the right path. The only path is His: love of and service to those in need. “In the evening of life, we will be judged by our love” states St. John of the Cross.

Love for the least of all opens the gates of the Kingdom of God. “Come, you whom my Father has blessed...” (v.34). Jesus points out the way decisively: for four times he lists six acts of love towards those in need: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, those in prison. To help these people is part of the daily work of missionaries, and is the task of every Christian, and indeed of the followers of all religions. These acts of love constitute a common ground with all people of good will. A list of these works is found in Isaiah 58:6-7, but as long ago as the second millennium BC the Book of the Dead (ch.125) of ancient Egypt attributes these words to a dead person: “I have done what pleases the gods. I have given bread to the hungry, I have given water to the thirsty, I have clothed the naked, I have offered a passage to those who had no boat”. Jesus brings a decisive new point to these works: He identifies himself with the weakest and the smallest, to the point of saying “you did it to me” (v.40). The least are really the chosen recipients of the options of the Lord. To indicate this, Matthew uses the same expression that he used to describe Bethlehem (Mt.2:6), the insignificant chief town from which the Messiah comes. Hence, every poor person is like Bethlehem, the place of the manifestation of the Lord. Therefore, the preferential option for the poor  is not an alternative to be taken or left; it is an obligation for the Church, as John Paul II affirmed powerfully. In this option the very fidelity of the Church to her Lord is on the line. (*)

Brother Charles de Foucauld, beatified not long ago (13.11.2005), was deeply convinced of the presence of Christ in the poor among whom he chose to live, the desert Beduins, all Moslems. Only a few weeks before his death he wrote: “I believe that there is no other saying in the Gospel that has struck and transformed my life more than this: “whatever you do to one of these little ones, you do to me“. If you think that these are the words of the uncreated Truth, the words of the mouth that said “This is my Body.... This is my Blood”, with what force is one driven to seek and love Jesus in these little ones, sinners, poor.” Charles de Jesus, universal brother, was able to recognise the presence of Christ equally in the Eucharist as in the poor, including non-Christians. He was a true witness; an authentic missionary.

The Pope's words

*  “If we have truly started out anew from the contemplation of Christ, we must learn to see him especially in the faces of those with whom he himself wished to be identified: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you… I was a stranger… I was naked… I was sick… I was in prison and you came to me” (Mt 25:35-37). This Gospel text is not a simple invitation to charity: it is a page of Christology which sheds a ray of light on the mystery of Christ. By these words, no less than by the orthodoxy of her doctrine, the Church measures her fidelity as the Bride of Christ… As the unequivocal words of the Gospel remind us, there is a special presence of Christ in the poor, and this requires the Church to make a preferential option for them”.

John Paul II
Novo Millennio Ineunte (2001), n. 49

In the steps of Missionaries
- 20/11: International Day of Children’s Rights, created by UNO in 1989.

- 23/11: St. Columban, Abbot (+615), born in Ireland and itinerant missionary among the Gauls, in Switzerland and in Italy. He founded a number of monasteries.

- 23/11: Bl. Miguel A. Pro (1891-1927), a Mexican Jesuit priest, martyred during the persecution of the Church in Mexico. Many others died for the Faith during that period.

- 24/11: St. Andrew Dung Lac (+1839), priest, and his companions, martyred in Vietnam. John Paul II canonised 117 of those who were killed in various places, at different times and in different ways: Bishops, clergy and lay people.

- 26/11: St. Leonard of Porto Maurizio (1676-1751), a Franciscan priest dedicated to preaching missions to the people. The Stations of the Cross were his invention.

- 26/11: Bl. James Alberione (1884-1971), founder of the Pauline family (around ten institutions) to bring the Gospel more into Mass Media, and to foster vocations.

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Compiled by Fr. Romeo Ballan, MCCJ - Comboni Missionaries (Verona)

Translated by Fr. David Glenday MCCJ

Website:  www.euntes.net  “The Word for Mission”

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