Daily Retreat 11/23/08

2008 Nov 23 SUN: CHRIST THE KING S (Thirty-fourth and Last Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Ez 34: 11-12. 15-17/ Ps 22(23): 1-2. 2-3. 5-6/ 1 Cor 15: 20-26. 28/ Mt 25: 31-46

From today’s readings: “Thus says the Lord GOD: I Myself will look after and tend My sheep...  The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want....  Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep....  Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for Me....”

Sometimes, it causes me to tremble...

Christmas decorations are already up in the stores, choirs are practicing their repertoires of carols, and preparations have already begun for the Thanksgiving dinner this week.  Yes, the holidays are upon us, and more and more people can be seen shaking their heads and muttering, “It’s here already - where did the year go?”

It’s a good question, a fair question, but one which largely goes unanswered.  And when a certain number of those unanswered questions stack up, you and I will be left with an even more sobering question:  where did my life go?

And that’s the question that can not go unanswered.  Certainly, there’s a lot that’s hazy about the future, but one thing that’s not hazy is the text of the Gospel, which clearly warns that the Son of Man will come in His glory, and all the angels with Him.  And, although you and I don’t know when this will happen, at least the good Lord left us with a pretty good idea of what will happen.

And thinking about what will happen, causes me to tremble!

It’s much too easy for you and me to draw self-canonizing borderlines, even subconsciously, of how Heaven and Hell are divided.  “Hell?  Hell is for murderers, abortionists, tyrants, rapists, pimps and drug pushers.  And Heaven?  Why, Heaven is for everyone else, including yours truly!”

The Son of Man, however, has mapped out quite different borderlines:  those who have already seen Jesus and have reached out to Him in His needs, those who have opened their doors to Him, these will be ushered in to His presence forever, these will experience His eternal embrace, these will see the gates of Paradise opened to them.  Whereas, those who have also already seen Jesus, yet turned their backs and closed their doors on Him, these will fittingly spend eternity separated from Jesus by the gates of Hell which they helped erect in their own mortal lifetime.

When you and I realize that the Son of Man has marked the borders remarkably clearly, it causes me to tremble, because there’s no room for smugness.  No room to pat ourselves on the back, saying, “I’m ready when death comes!  Nothing to worry about - I’m an average Christian, or even better than average!”  What is an “average” Christian - someone who opens his door to Christ on Sunday, but leaves it closed the other six days of the week?

Yes, there have been times that you and I saw Christ in the least of His brothers, and then turned away and pretended we didn’t see Him, closed the door and turned up the radio, so we couldn’t hear Him knocking.  Such times could have sealed our fate, yet ..

-Today, and tomorrow, and next week, but especially today, you and I will have a new chance to give food for the Lord and the poorest of His brothers to eat.  The turkey this Thursday can fill the soul, and not just the stomach, as long as a drumstick is shared through a donation to a charity collection for the poor!

-Today, and tomorrow, and next week, but especially today, you and I can give drink to the Lord and the smallest of His brothers who stands thirsting for love, attention, and time.  Is TV time the only family time?  What can you do, what can you do, for your children, with your children today and over this coming holiday week to paternally and maternally quench their thirst for God’s love?

-Today, and tomorrow, and next week, but especially today, you and I can welcome the Lord and the strangest of His brothers who comes to our door or moves into our neighborhood.  Remove any and all dark glasses of prejudice because they make it impossible to see the Lord at the door!

-Today, and tomorrow, and next week, but especially today, you and I can visit the Lord and the sickest, frailest, and most isolated of His brothers, who sullenly sits alone in a prison (even perhaps of his own making), or the confinement of a nursing home, or the sterile ward of a hospital.  Even if you can’t go to those places, write a card, make a call, light a candle, say a prayer - there’s no leash so short that it can’t be stretched to reach the Christ who suffers alone!

And my dear brothers and sisters, today, tomorrow, and next week, but especially today, please, please give ear to Christ, even when He speaks to you through words written by the very least of His brothers....