Reflection
from Ezekiel 14: 11-12.15-17; 1Cor 15: 20-26.28; Mt 25: 31-46
These texts speak that God is a King-shepherd who
protects and identifies himself with those who are needy. The merciful love for
others is the condition to enter his kingdom. In this sense, let us welcome the
message of this liturgy with gratefulness and openness, reflecting about the mystery
of the kingdom of God and its performance through the mission of Christ.
The prophet Ezekiel denounces the irresponsibility of
the leaders of the people of Israel which caused the exile, a period of sorrow
and suffering for the people. But in this message, the prophet announces also
that God is sensible and very attentive to his people. He will assume
personally the situation of his people as a true shepherd, leading them to new
reality. This prophecy performs its achievement in Jesus Christ, the Good
Shepherd. According to Saint Paul, Jesus overcomes all powers on earth, through
his death and resurrection, saving the humanity and establishing the Kingdom of
God his Father. All human beings are invited to belong to this kingdom. The
union with Christ is expression of this participation and it lead to eternal
life. So, belonging to Christ is to belong to the Kingdom of God, guarantee of
eternal life.
This text of the gospel is known as
“The final judgement” and many of us think that Jesus is a
“judge” who judges the human actions, rewarding ones and punishing others. But
we learnt through his own wards that “God did not send his Son into the world
to be its judge, but to be its saviour” (Jo 3, 17). So, his mission is not to
judge but to save. The judgement is established by the own actions of the
people. According to this text, Jesus is a king-shepherd. This king has the
intention to gather all around himself with special care for those who are needy.
He identifies himself with them and establishes them as referential to save
others. He motivates other people to do good deeds to them and gives reward to
those who embrace this cause. So, the loving care we have to the needy ones is
condition to enter the kingdom.
The evangelists show that Jesus rejected the title of
king in the glorious moments and accepted it in the moments of defeat. His resistance
to this title was because the political mentality of the people about this issue.
But he himself uses the title of king in this text to help us to understand the
right meaning of his kingdom and his mission as king. His kingdom is not from
this world and cannot be seen (it is there or it is here). Jesus never defined
the kingdom of God, but said that it is already present in our midst and we can
feel its event. In its earthly achievement, the reality of the kingdom of God is
not very far from human reality. It is lived through the good values of ours
cultures and, in the same time, overcome them.
The nucleus of Jesus’ message is the announcement of the kingdom of God,
because Jesus does not announce himself but the kingdom. In Jesus the kingdom
becomes a concrete reality. The inaugural discourse about this meaningful event is
done to the people rejected by society: the poor. In their faces Jesus taught
us to recognise his own face. The kingdom belongs to them and they belong to
the Kingdom. In his good actions to this people, he evidences that a new
time has already started, changing many things in the
world, such as: the sick are healed, the dumb are speaking, the blind are seeing,
the poor are evangelized and sinners have found God's forgiveness. The merciful
love of Jesus for them is the beginning of this new time. It should reach its
achievement in the definitive kingdom when the love for God and for
neighbour will be lived to its fullest.
We are invited
to recognize in the gestures liberators of Christ
the salvific action of God and to follow his faithfully footsteps, proclaiming
the good news of the kingdom. For us, the search of this kingdom should be a priority, because in it we find the sense
of our life and mission. Jesus entrusted to us His kingdom and we trust our lives to him. It
is a mutual trust. Follow Jesus is to accept the kingdom; resistance
against Jesus is opposition to the performance of the Kingdom. When we are
available to the plans of Jesus, He uses us as his tools to
continue announcing the gratuity of his kingdom, inviting
other people to join forces with him in a discipleship ever more generous and
authentic. Although he can do it alone, he wanted
us because he knows that we need him very much; for that
he says, "Without me you can do nothing" (John15: 5).
Fr. Ndega
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