20171126
THE JUDGEMENT OF MERCY
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Ezekiel 34:11-12,15-17 ©
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The Lord says this: I am going to look after my flock myself and
keep all of it in view. As a shepherd keeps all his flock in view when he
stands up in the middle of his scattered sheep, so shall I keep my sheep in
view. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered during the
mist and darkness. I myself will pasture my sheep, I myself will show them
where to rest – it is the Lord who speaks. I shall look for the lost one,
bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall
watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them.
As for you,
my sheep, the Lord says this: I will judge between sheep and sheep, between
rams and he-goats.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 22(23):1-3a,5-6 ©
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The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I
shall want.
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I
shall want.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.
He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall
want.
You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I
shall want.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I
shall want.
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Second reading
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1 Corinthians 15:20-26,28 ©
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Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who
have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the
resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam,
so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper
order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those
who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom
to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and
power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his
feetand the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is
to be put under his feet. And when everything is subjected to
him, then the Son himself will be subject in his turn to the One who subjected
all things to him, so that God may be all in all.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mk11:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David!
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 25:31-46 ©
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his
glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of
glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men
one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the
sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.
‘Then the
King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has
blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation
of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave
me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me,
sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous
will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or
thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you
welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the
King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the
least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”
‘Next he
will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you,
to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and
you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink;
I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me,
sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to
ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or
in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you
solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these,
you neglected to do it to me.”
‘And they
will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’
THE JUDGEMENT OF MERCY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EZ 34:11-12,15-17; 1 COR 15:20-26, 28; MATT 25:31-46]
If we want to
live a meaningful and purposeful life, we need to know our origin, purpose and
destiny. Hence, the three most important questions in life are: Where
did I come from? What is the purpose of our life here on earth? Where do
I go after my life on earth? Today, we arrive at the final
question. Where do we go after death?
We have
reached the last Sunday of the liturgical year, in which we celebrate the feast
of Christ the King. In the creed, we pray “He will come again in glory to judge
the living and the dead” and “his kingdom will have no end.” Indeed,
the last four things in Church doctrines are death, judgment, heaven and
hell. The parable of the Last Judgement presents the last act of history,
the universal judgement where we will be placed in heaven or hell. In
contrast to the scene at His passion when He stood before the rulers of the
world in chains, when men and history judged Christ, at the final judgment, He
is seated on the throne judging men and history. He will pronounce judgement,
rendering justice to good and bad alike.
When we hear
of the final judgment, we can respond in three ways. A common response of those
who are faithful to God is fear. We are afraid that we will not pass the
test and be sent to hell forever. Surely we do not want to hear
these words from our Lord, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” For those who lived
good lives, they will welcome the day of judgment because it means liberation
and reward for all their sacrifices and sufferings that they
endured. For them, it is a day of reckoning, a day when justice is
done.
But for this
modern generation, the parable of the Last Judgment is met with indifference. Many would just
conclude that it is a story, a joke just to frighten some children and naïve
people. Indeed, among modernists have no faith in life after death, much
less about judgment, hell or heaven. Hence, such threats of eternal
punishment are not taken seriously. They are scorned at because for such
people there is no hope beyond this world. Life ends at death. Even
those who might see this as a possibility take consolation that it will not
happen in their time. They can wait. But the Lord warns us. “Fool!
This night your soul is required of you.” (Lk 12:20)
Whilst there is a universal and final judgment, let us not forget that there is
an immediate judgment upon death.
Regardless
how we take the final judgement, it must be noted that the judgment of God from
beginning to end is one of mercy. Indeed, even the final judgement is an act of
mercy to restore things back to order. It is not meant so much to punish
but to give sense to world history, otherwise this history lacks meaning,
finality and purpose. Hence, as people of faith, we should be looking for
the fulfillment of history when the kingdom of God will be brought to its
completion. This is the hope of Christians when St Paul wrote, “For just
as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one
in proper order: Christ the first fruits; then, at his coming, those who belong
to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and
Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last
enemy to be destroyed is death.” Freed from all that lords over us,
and restricting our freedom to love, this final judgement will reconcile us
with each other and everyone will live in love and unity because we will all be
in God and God will be all in all. “And when everything is subjected to him,
then the Son himself will be subject in his turn to the One who subjected all
things to him, so that God may be all in all.”
Not only is
the judgement an act of mercy, the criteria for the judgement is also
determined by mercy. Today’s Gospel provides us the criteria for judgment when the King
said: “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me
drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick
and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” It is
significant that at the final judgement, we will not be asked whether we, as
Catholics, have fulfilled our Sunday Obligation but whether we have fulfilled
the obligation to love our neighbours. Jesus will ask each of us
whether we love Him enough to love His brothers and sisters. The needy would
include Christians and non-Christians alike. The needy are not just those
who need physical, material and financial help but also those who are
spiritually sick through worldliness and sin, ambition and greed. So to
help the needy would involve both corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
This is
because the poor and the weak are identified with the Lord who is our Good
Shepherd.
“Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry
and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and
make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?’
And the King will answer, ‘I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to
one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.’” In the
first reading, we read of God as our Good Shepherd. The images of the
Good Shepherd from the book of Ezekiel speaks of the heart of God for His
sheep, especially those who are sickly, wounded, hungry and lost. This is
what the Lord said, “I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered
during the mist and darkness. I myself will pasture my sheep, I myself will
show them where to rest. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray,
bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the fat and
healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them.”
He is the
model of how we should live our lives in such a way that we are ready for
judgement. He goes after the lost sheep, the weak and the wounded. He is the model
and exemplar of a shepherd who gives up His life for His sheep. He is the
Way, the Truth and the Life. Indeed, with the psalmist, we pray, “The
Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the
pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me, to
revive my drooping spirit. He guides me along the right path; he is true to his
name. You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes. My head you
have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing. Surely goodness and kindness
shall follow me all the days of my life. In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.”
But how do we
reconcile that Jesus is our Good Shepherd and yet He is also the judge? The creed says, “He will
come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” How could a
merciful God not forgive sinners even at the last judgement? The truth is
that it is not God who cannot forgive but that the sinner will be too proud to
ask for forgiveness or to accept forgiveness. When God judges, He judges
by the norm of Love, that is Christ Himself. The individual judges
himself or herself against Christ as the measure of love. He or she would
be the one to reject Christ both on earth and at the end of history. This
is because in living a sinful and evil life, the sinner is consumed with self-centeredness
and hatred. Just like those who cannot forgive on earth, he or she also
cannot forgive even at death. He hangs on to his envy, anger, resentment
and selfishness.
Hence, it is
our choice whether we want to be goats or sheep. Goats by temperament are
aggressive, domineering and defensive of their territory. They tend to
walk alone without the others. They are egocentric and do not want to
live in friendship with others. Those who cannot love are those in hell
because hell is a state of alienation from others. Sheep, on the other
hand, are docile. They follow their shepherd. They like to group
together. They love fellowship and company. They represent the community
of the just in heaven, for saints are those who care for each other as much as
themselves.
On this feast
of Christ our King, let us renew our pledge of loyalty to Him. Let us resolve to free
ourselves from self-will and put ourselves at His service of love.
To claim that Jesus is our king is more than just sentimental words. It
is to subject our lives to His rule of love and mercy so that we can be
transformed to love like Him. Allowing the love of God to rule our hearts
is the key. We must allow Him to touch our hearts through prayer,
meditation on His love and mercy, and most of all, ask for the grace to see Him
in those who are suffering. Only the love of God will free us from the
inordinate love of self. We must continue to allow the Good Shepherd to
touch our hearts so that when the time comes, we will be ready to embrace Him
in our fellowmen.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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