It is interesting to note that, on this feast of Christ the King, the first and the 3rd readings do not speak of a king or a kingdom.
The 2nd reading of Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor.15:20-26.28) has a short reference to this theme when it speaks of the resurrection at the end of time when Christ will “hand over the kingdom to God the Father.”
We are told that this kingdom will be that of “those who belong to him.”
This is possibly where we can find the link with the gospel text: how are we to belong to Christ?
It is clearly spelled out in the text of Matthew: it is by welcoming Christ who came our way under the guise of the needy of all kinds.
If we have been able to recognize him in the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the sick, those in prison – all those in need of compassion and assistance, then we will find a place reserved for us in God’s home.
It is demanding indeed:
not to turn away,
not to pass by,
not to do as if we had not seen –
but precisely to SEE, and to RECOGNIZE, and to CARE.
We are busy people,
we have so many commitments and so little time,
so much to do and so little free spaces in our agenda,
so many engagements already and so few hours to spare for what is not listed in our ‘to do list’…
Perhaps, in our daily planning, it may be wise to leave a line for the unexpected encounter of some people – the very ones listed in Matthew 25:31-46…
