Sunday Gospel Reflection, November 22, 2020: For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet...

For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet…

What does the reign of God look like?

 

   The prophet Ezekiel conveys to the leaders of Israel in exile God’s great dismay at their failure to lead the people rightly, to shepherd the people as they ought.  Consequently, God says, I myself will look after and tend my sheep… I will rescue them, and the lost I will seek out.  As for the wayward leaders, God’s intent is to destroy all their impulses toward independence, the inward brokenness that has led them to fail the people.  Only God, who, Psalm 23 reminds us, is our shepherd, has the capacity to heal brokenness, for he shepherds out of love for all he has created – even the most incompetent and reviled leaders of God’s people.

 

   In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus reminds his disciples that they are to care for all as if they were caring for Jesus himself:  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.  At the time when Matthew was writing, these words also apply to the way the community is treating the apostles sent out to proclaim the good news, who were sometimes welcomed, but often rejected, ridiculed, or even physically harmed.  But those who belong to Christ will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.  Paul reminds the Corinthians that Jesus Christ will gather everything and make it subject to himself:  he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet.  It is the power of his mercy, his great love for all Creation, that destroys humankind’s narrow delusions.  If we hope to know the mercy of God in our hearts, we must participate in God’s plan, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the ill, and, most importantly, letting go of the narrow vision that leads to hatred, exclusion and oppression, that we might embrace the all-powerful love of the Shepherd King of Kings that heals all brokenness and division.

 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s 2017 homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

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