This last weekend of the liturgical year is a celebration of the universality of Jesus Christ as our true leader—a King—as the Church turns its attention to life on earth and its ends as we know it in the consideration of eternal life.

How did this Sunday celebration come to be? “To counter the ever-increasing nationalism Pope Pius XI sensed in Europe, he instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925. This Solemnity was meant to teach the entire world that there was ultimately only one ruler, only one sovereign — the God-man, Jesus Christ. In the encyclical which inaugurated this feast, Pius XI tells us that he chose this year to proclaim Christ’s kingship because it is the sixteenth centenary of the Council of Nicaea, where Jesus was definitively proclaimed ‘consubstantial’ with the Father and is, thus, worthy of our absolute devotion and so: “... by reason of the keenness of his intellect, and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind. He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him, the human will was perfectly and entirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace and inspiration, he so subjects our free-will as to incite us to the most noble endeavors.” (Quas Primas §7). In 1969, Pope Paul VI changed both the name and the date of the feast, but the meaning remains the same: Today is a day to hail the true King of all!

Perhaps this weekend’s liturgical celebration will give us all hope in the midst of the uncertainties and “craziness” of our times as well as bring us to realize that while living in the world today is important and necessitates us to be involved in the arena of public affairs, ultimately our eternal life depends not on a congress or governor or even a president, but rather our eternal life depends only on Christ and on our right relationship with Him.

The first reading today (Ezekiel) and the Gospel of Matthew declare the certainty of the final judgment where we will hear of our final destiny. In our second reading (1 Corinthians) we hear that the baptized are assured that Christ is alive and reigning and that His Divine Plan for humans to enjoy God’s life is in place and is moving forward.

In Matthew’s gospel this week, Jesus addresses that ultimate question – what separates those who go to heaven from those who don’t? His message is clear and perhaps not quite what some would expect. It is about how we care for others that matters most (love thy neighbor). His call to us though is deeper than simply a call to charity toward others. Equally important to the service we offer is the attitude and passion that we bring to that service. “Whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.” It is Christ Himself we serve every time we serve the vulnerable. Recall the prayer of Eucharistic Prayer Two in the Mass: “…Thank You for counting us worthy to be in Your presence and minister to You.” We minister to God in the ways we minister or care for those in need, and we should ask ourselves just how would we offer service to God if He stood before us? Happily, or with a pained face? We are reminded earlier in Matthew that“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve” andso offer service as to a brother or sister. We are reminded in the first reading to have a passion not just to serve, but to rescue, to find the lost, to bind up the injured, and to heal the sick. We are to treat those we encounter as our brother Christ himself – with honor, with trust and with love. These months of the pandemic have highlighted the desperate need of the poor, and those newly impoverished by loss of jobs, businesses and medical bills. Jesus directs us Christians today, even if our resources are limited, to open our hearts wide in prayer, humility and service.

We begin Advent next Sunday, and the Season is a time to prepare for the coming of the infant Jesus in the Nativity at Bethlehem and it is also a time of expectant waiting—when we wait for the Second Coming, the return of Jesus Christ (the Parousia) when He comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead. St. Thomas Aquinas notes that at the Final Judgment the Lord will look to the whole of our lives, from beginning to end and judge how we grew in faith, how we came closer to Him in prayer (building a relationship with God) and in action—a lived experience of faith in the ways we put our beliefs into service of others and so build up the Kingdom of God in the here and now.

May Advent be a time we recommit to live out our faith in the daily activities of our lives as we bring hope to the hopeless in the prayers we offer at Mass, as we feed the hungry in the many ministries of our parish, pray for the ill and faithfully departed, offer warm clothing to the homeless or to veterans in need, and provide healthcare to the unemployed or working poor though the Knights of Malta Healthcare in our Advent Giving Tree. May Advent be a new beginning for us as we work to head home to Eternal Life. (Attribution: Quas Primus; Vincentian Order)