Fr Marco Lazzaron
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 (Ezk 34:15-16).
Today we celebrate a solemnity instituted by Pope Pius XI in the Jubilee Year 1925. We contemplate Christ as King, king of the universe. We are at the very end of the liturgical year, but it is also a beginning and a special time to make decisions that may redirect our lives. In this time of the year, let us ask ourselves if we have given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, if we have clothed those who were naked giving a “veil” of welcoming, of kindness, if we have visited those in prison, if we have welcomed a pilgrim. Christ made himself pilgrim, hungry, thirsty, imprisoned and yet, at the same time he gives us food, drink, he gives us clothes, he visits us when we are imprisoned because of our sins.
As the readings stress out, our Lord Jesus Christ is both king and shepherd. His kingship is very different and opposite to the kingship of those who have power on earth. We are entrusted to Him by God the Father, and Christ tries to keep with himself all of us and, as St Paul says, at the end of time, he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority, and power. 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 (1Cor 15:24.28).
So, for certain aspects, the kingdom of God will implode and will go back to its very essence which is God himself. This means, that if creation is an explosion of the love of God, a spread of the kingdom of God and of its manifestation, with Christ, and until the end of time, this spread of his love will continue. But, at the end of time, everything will go back to its essential character, because we will know God and we will see God as He really is.
Christ is a king who does not want to keep us away from him, he does not think we are different from him; actually, he wants us to remain with him forever. While normal rulers worry about giving their subjects what they need, not to be bothered, Jesus worries about the whole flock, who may be gathered together and share everything that belongs to God. However, the flock is made of sheep who trust and follow the shepherd, or goats who wander without orientation and refuse to follow a guide. But now, you, who do you want to be? Who do you want to follow? Do you want to follow Christ, king, and true shepherd? Like sheep, we are scattered, hurt, and weakened for our sins but Christ comes to gather us, he knows us, he calls each one by our name, and he gives us back fresh and green pasture where to find rest, where he heals us, and gives us strength and life with his grace.