I have a recurring dream that plagues me every so often. In the dream I am in college again. I am at the night before a final exam and I have not cracked a book or attended class and now I have to cram all night in order to pass. It is scary! The funny thing is that in the dream after the panic I tell myself I am not in school anymore. I passed everything years ago.
A recurring dream can be telling. Maybe there is more to do to prepare for the final exam, but not the one for school, rather the real final exam, the one for life.
I have always thought that today’s gospel is the scariest in all of scriptures. It is the final exam, otherwise known as the final judgement. Matthew is the only gospel to tell it. We have had a series of judgement parables in November, the month that calls us to reflect on life and death. This is not a parable, but an apocalyptic vision of the last judgement.
In Matthew’s gospel this is the climax of all Jesus wanted to say. The scene happens right before the events of the passion. This is the end of his public ministry. Matthew left the most important for last.
Jesus, who is about to be judged by others, is now judge, the Lord of all nations, the entire universe, not just Israel. This is the first time Jesus refers to himself as king. This reference is connected to the Epiphany story where three Kings come to worship the newborn king.
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father.” Jesus calls those blessed by the Father with a single word, “Come.” It is the same word used when he began his ministry with the call of his disciples. It is the same word used to call those heavily burdened, to take his yoke which is easy and light. “Blessed” refers back to the sermon on the mount and the Beatitudes where those called blessed are merciful, hunger and thirst for righteousness, and are peacemakers. Lots of connections come together in this dramatic scene.
Holiness is deeds. It is doing the will of the Father, love in action. The surprise for those listening to this description of the final judgement is that Jesus identifies with the needy, not just those who look like you, all the needy. This is a theophany, namely telling us how God is manifested. Jesus identifies himself with the poor and suffering of the world. When you see them, you see Jesus.
What is clear is that the judgement is not based on sinful versus non-sinful conduct or even on a Ten Commandments morality, but rather on how we each pursue the authentic good of the other. Love of neighbor becomes explicitly love of God.
It is the least of these that stands out. Jesus goes to length to describe them. Jesus lives in them. They are everywhere. The kingdom of God is expressed and realized in the hungry who have been fed, the oppressed freed, the imprisoned released, and the stranger welcomed. Christ’s reign is not only realized but it continues. The criteria for this are love, service, and hospitality, which are the measure by which we will be judged. If we do these things we are already living in God’s reign. We are beginning our heaven.
Here we have two images of Christ: the Shepherd who cares for sheep and the King who judges. They seem to be contradictory. Yet that is who God is. God loves us deeply and provides for us, yet just like a loving parent God calls us to accountability for our actions, for what we do or fail to do.
The final criteria is hospitality. How do I live a spirit of welcome in my life? How am I a person of welcome by what I say and do? Hospitality was key to life in the first century. It was critical. If you did not help travelers, foreigners or other strangers passing through they might die. This happens all the time in the Southwest of our country today. Hospitality to strangers was the ultimate hospitality. Even pagans will be judged by this standard.
Today, with the pandemic we see such a broad base of suffering in the world. Yet, even before COVID there was so much suffering in so many places. However, if it did not touch me, I often did not pay much attention. With COVID it is now front and center to us all. It is always on our minds. This week we are changing holiday plans. We are being warned that the worst is coming over these winter months before we get the vaccines widespread. It is really terrifying.
How do we live in a world so full of suffering, a suffering that may touch me at any moment? The world meets Christ through those in need. The world also meets Christ through his disciples. The Christ of the poor teaches us, while the Christ of the disciples responds in charity and compassion. In both, Christ is proclaimed. Our primary function is to look for and represent Christ to the world. This coming together in Christ is revealed at the Parousia, the final coming. The surprise for the good and the bad is that in everyday actions they see Christ and can earn their salvation if they choose to. It is in the normal, the little things, that we live in and with Christ.
The Office of Readings is part of the prayers that clergy and religious recite each day. Recently one of the readings was from a homily written in the second century reflecting on the theme of judgement. The following lines jumped out at me: “Therefore, a very good way of atoning for our sins is by being generous to the poor. Fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving surpasses both, for ‘love covers a multitude of sins.’…Happy the man who is found rich in these virtues; by relieving the poor, he himself will be relieved of his sins.” Wow!
What are we willing to learn from this time of suffering? What can we learn from those who suffer, whether it is sickness or poverty or violence or so much more?
We in the Church are blessed, especially in times like these. We have the support of the praying community, the reflection of the gospels, the sacraments, the example of so many responding to the Christ in need, and solidarity that we are not alone. There is a superabundance of gifts to do what Christ calls us to do and for which we will be judged.
I have been inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican a good number of times. I am always overwhelmed by it. Of course, it is one of the most spectacular pieces of art in the world, but that is only a part of the experience. As I stare at the ceiling, I try to grasp not only what Michelangelo wanted to tell us but more than that. The power of the painting is to experience what those around Jesus heard and felt from him in today’s gospel. It is powerful and scary. It makes you ask if you are ready. Are you?
In the Confiteor at the beginning of Mass we say we are sorry for “what I have done and what I have failed to do.” It works both ways. That makes me think of the holidays, traditionally a season of spending, often for things we and others don’t need. These words should give us pause.
Yes, the final exam comes for us all. The issue for us is that unlike college, we will never know what day we will take it, so thinking that we will have time to cram right before it is not an option. What is an option even an obligation is to look and learn from Jesus in everyone I meet every day, especially the most needy, and to respond as I can.
The final exam: you have the questions. You have the answers. What more do you need to be ready?
Fr. David Garcia is a retired priest from the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, where he served for 44 years. During that time, Fr. Garcia was instrumental in the effort to have the Old Spanish Missions recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also oversaw the multimillion-dollar restoration of San Fernando Cathedral. Fr. David served as pastor for several parishes in San Antonio, including the historic Mission Concepción. He also served as Senior Advisor for Clergy Outreach at Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian and relief agency of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.