Solemnity of Christ the King
Matthew 25, 31-46

When we were discussing this passage during my seminary days, our professor said that it wouldn’t be surprising if at the Final Judgment, the question would be what the gospel says today, “Did we feed the hungry? Did we give drink to the thirsty? Did we clothe the naked? Did we visit those who are in prison? Did we care for the sick?” Those are the questions that I think at the end will matter.

One of the best traits of Jesus is that he is a very good story teller. His parables were always relevant to his listeners at that time. And this parable is no different. A shepherd, before the end of the day, would separate the sheep from the goats because the goats wouldn’t cope with the cold of the night, and needed to be placed in a shelter, while the sheep, because of their thick fleece would be able to manage the cold. And also, since time immemorial, the left side has always been associated with shame and disgrace, while the right side has been associated with honour and respect. So the goats would have been placed on the left, and the sheep on the right.

At the end of time, it will be the same with all of us. We’ll be separated, either to the left or to the right, to be honoured because of what we have done, or to be shamed and cast into eternal fire. It may look very simplistic but I guess it will just be like that. We all believe that after we die, we all undergo what the Catechism calls “Particular Judgment”, where the soul faces the Creator and will be judged on whether it will be sent to heaven, purgatory or hell. Then at the end of time, when Jesus comes again for the second time, we’ll all face the “General Judgment” which will be the repeat of the particular judgment except that there would be no purgatory and everybody will be judged in the presence of everyone for all to see.

Now, going back to the questions that will be asked of us, if we examine it quite closely it is not straightforward. After the first group was given their due reward, they asked when did we see you hungry, thirsty, sick, naked or in prison? And the king replied, “Whatever you do to your brothers and sisters, you did it to me.” What it means is that we should do good to our brothers and sisters not because we are being watched or we are after some kind of reward for what we have done. Doing good to our neighbour should be a matter of “second nature”. We should do good whether somebody is watching or not.

Again, the second group, after being condemned, asked the same question and also received the same answer. Maybe these people are only doing good to their neighbour because of the following: First, they are asking for a favour; Second, they are expecting to be repaid; Third, they’re expecting a reward; Fourth, they are scared of being punished if they don’t do good to their neighbour; Fifth, they only choose the people they will help. And so on and so forth.

So, as we end this liturgical year, it is a good time to take a look at ourselves. Do we do good because we are expecting to be rewarded? Do we do good to people that we know will be repaying us later on? What do we do to people who we don’t know or even our enemies? Do we also do good to them? Is God for us a stern judge who is looking at what we’re doing to be sure that we’re on His good books?

Let us remember that whatever we do we can’t earn eternal life. Jesus has done that once and for all when he died on the cross. The very least that we can do is to imitate what Jesus did when he was still on this earth. As people who are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus, it should be “second nature” for us to do good, to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to visit those who are in prison, to clothe the naked, to help those who are sick, not because it is our obligation but because we believe that it is the right thing to do.