November 24 - Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Solemnity of Christ the King
Theme:
A. The Stranger Was You, Lord
B. Have You Met Me in the Poor?
Readings:
First Reading: Ezk 34:11-12, 15-17
Second Reading: 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28
Gospel Reading: Mt 25:31-46
Greeting (See First Reading)
All praise to the Lord who says:
”I shall look for the lost one,
bring back the stray,
bandage the wounded
and make the weak strong.”
May this compassionate Lord be always with you.
R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
A. The Stranger Was You, Lord
Today we conclude the Church Year with the celebration of Christ, our Shepherd King. He came as our Good Shepherd and entrusted us to one another. When he will come to evaluate our life and how much it is worth in his eyes and in ours, he will ask us: Have you cared for one another, have you served, especially the poor and the weak? This is not only a matter of serving other people: it is also serving God, for the neighbor in need is no other than Christ himself. It is therefore an act of deep faith. In this eucharist we ask the Lord for generous love and faith.
B. Have You Met Me In The Poor?
In a grandiose vision the Church year ends with the celebration of Christ the King, and next Sunday the Church’s new year starts with Advent. Matthew presents to us the scene of Christ our Lord coming as a king in judgment. This scene is the counterpart of the beatitudes, where the poor and the suffering were called blessed. At the judgment the Lord will ask us: What have you done for the poor and those who weep?”Jesus shows himself here not only as close to the poor and the humble, but he is himself the gentle, the sick, the persecuted. He asks us: “Have you met me in them?“ What do we answer him?
Penitential Act
If we had only recognized the Lord
in the gentle, the humble and the persecuted!
Let us ask the Lord to forgive us.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you looked for the lost ones,
you bandaged the wounded and made the weak strong:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.Jesus Christ, you came to gather together
those scattered in the mist and the darkness:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.Lord Jesus, you identified
with the hungry and the sick,
with strangers and with those in prison:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
Make us serve you in people,
that you may bless us
and take us into everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
May we share in the Lord’s kingship
by serving him in the poor and the humble
(pause)
God, Father of the poor,
your Son Jesus was born among us
poor, humble and dependent.
Open our eyes and our hearts and our hands
to honor him now as our Lord and King
by welcoming him in those who are hungry and thirsty,
in all who are abandoned and lonely,
in refugees, in the poor and the sick.
Let our love become free and spontaneous,
like the tenderness you have shown us in your Son.
Welcome us in the everlasting Kingdom
prepared for us through Christ Jesus our Lord. R/ Amen.
Scripture Readings
First
Reading Introduction: God, the Shepherd King
As
Israel’s kings have failed their people, God himself will lead them as
a shepherd who cares for his flock.
First Reading: Ez 34:11-12, 15-17
Indeed Yahweh says this: I myself will care for my sheep and watch over them. As the shepherd looks after his flock when he finds them scattered, so will I watch over my sheep and gather them from all the places where they were scattered in a time of cloud and fog.
I myself will tend my sheep and let them rest, word of Yahweh. I will search for the lost and lead back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the fat and strong will be eliminated. I will shepherd my flock with justice.
As for you, my flock - says Yahweh - I will distinguish between one sheep and another, and set apart rams and goats.
Responsorial
Psalm: Psalms 23:1-3, 5-6
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters...he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.
Second
Reading Introduction: Christ Must Reign
Christ
was the first to rise from the dead. His power of resurrection is at work
in this world through those who belong to Christ. At the end, Christ will
present his kingdom to the Father.
Second Reading: 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28
Brothers and sisters, Christ has been raised from the dead and he comes before all those who have fallen asleep. A human being brought death; a human being also brings resurrection of the dead. All die for being Adam's, and in Christ all will receive life.
However, each one in his own time: first Christ, then Christ's people, when he visits them.
Then the end will come, when Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after having destroyed every rule, authority and power. For he must reign and put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed will be death.
When the Father has subjected everything to him, the Son will place himself under the One who subjected everything to him. From then on, God will be all in all.
Gospel
Introduction: Christ Will Judge Us on the Basis
of Our Love of People
Jesus
is not only close to the poor. In the destitute, those who suffer, we encounter
the Lord himself.
Gospel
Reading:
Mt 25:31-46Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on the throne of his Glory. All the nations will be brought before him, and as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will he do with them, placing the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
The King will say to those on his right: 'Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your house. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to see me.'
Then the good people will ask him: 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food; thirsty and give you drink, or a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to see you?' The King will answer, 'Truly, I say to you: whenever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.'
Then he will say to those on his left: 'Go, cursed people, out of my sight into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not welcome me into your house; I was naked and you did not clothe me; I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'
They, too, will ask: 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, and did not help you?' The King will answer them: 'Truly, I say to you: whatever you did not do for one of these little ones, you did not do for me.'
And these will go into eternal punishment, but the just to eternal life."
General Intercessions
Let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ for all those who need our compassion and care, for all those who commit themselves to the poorest and for those who are afraid to be involved. Let us say: R/ Lord, make us serve you in people.
– For all who have lost their way in life we cry out to you to make the Church welcome them and give them you and your Good News to live for, we pray:
R/ Lord, make us serve you in people.– With all people driven from their homes, with the many victims of war and civil strife, with all strangers living in foreign lands, we cry out that people may be hospitable to them, and so we pray:
R/ Lord, make us serve you in people.– With all those who hunger for food, who thirst for justice, who crave for human dignity, we cry out that we may hear your voice in them, and so we pray:
R/ Lord, make us serve you in people.– With all those who care for the sick and the handicapped, with doctors, nurses, pharmacists, midwives, we cry out that we may recognize you in those who need affectionate, loving care. And so we pray:
R/ Lord, make us serve you in people.– With all those who are imprisoned because of their convictions, with all those who are persecuted; who are prisoners of their hatred, their greed or their failings, we ask you to free them, and so we pray:
R/ Lord, make us serve you in people.The voices that cry out to us, the eyes that plead with us, may we recognize you in them, Lord, and love you in them. Be near to us, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer Over the Gifts
Father in heaven,
this is the bread you give us
to share with the poor
and here is the wine you wish us to drink
with all who have forgotten what joy is.
In these signs let your Son Jesus come among us
and give us the love and the strength
to meet him in all who hunger and thirst
for food and affection,
in all that is little and insecure.
Let this be the sacrifice you accept
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
As the people who belong to Christ, we recognize him as the King of the universe, the Savior and the Judge of all. With him we give thanks to the Father and commit ourselves to his kingdom.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
With Jesus our Lord,
who will hand the kingdom to the Father,
we pray to God that this kingdom
may become a reality among us. R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil,
and grant us your peace in our day.
Keep us free from sin,
that on the day of judgment
we may stand before you without fear
and that already we may look forward
with hope and joy
to the full coming among us
of our Judge and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, our risen Lord
and King of the universe.
Happy are we to eat his bread of life now
and to be invited as the blessed ones
called to inherit the kingdom
prepared for us since the creation of the world.R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Father in heaven, in this eucharist
we have given thanks and praise to you
and acclaimed your Son Jesus Christ
as the Lord and king of our lives.
By the strength of his bread of life
may we go his royal way of loyalty to you
and service to one another.
Gather us together as your holy people,
and without claiming to be your kingdom,
let us be to the world
at least the humble sign of it,
until you take us into your home of peace and joy
through our King who became the servant of all,
Jesus Christ our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
It is not enough to acclaim Jesus Christ
as our Lord and King.
Our mission in life is
to make his kingdom a reality among us
and to bring it to those around us
by our words and deeds.
The way to do this is to live as he lived:
for others, in love and service.
May almighty God bless you for this task:
the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
and to give shape to his kingdom. R/ Thanks be to God.
Today's gospel pictures Jesus as a Son of Man, who has God for his Father. He is also called King which connotes Messiah and Lord. He is "one who comes in glory at the end." The Son of Man who comes in glory at the end is already present, but especially as The One whom we meet in our encounter with the poor and the needy. When we respond to human need, to those whom Jesus names blessed, we are responding to Christ. When we fail to respond to the poor and the needy, we fail to respond to Christ. Love and mercy are the criteria of judgment, not the confession of faith in Christ. What is important is whether one has acted with loving care for the needy people. Christ, our king is the divine challenge to a world that sees kingship and power as an enslavement of the other.
Taken
from Liturgy
Alive for Sundays, Cycle A
& Bible
Diary 2002
(Scripture Readings from Christian
Community Bible, Pastoral Edition)
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