Matthew 25 (2011-11-20)

This is my homily for Sunday 20 November 2011. I am a Catholic chaplain in Teaneck at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) campus and for the FDU Newman Catholic Association. We celebrate Catholic Mass - during Fall and Spring semester - every Sunday Mass (7:30 p.m.) at the Interfaith Chapel, 842 River Road, Teaneck, NJ.

[_01_] This Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King, a feast that was formally introduced to our church relatively recently.

The church has identified was identifying Jesus as King, before this feast was set on our church calendar as the final Sunday before Advent.

Jesus, in the Gospel, is the ¨rebel king¨, crucified for disobeying the religious authorities and Roman authorities. In mockery of his popularity, the sign is placed on the cross at Calvary, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews, or Jesus of Nazareth, King of Israel. But, his kingdom is not of this world. (reference …._)

Also, Jesus – in the Gospel – is the one who will rebuild the Temple of his body, and will become a new Temple to replace the structure built by King Solomon.

[_02_] Where do kings, presidents, and other V.I.P.´s live? As we know, most if not all reside in a castle or palace.

And, in this Gospel, Matthew chapter 25, the king (Jesus) is sitting on his throne, in his palace and speaking to his people.

Matthew 25 is our reading today. And, we might say that ¨Matthew 25¨ is not only a parable we are reading. Matthew 25 is also our destination, our mission, in which we read a summary of the Gospel

• Hungry, we give them food
• Thirsty, we give them drink
• Stranger, and we welcome them (some of our relatives are ¨stranger¨ than others)
• Naked, and we clothe them
• Ill, and we care for them
• In prison, and we visit them.

In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us to love God and love our neighbor. And, Matthew 25 tells us both how, when, and where we are do to this.

For the sick, hungry, the estranged, the alien, the poor. This might be someone in our own families who is in need.

In this regard, Matthew 25 is not only a way of making the journey and living the Gospel. Matthew 25 is also a destination. Matthew 25 brings us to the palace of Christ´s kingdom.

PAUSE

[_03_] Matthew 25, in my experience, is also an actual location, a place, and a mission.

About 3 years ago, I traveled to Port au Prince and to central Haiti to an orphanage. I was travelling with a group from Seton Hall University. We were in Haiti, about 7 months before the tragic earthquake of 2010 in which over 300,000 died.

For a week, we were in the small city of Hinche, seeing life severely impoverished and very simple. We visited an orphanage of 250 children who we receiving the benefits of an education, regular meals, housing, a soccer field. Of course, they lacked the necessary emotional and spiritual support of a mother and father.

It was touching to see how they loved each other and loved us, their visitors, through this struggle. We were the strangers and they welcomed us.

In the earthquake that was to come, this orphanage was well beyond the zone of major seismic activity. While they felt some vibration, there would have been very few injuries and no deaths attributable to the earth’s tremors. That was in the countryside…

[_04_] Port au Prince, as we have seen, is very close to epicentre. And, in Port au Prince, we returned to our destination, our mission of Matthew 25.

That is, Matthew 25 is the name of a guest house, it is Matthew 25 Guest House in the city.

And, in some ways, Matthew 25 was a palace, a castle to us. For at Matthew 25, we had certain things that we did not enjoy in the countryside.

We could sit at a table to eat dinner, we had electricity regularly. The Matthew 25 Guest House does not rely on the municipal or city power grid. They have their own generators.

Wouldn’t it be the same at the White House in Washington D.C. or Buckingham Palace in London? The president cannot be in a blackout. The Queen needs wireless internet.
We had electric fans, keeping us cooler at night. And, Matthew 25 was similar to any palace in its placement of a locked gate and the presence of an armed guard, with live ammunition, at the gate.

This was the Palace of Matthew 25. The place of a king?

[_05_] Jesus – in the Gospel – is rebuilding a place for himself as a King. But, he is not building a Temple of marble or palace of stone, but rather the Temple of his body.

Jesus gives up his body, not that he may boast (cf. 1 Corinthians 13), but that we may be saved.
• Hungry, - give - food
• Thirsty, - give - drink
• Stranger, - welcome -
• Naked, - clothe -
• Ill, - care for -
• In prison, - visit -.

Certainly, I was blessed to live this mission of Matthew 25 for a week at the orphanage.

But, to me, for months thereafter, I thought of Matthew 25, the Guest House, as a place where we had some of luxuries of modern living, the water, the food, the fans.
But, if you call yourself Matthew 25, the mission continues. We returned home in June 2009.

And, from the safety of New Jersey, we all watched the events of January 12, 2010, the thousands of died, the thousands who helped.

And, the ministry of Matthew 25 Guest House continued.

Matthew 25 became a semi-permanent home for many professionals, doctors, nurses.
The soccer field adjacent to Matthew 25 became a small tent city for several hundred people.

And, the kitchen became an operating room for emergencies.

So, whether we live by Matthew 25 or live at Matthew 25, we are called to live these values to …
• Hungry, - give - food
• Thirsty, - give - drink
• Stranger, - welcome -
• Naked, - clothe -
• Ill, - care for -
• In prison, - visit -.

We are called to go and do likewise. Matthew 25 is our secure location in the Gospel, a secure and safe summary of how we are called to love. But, Matthew 25 will also challenge us, like the Good Samaritan, to go and do likewise.

Matthew 25 is not a secure place for us to hide, but a destination for us to go and discover what we can do for each other. (__end__)