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| “The Last Judgement” Frans Francken II, 1606 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Ephesians 4:1-6
Commentary on Eph 4:1-6
St. Paul begins this chapter of his letter to the Ephesians with an exhortation to live (walk) in unity with each other. The theological foundation laid in the previous parts of the letter is now translated into the need to act upon that reality. The apostle’s plea for unity uses the litany of bonds that bring Christian unity: one Body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one baptism, and one God and Father.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Commentary on Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
Psalm 24 is a processional song. It recalls that God is the great creator, and he calls his people to be faithful. It is part of a hymn of entrance, sung as the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the Temple, followed by the faithful. The song asks the question: who can come into his presence, and answers: only those who are sinless (completely reconciled to God). Those who achieve that beatified state will receive the reward of eternal life from the savior.
The hymn focuses on the character of the one who worthily seeks God, and the one who is worthy to come into God’s kingdom and stand before him. This same concept is borrowed in a passage from John’s Revelation (Revelation 14:4ff): who are the ones allowed full access to God? They are those: “whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.” In other words they are clean in heart, body, and spirit.
CCC: Ps 24:6 2582
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Gospel: Luke 12:54-59
Commentary on Lk 12:54-59
The Lord continues his reflection on the end times (the Parousia), and using the analogy of seeing what weather will come based upon the direction of the wind, he asks the people if they cannot see the signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Applying the image of an impending court date, at which a judge will pass a sentence, he urges the people to reconcile themselves with the Lord. Using the urgency generated by the uncertainty of the hour of that call to judgment, he exhorts the crowd to order their lives now, and do not delay.
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Reflection:
In St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus continues his discourse about the inevitability of the end times. He has already said that we must be prepared because we do not know when that will happen. In this final part of his discourse, Jesus, now speaking once more to the crowd that had gathered, uses the analogy of a person going into litigation over a debt to emphasize the need to avoid procrastination.
The language used conveys an urgency that must have infected St. Paul later on as he fully expected this event to take place in his own life time. He never realized that Jesus was speaking in terms of each person’s journey that would end before the judgment seat of Christ, rather than of some terrible cataclysm, ending all life everywhere. When Jesus was crucified (“…a baptism with which I must be baptized” Luke 12: 50), the end that was a beginning started. We are not denying that, as scripture in other places foretells, there will be a second coming, a new resurrection. Rather that we face our own end, and our life on this earth has its own conclusion for which we must be prepared.
Jesus sees this finite strand of life to which we cling, and sees also that we must seek to conform ourselves to God’s will on this earth to avoid our later regret. How many stories have we heard about the long line before the pearly gates? The reality of that line is something else completely. Who among us would wish to come before the Lord as we are, right at this moment? Would we be willing to show him all of the sins we have committed, unatoned? Would we rather not hope that our assent to stand before that judgment seat might include a period of time when those sins we carried with us might be recognized and expiated by our will, our righteous understanding? Is this not how we understand Purgatory, that process of purification were we may be made worthy to stand before Christ, with his angels and saints?
To the Lord’s point though. Knowing that we: “…will not be released until you have paid the last penny,” We are reminded that we have time, we should not delay. We all need to examine carefully what we have done, and make sure that those sins are laid out before God, and our contrition demonstrates a conversion of heart. We can think about this time as our time walking with the Lord, on the way to court. We pray that we can settle accounts before we reach that destination.
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