Ezek 34:11-12, 15-17 ; Ps 22:1-3. 5-6 r.1; 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28; Matt 25:31-46
Ezekiel was writing in Babylon (now Baghdad) after Israel’s exile in 587 BC. He encourages the Israelites, despairing after their crushing defeat. Because he loves his people, God will take over their care and protection from their failed leaders, and provide a new King from David’s line.
In the Psalm, a shepherd’s care and protection for the sheep he leads, and a host’s welcome at a banquet, illustrate God’s loving care for us.
From 51 AD Paul worked for about eighteen months with the Christians in Corinth. Five years later he wrote to correct some of their enthusiasms, including doubting the resurrection of the body. Greeks tended to see the spirit as more important than the body and how they behaved in this life. But Paul insists that it is the whole person – body and spirit – that is raised, just as Christ appeared in his risen body to many of his followers after his Resurrection.
In Matthew’s gospel, in his final speech before his Passion, Jesus describes the Last Judgement when Jesus is enthroned as King. These are the terrifying criteria he will use: have we fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, visited the sick and those in prison? Dies Irae – Day of Wrath – indeed!
Psalm Response: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
(Ezek 34:11-12, 15-17 ; Ps 22:1-3. 5-6 r.1; 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28; Matt 25:31-46)