CATECHISM – 34th Sunday of Year A

The Feast of Christ the King provides an occasion for a reflection on the dignity of human persons. If the fullness of majesty and power has been conferred on Jesus of Nazareth because of his obedience to the heavenly Father, then surely those persons who share in the same humanity within which Christ lived are doubly blessed with dignity and sacredness. Every human being, just because of the fact that he/she shares in the human condition, has been elevated to a new level of dignity by reason of the incarnation of the Word in the human flesh.

Humans are made in the image and likeness of God, according to the Genesis account. The Lord God breathed the very life of God into the nostrils of the man, making him/her to live of the Spirit. Having made the human couple, God pronounced them to be “very good,” indicating a special and unique relationship between humans and God. God provided an abiding dignity to all that is human, a dignity that could not be wiped away even by the sin of the first human. The Catholic tradition holds that human nature was tainted, not corrupted, by Original Sin.

When the Son of God became a man, one of us, one among us, the flesh of humans received a special dignity not heretofore conferred on men and women. The mystery of the Incarnation speaks not only about God’s love for Jesus of Nazareth but proclaims loudly and clearly God’s love for all persons on earth. If God has so exalted the human person, shall we not acknowledge the sacredness and holiness of human beings of every condition on the face of the earth?

In the Catholic tradition, sin does not alter the innate value of the human person. God loved us when we were still in sin. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).

See: The Catechism: # 355-361

This very moment presents us with a challenge and a choice. We can hear the Lord’s call in the presence of other’s needs. Or, we can turn away. Our choice now will determine our choice in the future. Still there is hope in the grace God offers. Our past selfish ways can be overcome. Now is the acceptable time of repentance and conversion. Now is the time to give ourselves to God.

At the Last Judgment, all of us, good and bad alike, will hear the call of the Lord. He will raise us up in the resurrection of the dead. And we will stand before all Truth. Before the face of the risen Christ, we will know the purpose of life and the meaning of existence. We will know the full extent of God’s providence and our small part in his plan. Our acceptance or rejection will be known in the smallest detail, to its fullest dimension. We will know how God overcame evil, conquered death, and triumphed with his love. Finally, we will know one thing: did we choose to accept the Truth? Or did we reject, postpone, and ignore the Truth? One road leads to eternal life. The other leads to eternal alienation.

How do we know we have accepted the Truth? The poor, the needy, the outcast stand to measure our choice. As God stated, through the pen of St. Augustine: “Would that you had know that my little ones in need when I placed them on earth and appointed them your stewards to bring your good into my treasury.” (CCC 1039)

Faith demands ever aspect of our lives: our minds, hearts, and daily activity. How have you exercised faith lately? How has the exercise of faith made you more empathetic and compassionate to others in need?