HOMILY FOR THE THIRTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A. FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI.
HOMILY THEME: JESUS AS OUR SHEPHERD-KING.
BY: Fr. Cosmas Ukadike
HOMILY:
God’s word presents us with a king whose preoccupation is the shepherding of his flock to greener pastures.
The Lord our king as presented in today’s first reading, promises to personally care for his people as the Shepherd cares for the sheep (Ezel 34,11-12, 15-17).
This is a reflexion of the personality of the king we have.
One who is loving and caring. The top priority of his rule is to see to the welfare of his people. For our wellbeing and salvation matters more to him than mere acquisition of power and might.
According to st Paul in the second reading: Christ will reign until he has put all his enemies; that is, sin and evil and those who do not want us to share in the Joy’s of the kingdom of heaven under his feet (1Cor 15, 25).
His kingdom is a kingdom of love and Mercy. He expresses it in today’s Gospel when he insisted that whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers/sisters, you do unto me (Matt 25, 40). That is, every act of goodness and kindness done to our fellow human being is an act of love towards Christ our king. And in the same vein, any act or wickedness towards a neighbor is an evil act done to Christ our king. And our judgement and its result would be based on how much we have honoured the king of the universe by loving those he loved and caring for those in need.
It was this desire to show love and care that Gods word emphasis in the first reading that he will personally care for his people as a Shepherd cares for his sheep.
God needs us to celebrate Jesus as our king today not just by mere dancing and singing but also, by personally caring and loving our fellow men and woman especially those in dare need of our help.
May the Joy’s of today’s celebration inspire in us the longing for Gods kingdom and may the love and care of one another pave way for us into His kingdom of love and peace. Happy feast day and Have a blessed week.
