The over-all goal is fullness of life for everyone. That's Paul's message in today's second reading. It's as if all of humanity were reborn in Jesus. And that means, Paul says, the destruction of "every sovereignty, every authority, every power" that supports the old necrophiliac order of empire and its love affair with plutocracy, war and death instead of life for God's poor.
And that brings us to today's culminating and absolutely transcendent gospel reading. It's shocking -- the most articulate vision Jesus offers us of the basis for judging whether our lives have been worthwhile -- whether we have "saved our souls." The determining point is not whether we've accepted Jesus as our personal savior. In fact, the saved in the scene Jesus creates are confused, because their salvific acts had nothing to do with Jesus. So they ask innocently, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?"
Jesus' response? "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me."
But more than personal salvation is addressed here. Jesus homage to Ezekiel's sheep and shepherd imagery reminds us of judgment's political dimension. So does Jesus' reference to the judge (presumably himself) as "king." And then there's the church itself which centralizes this climactic scene precisely on this Solemnity of Jesus Christ King of the Universe. All three elements say quite clearly that "final judgment" is not simply a question of personal salvation, but of judgment upon nations and kingdoms as well. To reiterate: in Matthew's account, the final judgment centralizes the political.
And what's the basis for the judgment on both scores? How are we judged as persons and societies? The answer: on the basis of how we treated the immigrants, the hungry, ill-clad, sick, and imprisoned.
On that basis, Jesus' attitude towards the United States as earlier described ought to be quite clear. It's the same as Ezekiel's when he predicted the destruction of Israel at the hands of Iraq:
"Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me."
Ironically enough that "fire prepared for the devil and his angels" is today being stoked in Iraq just as it was in the days of Ezekiel. This time the Babylonians call themselves the IslÄ mic Caliphate.
As Ezekiel might say, "You read it here first."
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