Father Thomas Welbers' Homily

As you entered the church before Mass, you could not help but be struck by this massive depiction of Christ the King, painted by Robert George.  Robert George was an immensely gifted artist and art-teacher in our community, as well as a devout member of our parish, who died several years ago.

I am sure that nobody here is indifferent about this painting – you either love it or hate it.  And I’m not about to try to convince anybody one way or the other.  Personal feelings aside, I think it is important for us to allow the painting to draw us into its meaning – that is the purpose and function of all true art.  Here Jesus Christ is seen as the beginning and the end, now and forever, Lord of all creation, Lord of all humanity  . . . and Lord of our hearts, our total and deepest selves.  Look at what surrounds the stern and powerful yet vulnerable and intimate figure of Christ.  On the one side, symbols of Judaism and other world religions – all the ways that God has used to prepare humankind for the fullness of his presence in the person of Jesus Christ.  On the other side, the panorama of faithful followers of Jesus Christ throughout the ages.

It’s important to see these three images for what they are.  They do not depict the heavenly kingdom of the future.  They portray the present reality: we are now living, in union with the saints who have gone before us, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  If we are serious about who and what we are as Christians, all other considerations and goals and ideals of our lives are secondary – the Lordship of Jesus Christ is primary.

What does this Lordship mean? There is no simple, do-it-yourself formula for living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  Yes, Jesus gave us a simple command: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  The question remains – how?

St. Paul sheds some further light on this in the great hymn on the emptiness and exaltation of Jesus in the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians, when he says: “Your attitude must be the same as the attitude of Jesus Christ:

although he was in form of God
he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped at;
rather, he humbled himself,
taking the form of a slave,
becoming obedient to death,
even to death on a cross.”

Our attitude must be same as Christ’s attitude.  It’s clear that we must first realize our oneness with Jesus Christ, and then act accordingly.  But it still doesn’t tell us what to do about it.  That’s where today’s Gospel reading comes in.

In St. Matthew’s Gospel, this stark and unyielding depiction of Judgment is the conclusion and summation of Jesus’ whole teaching, given just a few days before he was betrayed and handed over to death on the cross.  In this teaching, Jesus answers the question posed by his very first words of instruction at the beginning of his public ministry, which are found in the Beatitudes of the Sermon of the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.”

The words “poor in spirit” have often been seen as a way out of having to take that beatitude seriously.  “We don’t have to be poor, we just have to be ‘poor in spirit,’ whatever that means.”  Well, here Jesus tells us what it means.  To be poor in spirit means, if we are not ourselves hungry and homeless, sick or imprisoned, to see ourselves as servants of those who are hungry and homeless, sick or imprisoned.  (I’m going to repeat that . . .)

I do not believe, however, that Jesus is telling us to feel guilty because we have enough or even more than enough of this world’s goods to live comfortably.  Nor is he calling us to forsake or abandon our responsibilities to our family’s security and well-being.  If we examine what Jesus is actually saying, he is not addressing this teaching simply to you and me as individuals, but to us communally, as Church.  As we have explored over the last few weeks, stewardship is the key word that describes how we, together as Church, answer the call of Christ to live in responsible gratitude for the gifts that God has given us, recognizing that all we have and are is gift.

Stewardship involves both the financial support of our parish community, striving to fulfill the call of Christ, and personal engagement in the mission of the Church, according to whatever gifts and abilities we may have.  As a parish community, we are working to improve our outreach to the poor and hungry through the continuing presence of the food collection trailer outside church, the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s daily assistance to the needy of our area, and a homeless outreach that recently won recognition by the Pomona Inland Valley Council of Churches.  This weekend’s Alternative Christmas Gift Market, the Angel Tree Program, Adopt-a-Family, and our Thanksgiving Dinner are also ways that our parish community serves Christ by serving our brothers and sisters.

One Sunday a month, Fr. Paul organizes a group of parishioners to go with him to Camp Paige Juvenile Detention Center to bring Mass and the sacraments to kids who need hope and strength to turn their lives around.  We are increasing our ministry to the sick and homebound, as well as developing our bereavement ministry to bring the healing touch of Christ to those who are suffering deep loss in their lives through sickness and death.  In addition, our parish is host to six different 12-step programs enabling people to overcome the overwhelming power of addiction and to live in sobriety one day at a time.

Last weekend, many of you filled out a pledge card indicating your financial commitment to the parish for the coming year.  If you did that, thank you very much!  If you were not with us last week, or had not yet decided how much to pledge, I ask you to take a few moments now to make that commitment.  If you don’t have a card or need a pencil, please raise your hand, and one of our assisting ministers in the aisles will give you one.  When you are finished, please hold your card high, so our ministers can pick them up.

Assisting us at this Mass are . . . [ministry bite].

© Thomas Welbers, 2002