Pope Francis on Christ the King: making choices thinking about eternity
On the Sunday of Christ the King, Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to make choices by thinking about eternity, thinking not about what they want to do, but what is best to do.
"This is the choice we have to make every day: what do I feel like doing or what is best for me?" the pope said on November 22.
“This inner discernment can lead to frivolous choices or decisions that shape our life. It depends on us, ”he said in his homily. “Let us look to Jesus and ask him for the courage to choose what is best for us, to allow us to follow him on the path of love. And in this way to discover the joy. "
Pope Francis celebrated mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. At the end of the mass, young people from Panama presented the World Youth Day cross and the Marian icon to a delegation from Portugal ahead of the 2023 international gathering in Lisbon.
The Pope's homily on the day of the feast reflected on the reading of the Gospel of St. Matthew, in which Jesus tells his disciples about the second coming, when the Son of man will separate the sheep from the goats.
“At the last judgment, the Lord will judge us on the choices we have made,” Francis said. “It just brings out the consequences of our choices, brings them to light and respects them. Life, we come to see, is a time to make robust, decisive and eternal choices “.
According to the pope, we become what we choose: thus, “if we choose to steal, we become thieves. If we choose to think about ourselves, we become self-centered. If we choose to hate, we get angry. If we choose to spend hours on a cell phone, we become addicted. "
“However, if we choose God,” he continued, “every day we grow in his love and if we choose to love others, we find true happiness. Because the beauty of our choices depends on love “.
“Jesus knows that if we are self-centered and indifferent, we remain paralyzed, but if we give ourselves to others, we become free. The Lord of life wants us to be full of life and tells us the secret of life: we only get to possess it by giving it away ”, he stressed.
Francis also spoke of the corporal works of mercy, described by Jesus in the Gospel.
“If you are dreaming of true glory, not the glory of this passing world but the glory of God, this is the way to go,” he said. “Read today's Gospel passage, think about it. Because the works of mercy give glory to God more than anything else “.
He also encouraged people to ask themselves if they put these works into practice. “Do I do something for someone in need? Or am I only good for my loved ones and friends? Do I help someone who can't give me back? Am I the friend of a poor person? 'Here I am', Jesus tells you, 'I wait for you there, where you least think and perhaps you do not even want to look: there, in the poor' ".
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After the mass, Pope Francis gave his Sunday Angelus from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square. He reflected on the feast of the day of Christ the King, which marks the end of the liturgical year.
“It is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the completion of history; and today's liturgy focuses on the "omega", that is, the final goal, "he said.
The pope explained that in the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus pronounces his discourse on the universal judgment at the end of his earthly life: "He whom men are about to condemn, is in reality the supreme judge".
“In his death and resurrection, Jesus will show himself as the Lord of history, the King of the universe, the Judge of all,” he said.
The final judgment will concern love, he observed: "Not on sentiment, no: we will be judged on works, on compassion which becomes closeness and caring help".
Francis concluded his message by pointing to the example of the Virgin Mary. “Our Lady, assumed into Heaven, received the royal crown from her Son, because she faithfully followed him - she is the first disciple - on the path of Love”, he said. "Let us learn from her to enter the Kingdom of God right now, through the door of humble and generous service."