The Church’s liturgical year concludes with this feast of Christ the King instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to celebrate the Jubilee year and the 16th centenary of the Council of Nicaea. One of the reasons this feast was shifted to take place at the end of the Church’s liturgical year is to remind us that Jesus is the end of our lives. In instituting this feast, Pope Pius XI proclaimed “Pax Christi in Regno Christi.” The peace of Christ in the Reign of Christ. This means that we live in peace of Christ, when we surrender our lives to Him as our God, Savior and King and allow Him to rule our lives. We honor Christ as the king of the universe and the king of our hearts by allowing Him to take control of our lives.

Today’s gospel presents us with a very famous story many of us are very familiar with. The story of the King or master who gave his three servants talents and left for a long trip. On his return he expected to get a result on how they used the talents. The first two doubled what they were given because they tried and traded with it. The last never did anything on his own.

Wisdom forms the central message in today’s liturgy. The first reading says that wisdom is perceived by those who love her and can be found by those who seek it out. Those who seek it will find it, as it is not hidden nor inaccessible. Another aspect of the passage is that wisdom is personified with feminine pronouns and can be found in solitude. It is a precious gift that helps us navigate through life’s challenges because with wisdom we would be able to make right choices that would enrich our life here on earth and draw us close to God.

Who doesn’t desire the praise and respect of others? Who doesn’t like to be recognized or to be praised? We want others to see us at our best with all our strength and achievement, rather than at our worst with all of our faults and shortcomings.

Prophet Malachi, in the first reading of today, calls the attention of priests who prefer the praise and respect of people rather than giving glory to God. He says, “If you do not listen, if you do not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will send a curse upon you and your blessing I will make a curse.” Prophet Malachi condemns the attitude of priests who have abandoned true worship and service of God for self-praise and fame. In the days of Prophet Malachi many priests had lost the true meaning in the worship of God they presided over so that their worship no longer imparts their lives anymore.

The readings of this Sunday, especially the first reading and the gospel, call us to the strong commandment of love. Jesus manifested His love by His death on the Cross to save us from sin and give us new life in God. The crisis experience in various parts of the world today is a result of the failure to heed the commands of Jesus to love. It demands the giving of oneself for the sake of the good of another without counting the cost and without any condition. The commandment of love is what Jesus left for us when he says, “I give you a new commandment love one another as I have loved you.” God is love and to see God in the face of our fellow human being is to live the life of love. In this case our actions towards others are motivated by the spirit of God.

In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah, we see God uses Cyrus, a pagan king, as an instrument to realize the liberation of Israel from the Babylonians. Hence, in Isaiah 45:1 it says, “Thus, says the Lord to his anointed, Cyrus whose right hand I grasp”, and in verse 4, it says “For the sake of Jacob, my servant of Israel my chosen one, I have called you by name, though you knew me not, I am the Lord and there is no other.”

The story of a marriage feast was not something new. It was also frequently used in the Old Testament. A splendid feast or banquet is a good symbol of joy and happiness, as well as mutual union and love. Even in our own experience we can recall a special dinner at Thanksgiving or Christmas at which everyone enjoys not only the fine food and drink but also the conversation and the feeling of friendship and love. As Jesus told the parable in today’s gospel, the king made elaborate preparations for the dinner and then sent out invitations. To the amazement of the king, some ignored the invitation and went off to attend to business and personal affairs. To the absolute indignation of the king, others rose in rebellion against him and murdered his servants.

The first reading and the gospel of today share a common theme in the use of imagery they employed to convey their message. The central imagery shared by both Isaiah and Matthew is that of the vineyard of the Lord. At the same time, the vineyard of the Lord is referred to as the house of Israel. And in each case, the vineyard, instead of producing good fruits, produced wild grapes. According to Isaiah, despite all he did to care for the vineyard on the fertile hillside, planting of the choicest vines, building a watchtower to guard it when he looked for a crop of grapes what it yielded was wild grapes.

Ezekiel’s prophesy in the first reading teaches us the possibility of pardon through repentance for one’s accumulated evils, because God glories in forgiving those who turn back to him, and he ardently desires the salvation of all, but also the risk of losing all the good one has done by returning to doing evil. In the second reading Paul writing to Philippians encouraged them to be united and show their love for each other through humility and service. Christ, who is divine, became man to suffer and die for our salvation. No act of humility on our part can ever rival the humiliation of Christ’s suffering and death on the Cross. Christ willingly took on the role of a servant and allowed himself to be crucified for our sake even though he was innocent of any sin. Then in the gospel of Matthew the parable teaches us that promises can never take the place of performance and fine words are never a substitute for fine deeds.

In the first reading from the prophecy of Isaiah, he makes a clarion call to each one of us to seek the Lord while he is near and to forsake our wrong ways and embrace the mercy of God. The tone of this invitation manifests a sense of urgency to take the opportunity we may have now and come back to God with a true conversion of heart. The reason for the sense of urgency is evident because the reality of death recalls that life is fleeting and therefore, our days to live a Holy life are finite.

The book of Sirach tells us today “Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray” while the responsorial psalm, says “Bless the Lord…who forgives all your iniquity.” While the gospel reports of Peter’s question to Jesus how many times my brother will offend me that I forgive him. Should I forgive seven times? What Peter is getting at is that everything must have an end at some point, even forgiving as well. Jesus is his response says, if you want to draw limit to forgiving, then God will also limit his mercy.

According to William Barclay, today’s gospel passage is one of the most difficult passages to interpret in the whole of Matthew’s gospel. Part of the reason may be because it has to do with open and social confrontations and many cultures try, as much as possible, to avoid confrontation. The first message Jesus teaches us in this gospel is that we should not delay in reconciling with any person we have issues with. If anyone has anything against you, spare no effort to get things right again between the two of you. Basically, it means that we must never tolerate any situation in which there is a breach of personal relationship between us and another member of the church. If anyone offends us there is only one way to settle it, face to face talk. Not talking over your broken relationship is very dangerous and can destroy your peace of heart.

In 2005, in a certain remote village a man encouraged two of his children to go for evening Catechism classes and adoration in the church. The elder one was about twelve years while the younger was four or five years old. It had rained heavily that afternoon and there was a great flood. When the catechism and adoration were over the two kids made their way back home. Because of the flood the older boy carried the younger one on his back. Suddenly the shoe of the small one fell in one of the flowing waters. The older one dropped the small one on the sidewalk and went back to pick up the shoe, and immediately the flood carried him, and he hit his head on something and died there. The father on hearing the news went straight to the priest and asked the priest where God was when my son who came for adoration and catechism died in the flood. The priest not knowing what to answer only responded that God was where He was when His son Jesus died on the cross.