AN END, A BEGINNING

AN END, A BEGINNING

The end of a liturgical journey has arrived; we will close a cycle and begin a new one. The season of Advent is already upon us. But to enter into the newness, and begin the time that comes to us, we must appropriately close the time we have traveled. During the last liturgical year, the Church has accompanied us with the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments. During this year God has spoken to us through his Word, and will continue to do so. During this year, this accompaniment of the Church and the Word of God has given us life, hope, consolation, strength, encouragement, holiness, and new beginnings.

Today we close this liturgical journey with our gaze always looking forward, towards what is yet to come, and we will do it again in the company of the Church and the Word of God. Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King, with which we confess the greatness of the Son of God not only before men but before all creation. Christ is the first among us, Christ is the one who inaugurates the new, in Christ everything is recreated, in Christ everything has a new beginning, because Christ makes all things new.

In today's gospel (Mt 25, 31-46) Jesus himself presents us with the image of those who are blessed at the end of time by the Father, as well as those who will be separated from the eternal presence of the Father. That Christians can access the eternal promises of the Kingdom of God is a deep desire of God, but whether that really happens depends a lot on the attitudes that each one has towards their neighbors who need us. Jesus praises those who have acted with mercy, helping the needy with what they really need, and have committed themselves to these acts of charity. Not having attitudes of mercy toward our neighbors positions us far from the Father, since charity and mercy are the Father's own attitudes that have been shown to us in Christ. So that Christ reigns today and always in each of us, we live as Christ himself has lived, has taught us to live and asks us to live. Amen.

Fr. Carlos Flores, OSA