Here are some of the themes that surface in the Mass readings for the Feast of Christ the King.

1st Reading – Ezekiel 34:11-12,15-17

• God will shepherd the people: tending, seeking, rescuing, healing, protecting.
• God will also judge and separate the sheep rightly, between rams and goats.

Psalm – 23:1-3,5-6

• “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”
• God leads and refreshes, prepares and anoints, so that goodness and kindness will follow us.

2nd Reading – 1st Corinthians 15:20-26,28

• Through one man (Adam) death entered the world; through one man (Christ) all shall be brought to life.
• At the end, Christ will judge all creation, and the last enemy will be death.
• The Son will then be subjected to God, who will be all in all.

Gospel – Matthew 25:31-46

• When the Son of Man comes in glory with all the angels, he will judge all the nations, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates sheep and goats.
• Our response to the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, ill, and imprisoned will be treated as if it were done to Christ himself – the accursed to eternal punishment and the righteous to eternal life.

Mass Readings – Our Lord Jesus Christ the King of the Universe (A)

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