December 22
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church, come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
Jesus is the King of King and Lord of Lords.
He is a King that rules with love, mercy, justice and truth.
At the end of our earthly lives and at the end of time, every single human person will face judgment and stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ our Lord and King.
Are you prepared for this? Do you live every day knowing that at the next moment you could die and be face to face with our Judge?
This antiphon also reminds us that we are dust and to dust we shall return. This is a Scriptural theme that we hear particularly at Ash Wednesday at the beginning of Lent. This is not intended to suggest that humanity is worth nothing more than a fleck of dust. No. It is to remind us that this life here on earth is short. We were born and we will one day die. This reality is not meant to instill fear but to encourage repentance and conversion. We are to recognize our mortality and turn to God daily. We are to work to deepen our relationship with God. We are to always be prepared. Jesus Himself tells us that we are to always be “awake and alert” for the thief will come in the night when you least expect it. In this parable, Jesus is describing the day of judgement. God is loving and merciful but He is also just. When we stand before the judgment seat Christ we will be given our eternal judgment. The only way to heaven is through Jesus and His grace alone. We do not deserve heaven because of our sins but if we receive the grace Jesus offers us in this earthly, this gift of God will enable us to enter heaven. However, if we reject God, His love and His gift of grace, we have freely chosen our eternal punishment – in justice Christ will send us to hell forever.
Each day we must choose to follow Christ. Each day we should examine our conscience to see where we fall short in our faithfulness and obedience, ask for repentance and ask God for grace to avoid these sins and shortcomings. We should go to the Sacrament of Confession regularly – this is essential to restore the grace lost with mortal sins but it is also beneficial with venial sins because we can receive an increase in grace to help us avoid future temptations. And in being a disciple of Christ we are to allow grace to conform our hearts to Christ so that on the day of judgment we can hear Christ say to us, “Well done my good and faithful servant…enter in to the joy of the Lord” (Matt 25:23).