23 Clement, Bishop of Rome, c. 100, also known as Saint Clement of Rome, is listed by Irenaeus and Tertullian as Bishop of Rome, holding office from 92 to his death in 99.[1] He is considered to be the first Apostolic Father of the Church
24
25 James Otis Sargent Huntington, Priest and Monk, 1935
26 Isaac Watts, Hymnwriter, 1748 was an English Christian hymnwriter, theologian and logician.
27
28 Kamehameha and Emma, King and Queen of Hawaii, 1864, 1885
29
30 Saint Andrew the Apostle



OLD TESTAMENT:  Ezekiel 34: 11 - 16, 20 - 24  (RCL)
                                    Ezekiel 34: 11 - 12, 15 - 17  (Roman Catholic)

Ezek 34:11 (NRSV) For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
17 As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, 22 I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23 I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.


PSALM 100  (RCL)

Psal 100:1 (NRSV) Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.


100   Jubilate Deo    (ECUSA BCP)

1      Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands; *
     serve the Lord with gladness
     and come before his presence with a song.

2      Know this: The Lord himself is God; *
     he himself has made us, and we are his;
     we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

3      Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise; *
     give thanks to him and call upon his Name.

4      For the Lord is good;
his mercy is everlasting; *
     and his faithfulness endures from age to age.



Psalm 95 1 - 7   (C of E, alt. for ECUSA)

Psal 95:1 (NRSV) O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!

Note: the last part of verse 7 is omitted by ECUSA


95   Venite, exultemus     (ECUSA BCP)

1      Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
 let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

2      Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
 and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

3      For the Lord is a great God, *
 and a great King above all gods.

4      In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
 and the heights of the hills are his also.

5  The sea is his, for he made it, *
     and his hands have molded the dry land.

6      Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
 and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

7      For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.


Psalm 23   (Roman Catholic)

Psal 23:1 (NRSV) The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil:
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff -
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercyshall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
my whole life long. 


NEW TESTAMENT:  Ephesians 1: 15 - 23  (RCL)

Ephe 1:15 (NRSV) I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

h/t Montreal Anglican

Paul has written of the Father’s wisdom and insight in making known to us his will, his plan for completion of the restoration of the faithful to oneness with him, as told by Jesus (vv. 8, 9). God’s plan embraces both Jews and Gentiles, bringing them together in one Christian community. That this is happening he sees as evidence of God’s ability to break down diverse barriers, and to bring the world to unity in Christ.

And so, in vv. 15-16, he is delighted to hear of the successful missionary activity by people he does not know at first hand. Their “faith” (commitment to Christ) and fraternal love (love of “all the saints”, Christians both Jewish and Gentile) go hand in hand: faith involves appreciating God’s great love for humanity demonstrated in the Father’s giving of the Son. That “your” (v. 15) refers to new Christians is indicated by “as you come to know him” in v. 17: Paul prays that these (relatively) new converts may receive “a spirit of wisdom and revelation” as each progressively come to understand God more and more. It is not just digested knowledge (“wisdom”) that they will receive, but also “revelation”, what God will show of himself and his ways, his manifest character, his greatness, “glory”, and the fruit of interaction of knowledge with experience. The objective (v. 18) is that, illuminated by innermost conviction (“with the eyes of your heart”), they may attain a maturer knowledge of God in three ways:
in spiritual growth (“hope”) being those whom God has called;
the “glorious inheritance” Gentile Christians now share with their Jewish brethren; and
experience of the tremendous power of God as he works in their lives.

Paul’s experience speaks here: God showed him mercy when he was a persecutor of Christians. Then v. 20: this power that they now experience is what the Father used in raising Christ and having him share in the divine glory. Christ has also conquered all alien spiritual powers (“far above all rule ...”, v. 21) and pagan gods (“every name that is named”). God has made “all things” (v. 22) subject to humanity; the Father has given Christ to the church as ruler over all things spiritual. The church is one in Christ and thus is able to share in Christ’s exaltation, Christ being the complete embodiment of God, who is in the process of filling (making good) all things. It is through the church that God pervades the world with his goodness.

Verse 13: “you also”: You Gentiles, as well as we Jews. [ NOAB]

Verse 15: Colossians 1:4 is very similar: “... we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints”. In Philemon 5, Paul writes: “I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus”. [ CAB]

Verse 16: In Romans 1:9, Paul writes: “God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers”. Colossians 1:3 says: “In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. See also Philemon 4. [ CAB]

Verse 17: “Father of glory”: This phrase occurs only here in the New Testament, but in Acts 7:2 Stephen speaks of the “God of glory” and in 1 Corinthians 2:8 Paul writes of the “ Lord of glory”.

Verse 18: “saints”: This word has various meanings in Ephesians. Here it means angels with whom the earthly congregation has been joined in Christ. This thought has close parallels in the Qumran literature: see 1QSb (Rule of the Community: Blessings) 3:25-4:26; 1QH (Hymns) 11:21-23 ( Vermes: 3:21-23). In vv. 1 and 15, it means the earthly congregation. [ NJBC]

Verse 19: “greatness of his power”: In the Qumran literature, see 1QH (Hymns) 12:32 ( Vermes: 4:32); 1QS (Rule of the Community) 11:19-20. [ NJBC]

Verses 20-23: God’s might is revealed in the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and in his exaltation over angelic forces. The author uses early Christian creedal statements that formulate the Christ-event in terms of Psalm 110:1 and 8:6 to impress on readers the glorious position to which they have been called in Christ. [ NJBC]

Verse 20: “in Christ”: This phrase occurs frequently throughout this letter in contexts referring to the unity of Jews and Gentiles (e.g. 1:4; 2:13; 3:11). It speaks of Paul’s sense of the Christian community, i.e. the fellowship of those whose fellowship in Christ gives them mutual benefits and sets common standards. See also 1 Corinthians 1:13 (“Has Christ been divided? ...”); 12:12 (“... just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ”); Galatians 3:16. [CAB]

Verse 20: “in the heavenly places”: Can also be translated among heavenly beings. An expression found only in this letter ( 1:3; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12), referring to the unseen world behind and above the material universe. [ NOAB]

Verse 21: In 1 Corinthians 15:24, Pauls writes: “Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power”. Colossians 1:16 says: “... in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers – all things have been created through him and for him”. See also Philippians 2:9-11. [ CAB]

Verse 21: “rule and authority ...”: Created heavenly entities presented as angelic beings subordinate to Christ, perhaps thought of by the first readers as rivals to Christ or beings whose power supplemented that of Christ. Such a belief grew out of the complex and highly developed angelology widespread at the time. [ NJBC] See also 3:10; 6:12; Colossians 2:10, 15; Romans 8:38. [ CAB]

Verses 22-23: The Church, as the “fulness of Christ”, is the complement of his mystic person; he is the “head”; the Church is “his body”. [ NOAB]

Verse 22: “he has put all things under his feet”: This is an allusion to Psalm 8:6: “You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet”. Psalm 8 extols the glory of Adam over creation. Christ is the new Adam, the head of the new humanity, who has brought to virtual completion Adam’s (humanity’s) assignment by God to dominate the universe (see Genesis 1:28 and Hebrews 2:6-9).

Verses 22-23: “head ... body”: This is a development of the Pauline concept of many diverse members forming the body of Christ: see 1 Corinthians 12:12-17. The church is beneficiary of God’s all-embracing plan, and, as beneficiary of his lordship over all things and over all angelic powers, the Church – Christ’s body – shares in the dominion of its head. [ NJBC]

Verse 22: “the church”: i.e. the church throughout the world, the universal church, rather than a local congregation. [ CAB]

Verse 23: 3:19 says: “... to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” and 4:13 “until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ”. [ CAB]

Verse 23: “the fullness of him who fills all”: The Greek is difficult. Perhaps Christ is the source and goal of the body’s growth, as described in 4:15-16. “Who fills all” can be translated as “who is being filled with all”. Thus several Patristic authors ( Origen, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Chrysostom) read this; they interpreted it as meaning that all things created contribute to the fullness of Christ. However, Old Testament usage would favour the active sense (as in the NRSV) when speaking of God: in Jeremiah 23:24, Yahweh says through the prophet: “Do I not fill heaven and earth?”. See also Ezekiel 43:5. [ JBC]



GOSPEL:  Matthew 25: 31 - 46  (all)

Matt 25:31 (NRSV) "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' 40 And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' 45 Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."



Vv. 14-30 are the Parable of the Talents. Jesus has used it to stress the importance of fidelity to him and his mission while he is away. Here Jesus tells us the kind of conduct, of morality, towards others expected of the faithful – and the consequences of not caring for others. Sheep and goats behave differently but in Palestine they were fed together. At the end of the era, when Christ comes again, he will act for the Father (“sit on ... [his] throne”, v. 31). He will separate the “sheep” (v. 32) from the “goats”, assigning the former to a place of honour (“at his right hand”, v. 33) and the latter to dishonour. He, as “king” (v. 34) will invite the godly (or faithful), those whom the Father has pre-ordained for this, to live with him (“the kingdom”), a state that existed before creation (“from the foundation of the world”). Why? Because the godly have fulfilled God’s expectation: in reaching out to the disadvantaged they have, in fact, been reaching out to him (v. 40). We are all part of his family. But the “goats”, those who have ignored the needy, will be permanently separated from God, be unhappy, and be punished, for they have failed to see Christ in people. The “righteous” (v. 46) are the faithful, the godly, those who understand that to serve humanity is to serve Christ – and do so

In this passage, Jesus says that discipleship is identical with caring for the needy. [ NJBC]

Verse 31: In 16:27, Jesus foretells: “‘... the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done’” and in 19:28 “‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel’”. [ NOAB]

Verse 31: “the Son of Man”: See also Daniel 7:9, 13-14 (“a human being” translating the Aramaic son of man) and Zechariah 14:5 (“you shall flee by the valley of the Lord's mountain, ... as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him”). Here in Matthew the “Son of Man” acts in place of God. [ NJBC]

Verse 32: In Ezekiel 34:17, Yahweh says through the prophet: “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats”. [ NOAB]

Verse 32: “the nations”: Scholars identify them with various groups. NOAB says that they are probably those who do not know the God of Israel (see Romans 2:13-16). To NJBC, it includes Israel and not just Gentiles. See also 24:9, 14; 28:19. BlkMt says that while “nations” usually means Gentiles in Matthew, “all nations” seems to mean all humankind.

Verse 32: “will be gathered”: NJBC says that this is a theological passive, so God will gather.

Verse 33: “goats”: The Greek, eriphos, normally means kid, so perhaps they are animals of lower value. [ NJBC]

Verse 34: In Luke 12:32 Jesus says: “‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom’” and in Matthew 5:3 “‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’”. See also Revelation 13:8; 17:8. [ NOAB]

Verse 34: “king”: The Son of Man as king executes his Father’s will. With a blessing he invites the saved to enter the Kingdom, which always exists but which they enter when he decides to bring it and admit them to it. [ NJBC]

Verses 35-36: The list includes six of the seven corporal works of mercy in the catechetical tradition. [ NJBC] Various of these works are also mentioned in Isaiah 58:7; James 1:27; 2:15-16; Hebrews 13:2; 2 Timothy 1:16. [ NOAB]

Verse 37: Note that “the righteous” are surprised, for they were not trying to gain God’s favour.

Verse 40: In 10:42, Jesus says: “‘whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward’” and in Mark 9:41 “‘whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward’”. See also Hebrews 6:10 and Proverbs 19:17. [ NOAB]

Verse 41: In Mark 9:48, Jesus speaks of hell as : “‘where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched’”. In Revelation 20:10, John sees as part of a vision: “the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever”. [ NOAB]

Verses 41-43: Here there are only two ways: either one serves the disadvantaged, or one does not; there is no middle way. This, says NJBC, stems from the deuteronomic theology of a covenant conditioned by human obligation (vs. the covenant of unconditional divine commitment represented in the New Testament by Paul’s theology.) It presupposes human moral responsibility and conscience and God taking human actions seriously. [ NJBC]

Verse 46: In Daniel 12:2, speaking of the end-times, says: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”. In John 5:29, Jesus says: “‘the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation’”. [ NOAB]