Homily for Closing Mass for St. Leo the Great uke Parish, Flint
November 23, 2008, Feast of Christ the King

St. Leo the Great Parish, Flint, was founded in 1957.  The parish plant grew quickly and Fr. Paul DeRose used every available space for the school, nuns, rectory and even a chapel in the garage.  This was the beginning of a rich, booming, vibrant, and glorious history of service to the faith in this area of Flint.  We celebrate that past today and give thanks to God for his many blessings on us over these 51 years.  I thank all of you who have lived and promoted our holy faith in this area of Flint.  I am especially grateful for the untiring and wonderful service of Marti Bartosz who has served this parish so well and Fr. Bettendorf as well.  My thanks to the priests who have assisted you over the years and especially those most recently, Frs. Phil Gallagher and James Bettendorf.  I am also grateful for the gift to the Diocese of Lansing which you, the parish of St. Leo, has made with many Stephen Ministers.  I am also mindful of the Adrian Dominican Sisters who taught in your school from 1961-1971.  I know that your new pastor Fr. Paul Schwermer is fully committed to welcoming you all at Holy Rosary Parish.

But today is not just a day of thanks for the past.  It is also a day to pledge to God our faith and the witness of that faith in the present and the future. And we make such a pledge on this day, the Solemnity of Jesus Christ our King to whom we owe everything.

After death, as we stand before the judgment seat, whom do we wish to see sitting on the throne judging us.  At first thought, my answer might be my mother.  She is always very understanding and tolerant.  I mean she has put up with me for all these years already.  Certainly, she would take my side and make sure I got into heaven.  Or perhaps, my best friend.  He befriended me; he didn’t have to like me as my mother does; no, he chose to like me.  So certainly he would judge me fit to enter into heaven.  Or perhaps the many seminarians I have formed; I know I have teased them a lot, but still, I think they enjoyed me and would like to spend eternity with me.

As I think about all this, however, I keep forgetting one thing.  On the judgment day all will be made known.  My mother, my friend, even my students will know all about me.  Perhaps, on that day, when they do know me so well—maybe they will turn away and say, No, he should not enter.  Then who would I like on that judgment seat?  Perhaps, someone I consider sinful and evil should judge me.  Then, by comparison, I would come off pretty well.  But that is not going to be very likely.

Instead, it is going to be the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the Lord of Creation, the King of Kings, the Son of God—he will judge me.  How can I possibly stand a chance in the face of the Holy of Holies?  I might as well give up right here and now.  To stand before the Living God and hope even to be able to lift my head…

Yet, what is there to fear?  I say this for two reasons.  First of all, there will be nothing made known to the Lord that he does not already know.  The Lord has been walking with me, speaking to me, loving me and supporting me all through this life, even though he knows what a sinful man I am.  He also knows my efforts.  Yet, never has he abandoned me.  I think it best to throw in my lot with him.  King David, having sinned against God, once was offered three choices of punishments on his kingdom—that there be famine three years, that he be exiled three months, that there be three days of pestilence.  David said he would rather fall into the hands of the merciful God than into the hands of men.  That is the mercy I can trust—the mercy of the one who knows me well.

But there is a second reason to be pleased that it is the King of Kings who will be my judge.  That is, because of what he says in the Gospel today.  Jesus identifies with the poor, the lowly, the naked, the hungry, the imprisoned.  Jesus is one of us.  This means that he knows me all the more—not just as a distant observer who has watched me wander my way through this life, but also as an close friend—one who has shared this life with me.  He is more mother, more friend, more student than anyone could be—and still he loves me.

However, there is a catch to this.  Because Jesus identifies with me, I also know that he identifies with everyone else, including and especially those who are in greater need than I am.  If I hope to have him recognize me when he sits in his judgment seat, I must recognize him now in his least, no, in my least brothers and sisters.

It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God—but it would be far more terrible to fall into the hands of anyone else.  I fall into God’s hands, trusting in him.  And a large part of my falling into his hands is carrying for his hands in this lifetime, making sure that no needy hand extended to me is turned away.  Prepare for the judgment day by serving Jesus wherever he may be found—he is not hard to find, we need only look to see.

My sisters and brothers, even though this Church building will be closing, our work for the Lord Jesus is far from finished.  We know we shall be judged; we know that judgment will be merciful; but we also know that we are to see in the least of the Lord’s brothers and sisters the Lord’s own face.  So let us renew our commitment to our faith, to our Lord, and to one another on this day.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL