And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Matt 25: 31-32
Who has heard of or seen pygmy goats? They are nothing short of adorable and among the assorted pets our family has had, the children really really wanted a pygmy goat. Seeing things long term, I said: "No way!" Now I think it's amusing that they didn't ask for a sheep as a pet. To try and bring this into this Gospel, those pygmy goats represent to me the attractive things of the world and the sheep are like the ordinary everyday things.
As we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, we can reflect on how we choose to live out our lives, whether we are older or younger, do we simply make a bucket list of fun things to check off and complete? Do we leave out the more spiritually significant things, like volunteering our time or caring for our elders, or just being compassionate to those on the street? At the end of the day, let us remember that a just world will be built on love, not division. If we can peek around the temporary and temporal things of this world, and begin to wonder and expect the more permanent eternal things, we will be in a good place.
