Every Catholic Man - Sunday Gospel Bible Study
Learn more about how a man can grow in happiness at EveryCatholicMan.com, including daily Gospel devotions from the Mass for every day of the year. The EveryCatholicMan.com podcast can help a man draw closer to Jesus Christ, learn the Catholic faith and grow in happiness by becoming a better Catholic Son and Catholic Father. In every episode, a man can hear the Gospel reading from the Holy Catholic Mass, hear what Jesus is accomplishing, discover what can lead a man to be more awed by Jesus Christ, grow in happiness, learn from the Catechism, and take action to practice what Jesus and the Catholic Church is teaching in the Gospel. Matthew James Christoff is a Catholic convert and evangelist of Catholic men. Matthew's extensive work to help Catholic men draw closer to Jesus Christ and grow in happiness can be found at EveryCathoilcMan.com. At EveryCatholicMan.com can find daily Gospel devotions from the Mass for every day of the year and a comprehensive set of tools that can help a man grow in holiness and happiness. Matthew is a co-founder of the Catholic Men's Leadership Alliance and HeroicMen.com, the founder of the New Evangelization Project and CatholicManNight.com, and is featured in the Knights of Columbus Into the Breach Video Series. Matthew's professional career includes being a strategy consultant for Fortune 50 companies and a brand manager in a major consumer products company. Matthew has a Masters in Theology from the Augustine Institute, a Masters in Business and a Civil Engineering degree from Purdue University. Matthew is married to his childhood sweetheart, has four married adult children and grandchildren.
Every Catholic Man - Sunday Gospel Bible Study
Episode 103 - The Holy Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – Sunday November 26, 2023 – Mt 25:31-46
The Holy Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Every Catholic man can grow in happiness by seeking the Gift of Wisdom from the Holy Spirit so he can more fully live to honor his King Jesus Christ and His Kingdom and by seeking the Gift of the Fear of the Lord from the Holy Spirit so he can regularly meditate upon the Four Last Things.
On the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, the Church celebrates Jesus Christ as the Universal King over all mankind. Responding to the growing secular and atheistic culture, Pope Pius XI established this great feast in 1925 to remind humanity each year of Christ’s absolute kingly reign over all mankind.
In the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, Jesus confirms the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven, Hell, and each soul’s eternal Judgment. Christ reigns authoritatively (The King of the Universe, seated on a throne) as the glorious King of the Kingdom of Heaven, a place of great honor ( the “right hand” in ancient cultures was a place of the good and honorable), surrounded by angels since the foundation of the world. Jesus confirms that Hell, a place of dishonor and punishment (the “left hand” represented evil and dishonor) is a place of eternal fire, prepared for the rebellious dark angel Satan, his demons and the souls of the evil. Jesus Christ will judge the nations and all men at the end of time, drawing some (the sheep, the right hand) to the blessings of God the Father in Heaven and banishing others (goats, the left hand) to the curses of Satan in the eternal fire of Hell.
Jesus perfectly loves and personally identifies with His disciples ("brothers of mine") and the suffering (“the least”). Jesus mysteriously knows who cares for those who suffer, and those who abuse and neglect the suffering. Jesus gives very specific examples of merciful acts He calls men to perform: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to welcome the stranger, to clothe the naked, to comfort the sick, and to visit the imprisoned (The Corporal Works of Mercy include these and add bury the dead).
Be awed by Jesus Christ
Consider Christ’s judgment of all men: Divine King, Jesus confirms His absolute Authority over all mankind, and the Divine Power to determine the eternal destinies of every soul; perfection of Charity, Jesus continually demonstrates the Corporal Works of Mercy throughout His 3-year public ministry, confirming His demanding standards for His men; perfection of Justice, Jesus Warns each man of the fear-inducing Truth (a part of Justice) of each man’s coming Judgment; Divine Judge, Jesus confirms He uses the principle of Vindication (a part of Justice) by rewarding good men with Heaven and punishing evil men with the Hell of “the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.”
Live to honor your King and His Kingdom
Realize: Each time a Catholic man prays The Lord’s Prayer, he proclaims his belief in Christ, the King of the Universe.
Believe: Review the Catechism’s teaching on Thy Kingdom Come (CCC 2804, 2816-2821, 2855-2856, 2859).
Pray: Holy Spirit, give me the Gift of Wisdom so You draw me to Yourself, I can experience the reality that Jesus is the King of the Universe, and I more fully grasp the wisdom that I am even now a Catholic man living in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Regularly meditate upon the Four Last Things
Realize: Based directly on Jesus’ teaching, the Church has always taught men about the Last Four Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.
Believe: Review the Four Last Things (CCC 1006-1065).
Pray: Holy Spirit, help me to always fear God’s just punishment of mortal sin in the fires of Hell and the loss of Heaven, and bless me with the Gift of the Fear of the Lord so I recognize my sinfulness, fear being separated from You due to my freely chosen mortal sin, and always strive to please You.