November 12, 2025

Fr. John Riccardo

Brothers and sisters: You know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat. We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others. Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food (2 Thessalonians 3:7-12).

As we draw nearer to the end of the liturgical year with next week’s solemnity of Christ the King, there is an increasingly urgent tone in the Scriptures. This coming Sunday, God’s Word through the prophet Malachi warns us that “the Day is coming,” that is the Day of King Jesus’ return, of wrapping up history, of judgment, and of making all things new. This “Day” is a certainty. It’s going to happen. And each and every one of us is going to stand face to face before the Lord of lords and King of kings. This King and Lord is gentle, compassionate and merciful – blessed be He! He is also, however, “a consuming fire” (cf. Hebrews 12:29). As Paul puts it in his letter to the Roman, “It is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:11-12). The Spirit revealed to John what each of us is going to experience on that Day: “I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done” (Revelation 20:12). I don’t know about you, but these realities take my breath away. They cause me to tremble. Consuming fire…give an account…according to what they had done….

It’s with this truth in mind, perhaps, that we can read Paul’s words to the Church in Thessalonica. Given the fact that there is much to be done in our own hearts and minds to prepare for the Day, why in the world are so many of us concerned, preoccupied, consumed at times with the lives, foibles, sins, and failures of others? In Paul’s words, why am I “minding the business of others”? Good grief! How can I act like a voyeur, fascinated, titillated even at times, with others’ lives, when there is so much work to be done in my own life?

Last week we celebrated the dedication of the basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. We read that day of John’s account of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem. I would suggest that as we get ready for this Sunday, as we draw near to the Solemnity of Christ the King, as we prepare for the Day of Jesus’ return – which will either come at the end of our lives or when He returns in glory – that we invite Him to walk through the temple that is our body. Let’s invite Him into the corridors of our thoughts, the chambers of our hearts, and expose in His kindness and truth what does not belong. Let us ask Him for the grace to take our eyes off of others. Let us pray that He will ever so gently but firmly drive out whatever does not belong in us, that we might be ready for that Day. It’s coming. Soon.

Forget About Them!

The Previously Unheard of New Human Family that Is (Supposed to be) the Church