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From: Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17

The Lord, the Shepherd of Israel

[11] ”For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for
my sheep, and will seek them out. [12] As a shepherd seeks out his
flock when some of his sheep” have been scattered abroad, so will I
seek out my sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they
have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. [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 crippled, and I will strengthen
the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over;” I will feed
them in justice.

[17] ”As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge
between sheep and sheep, rams and he-goats.

Commentary:

34:11-22. Ezekiel says that God has made himself a shepherd for his
people (v. 11); he always looks out for them (vv. 12-16), neglecting
none. This solicitude includes the practice of justice (vv. 17-22); in
this new stage it becomes clearer that divine love and mercy are
compatible with condemnation of the wicked (v. 20): in fact, love can
never exclude justice. This beautiful oracle resounds in our Lord’s
parable of the Good Shepherd who takes care of his sheep (ef. Jn
10:1-21), in what he says about the Father’s joy on finding the lost
sheep (cf. Mt 18:12-14; Lk 15:4-7), and in things he has to say about
the Last Judgment as reported by St Matthew (Mt 25:31-46). In a sermon
on pastors, St Augustine comments: “He stands guard over us when we
are awake and while we sleep. If an earthly flock is safe in the
vigilant care of a human shepherd, how much more secure are we, who
have God as our shepherd, not only because he desires to teach and
help us, but because he is our creator. "As for you, my flock, thus
says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, rams and
he-goats" (Ezek 34:17). Why are he-goats to be found among God’s
flock? Goats who will be sent to the left, and sheep that will be
called to the right side of God, are to be found in the same fields
and by the same streams; and He tends together those who will later be
separated. The meek patience of sheep is an imitation of the patience
of God. He will separate the flock later, sending some to the right
and some to the left” ("Sermones", 47).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28

The Basis of Our Faith (Continuation)

[20] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits
of those who have fallen asleep. [21] For as by a man came death, by a
man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all
die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his
own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong
to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God
the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25]
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
[26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. [28] When all things are
subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him
who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one.

Commentary:

20-28. The Apostle insists on the solidarity that exists between Christ
and Christians: as members of one single body, of which Christ is the
head, they form as it were one organism (cf. Rom 6:3-11; Gal 3:28).
Therefore, once the resurrection of Christ is affirmed, the
resurrection of the just necessarily follows. Adam's disobedience
brought death for all; Jesus, the new Adam, has merited that all should
rise (cf. Rom 5:12-21). "Again, the resurrection of Christ effects for
us the resurrection of our bodies not only because it was the efficient
cause of this mystery, but also because we all ought to arise after the
example of the Lord. For with regard to the resurrection of the body we
have this testimony of the Apostle: 'As by a man came death, by a man
has come also the resurrection of the dead' (1 Cor 15:21). In all that
God did to accomplish the mystery of our redemption he made use of the
humanity of Christ as an effective instrument, and hence his
resurrection was, as it were, an instrument for the accomplishment of
our resurrection" ("St Pius V Catechism", I, 6, 13).

Although St Paul here is referring only to the resurrection of the just
(v. 23), he does speak elsewhere of the resurrection of all mankind
(cf. Acts 24:15). The doctrine of the resurrection of the bodies of all
at the end of time, when Jesus will come in glory to judge everyone,
has always been part of the faith of the Church; "he [Christ] will come
at the end of the world, he will judge the living and the dead; and he
will reward all, both the lost and the elect, according to their works.
And all those will rise with their own bodies which they now have so
that they may receive according to their works, whether good or bad;
the wicked, a perpetual punishment with the devil; the good, eternal
glory with 'Christ" (Fourth Lateran Council, "De Fide Catholica", chap.
1).

23-28. St Paul outlines very succinctly the entire messianic and
redemptive work of Christ: by decree of the Father, Christ has been
made Lord of the universe (cf. Mt 28:18), in fulfillment of Ps 110:1
and Ps 8:7. When it says here that "the Son himself will also be
subjected to him who put all things under him", this must be understood
as referring to Christ in his capacity of Messiah and head of the
Church; not Christ as God, because the Son is "begotten, not created,
consubstantial with the Father" ("Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed").

Christ's sovereignty over all creation comes about in history, but it
will achieve its final, complete, form after the Last Judgment. The
Apostle presents that last event--a mystery to us--as a solemn act of
homage to the Father. Christ will offer all creation to his Father as
a kind of trophy, offering him the Kingdom which up to then had been
confided to his care. From that moment on, the sovereignty of God and
Christ will be absolute, they will have no enemies, no rivals; the
stage of combat will have given way to that of contemplation, as St
Augustine puts it (cf. "De Trinitate", 1, 8).

The Parousia or second coming of Christ in glory at the end of time,
when he establishes the new heaven and the new earth (cf. Rev 21:1-2),
will mean definitive victory over the devil, over sin, suffering and
death. A Christian's hope in this victory is not something passive:
rather, it is something that spurs him on to ensure that even in this
present life Christ's teaching and spirit imbue all human activities.
"Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth," Vatican II
teaches, "the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is
here that the body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some
way the age which is to come. That is why, although we must be careful
to distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the
Kingdom of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the Kingdom of
God, insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human
society.

"When we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our
enterprise--human dignity, brotherly communion, and freedom--according
to the command of the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find them once
again, cleansed this time from the stain of sin, illuminated and
transfigured, when Christ presents to his Father an eternal and
universal kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a
kingdom of justice, love and peace ("Roman Missal", preface for the
solemnity of Christ the King). Here on earth the Kingdom is
mysteriously present; when the Lord comes it will enter into its
perfection" ("Gaudium Et Spes", 39).

24. "When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father": this does not
quite catch the beauty of the Greek which literally means "when he
delivers the kingdom to the God and Father". In New Testament Greek,
when the word "Theos" (God) is preceded by the definite article ("ho
Theos") the first person of the Blessed Trinity is being referred to.

25. "He must reign": every year, on the last Sunday of ordinary time,
the Church celebrates the solemnity of Christ the King, to acknowledge
his absolute sovereignty over all created things. On instituting this
feast, Pius XI pointed out that "He must reign in our minds, which
should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed
truths and to the teachings of Christ. He must reign in our wills,
which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our
hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all
things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in
our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior
sanctification of our souls, or, to use the words of the Apostle Paul,
as instruments of righteousness unto God (Rom 6:13)" ("Quas Primas").

28. The subjection of the son which St Paul speaks of here is in no
way opposed to his divinity. He is referring to what will happen when
Christ's mission as Redeemer and Messiah comes to an end, that is,
once final victory is won over the devil, sin and its consequences.
The final victory of Jesus Christ will restore to all creation its
original harmony, which sin destroyed.

"Who can realize", St Bernard comments, "the indescribable sweetness
contained in these few words: God will be everything to everyone? Not
to speak of the body, I see three things in the soul--mind, will and
memory; and these three are one and the same. Everyone who lives
according to the spirit senses in this present life how far he falls
short of wholeness and perfection. Why is this, if not because God is
not yet everything to everyone? That is why ones' mind is so often
mistaken in the judgment it makes, that is why one's will experiences
such restlessness, why one's memory is thrown into confusion by many
things. The noble person is, without wanting to be, at the mercy of
this triple vanity, yet he does not lose hope. For he who responds so
generously to the desires of the soul must also provide the mind with
fullness and light, the will with abundance of peace, and the memory
with visions of eternity. O truth, O charity, O eternity, O blessed and
blessing Trinity! This wretched trinity of mine, sighs for thee, for it
is unfortunately still far from thee" ("Sermon on the Song of Songs",
11).