HOMILY FOR SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING YEAR C

 HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE YEAR C

2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Psalm 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43

PROFESSING MY FAITH THAT JESUS CHRIST IS KING AND LORD OF MY LIFE THROUGH MY ACTIONS AND WORDS

I pray for you: May you look forward to living, and live now as, an heir in the eternal Reign of Christ our King, and may that drives you to serve others as Jesus did. AMEN

I begin by this brief story told by a friend: As a child, my friends and I used to play King and Queen. A few of us would be the Royals and have the rest serve us, bowing before us and taking care of our needs. This was the model of being ultimate rulers that we had then. However, when Jesus was born and lived here on earth, He presented a different model of being a King. He came to serve and not to be served, and to give His life so that we might live. It is because of His loving service, His sacrificial giving of Himself, that we can enter into His Kingdom and share in its glory, not as insignificant subjects (although that is what we are), but as princesses and princes, heirs in the kingdom of God. Let us continue to give thanks to Jesus, our King!

The readings of today focus on the concept of kingship, particularly the Kingship of Christ Jesus. The readings of today appeal to me to emulate my King and my Lord in the way I live my life. 

The First Reading declares the joy of the Israelites as they come to David, and they crown and anointed him their king. Reviewing a little of the background of the First Reading of today, helps us to put things in context. The Israelites had petitioned God for a king and Saul was anointed as their first king. The prophet Samuel had warned the people about having a king. Saul turned out to be a poor choice as king. God then chooses a shepherd to be the next king of Israel. David begins his reign by defending the people from their enemies and setting up a kingdom which is only surpassed by his son, Solomon. However, David, showing his human weaknesses, sins against God and within a couple of generations, the kingdom of Israel is split apart. He and the rest of the kings of Israel and Judah forget that they are only temporary signs of God reigning over the Chosen People. It is only God who is truly King.

The Responsorial Psalm likewise proclaims the joy of those who are on their way to the city of King David. To the Chosen People, a pilgrimage to the Temple of God in the royal city of King David is an exciting event. Jerusalem is seen as the place to be, because it is here that the Davidic line rules and here the presence of God is felt. There seems to be a link between the king and God. So, to go to Jerusalem is a double blessing, not only to be in the presence of God, but to be with the one who represents the choosing of God.

Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, exults and exalts Jesus as co-creator, redeemer, and royal ruler in the kingdom of God, His Father. Paul reminds the believers that God is the ultimate ruler. It is the divine plan that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be handed the rule of the kingdom of God because Jesus Christ as the God-man brought about the salvation of the world. Not only has the Son of God been co-creator of the universe, but it was also for Him and through Him all things have come to be.  Yet even earthly creation is not the summit of the work of Jesus Christ. He has come to lead His Body (the Church) into the everlasting kingdom where there will be unending and undimmed light.

The Gospel informs us that Jesus is crucified because He claims that He is the King. Although most people ridicule His kingship, Jesus Christ promises a place in His heavenly kingdom to the repentant criminal who is crucified with Him. The Gospel reminds us that the kingship of Jesus Christ has come at a great cost. Although the Gospel tells us that people misunderstand His claim to be King, Jesus Christ demonstrates His right to rule the Kingdom through His life, death, and resurrection.  His persecutors try to mock His assertion of His kingship by posting His crime on top of the cross:  King of the Jews. He is reviled by His executioners and by one of the individuals who is crucified with Him. Nevertheless, it is the other condemned criminal who professes his faith in the kingship of Jesus Christ as he asks to be remembered when Jesus comes into His kingdom through His death and resurrection. Jesus Christ reassures the individual, this day you will be with Me in Paradise.

Dear Sisters and Brothers, People have often misunderstood the role of kings. The Israelites believed that having a king would make them equal to or even better than, their neighbors who had kings.  But, as often happens with many people in authority, the kings of Israel and Judah allowed power and honor to get into their heads and they failed to rule the people as God would have them do. Nonetheless, true to the promise of God that a descendant of David would come as the true king of the Chosen People of God, one finally comes who rules as God wills and who ushers in the kingdom of God through His service of the people of God. Even when Jesus Christ comes as the fulfillment of the promises of God, most of His contemporaries, including many of His disciples (at least originally), expect Him to be the majestic individual who will overturn the Roman occupation and restore the Chosen People to their rightful self-rule. Jesus Christ demonstrates through His life, ministry, death, and resurrection, that reigning in the kingdom of God means doing the will of His Father and serving others so that they will realize how much God wants them to be part of the everlasting kingdom of God.  

Dearly beloved in Christ Jesus, as we end this liturgical year, I am reminded that the fulness of the kingdom of God is not here on this earth. But, at the same time, I must begin to live as a member of that kingdom right now. I must work for the spread of the kingdom of God and live my life as a witness to what is yet to be when God recreates the new heaven and the new earth and Jesus reigns supreme with His Father for ever and ever. I must be an active participant in the bringing about of the rule of peace, justice, light, and joy of God. Some of the ways that I can be proactive in celebrating the kingdom of God is by imitating Jesus in His service of others. On the night before He died, after washing His disciples feet, He proclaimed, You call me Lord and Master, and that is truly what I am, but if I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, so must you do for one another (John 13: 13-14). Thus I am called to treat people with respect, serving them, and helping lead them to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. I, like my Master, must be willing to die for them, so that they may be welcomed by the Lord Jesus Christ and His Father into the eternal kingdom.  

Yes, I have been invited to be a child of the King, and part of the heavenly Kingdom, but that does not make me better than other people. It is nothing of my doing that I am part of the royal family. I am inheriting something which I have not, and cannot, earn. As a sign of my acceptance of such a gift, I am being asked to bring others into the kingdom of my God and my King.  

Another way I can do that is by living a life that is marked by peace, joy, and a sense of the eternal light which will mark the heavenly kingdom. People should be able to experience a small taste of what lies ahead by the way I treat them. I must be as joyful as the pilgrims who enthusiastically headed to the city of the King; in fact, I must be even more joy filled as I journey toward the eternal kingdom of my Lord Jesus Christ and His Father in union with the Holy Spirit. Thus, I should live a life which proclaims in action the words of the psalmist today, Let us go rejoicing to the House of the Lord. 

The solemnity of Christ the King and Lord of the universe is established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as a cure (or an attack to eradicate) to secularism. Secularism is a way of life in which humanity leaves God out of the way humanity thinks and lives, and thus organizes human life as if God did not exist. Therefore, the intention of this solemnity is to proclaim in a piercing and vibrating way the KINGSHIP of Christ over humanity (individuals, families, society, governments, and nations) as well as celestial beings, and every other power in existence.

The Mass of today proclaims the titles of Christ Jesus: as our God, the Creator of the universe and therefore has a supreme power over all things; All things were created by Him; as our Redeemer, for He purchased us by His precious Blood, and made us His property and possession; as Head of the Church,* holding in all things the primacy; as One who possesses all Dominion: God bestowed upon Christ the nations of the world as His special possession and dominion.

According to Rt. Rev. Msgr. Rudolph G. Bandas, the Mass of today goes on to describe the qualities of the kingdom of Christ as: Supreme, extending not only to all people but also to their princes and kings; as Universal, extending to all nations and to all places; as Eternal, for The Lord shall sit a King forever; as Spiritual, because the kingdom of Christ is not of this world.  

Christ is Dominion over all ceatures. We all are redeemed by Christ Jesus. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines 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 justice unto God. 

​MEDITATION When I hear that Jesus is Christ the King, what thoughts do I have? How can I profess my faith that Jesus is King and Lord of my life? Can other people recognize that I claim Jesus as my Lord and King?  What can I do to hasten the coming of the kingdom of God in the lives of myself and others?

PRAYER Lord God, with the continued guidance of Your Holy Spirit, help us to proclaim the Kingship of Jesus Christ by our actions and our words. Through the same Christ Our Lord. AMEN

O DIVINE WORD, WHO TOOK FLESH FOR HUMAN SAKE, REDEEM US IN OUR SITUATION

© Rev Fr Utazi Prince Marie Benignus