Today the Church culminates all the seasons of the year – Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time – with an exclamation point: Jesus Christ is King of the Universe. It is a declaration of hope and of promise. This feast was added to the Church calendar in 1925 to counter the atheism, nationalism, materialism and anti-Catholicism of the 1920s when communism and fascism were on the rise. Things have not changed much, with secularism, relativism, attacks on religious liberty, incivility, religious intolerance and terrorism in our own country and around the world; we yearn for a declaration of hope.
To celebrate Christ as King is to recognize the certainty of the triumph on the cross of good over evil and of God over worldly tyrants even in the midst of much misery and doubt. It declares we as followers of Christ will be all right if we remain strong and devoted despite what is swirling around us and it calls us to persevere in faith and set example for others.
Certainly Christ is not a king in the worldly sense. We do not relate to worldly kings, although the media infatuation with Princes William and Harry of Great Britain suggests at least some yearning for an other worldly hope. Jesus is the only hope and he is other worldly.
In the novel and movie “The Robe” the slave Demetrius pushes his way through the crowd to get a glimpse of who is causing such a stir on what we now call Palm Sunday when the crowds celebrated the arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem. Someone asks him “did you see him up close?” He nodded yes. “Is he a king? he was asked. “No.” “What is he then?” “I don’t know but he is something more than a king.”
The Lord declares in the first reading from Ezekiel that the Messiah who is to come will do so as a shepherd who unlike the earthly kings will lead his flock to safety and peace. The beautiful 23rd psalm reaffirms this: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, our second reading, reminds them and us that Christ is risen and therefore already reigns over the evil one and evil in the world; though we are called to live lives worthy of Him. And in the Gospel reading, Christ from his throne is judge of all peoples and all nations. He is not a TV judge with put downs but a compassionate judge of mercy and of justice.
In this Gospel Jesus as judge calls people to account for how they have or have not respected others. The first of the great commandments is to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength and it is reflected in the 2nd to love others as ourselves. Thus to reach out to others ought not be seen in a materialistic way as simply giving, nor is it to be seen as simply sharing from excess. Rather it ought to be an inherent expression of who we are as Catholics, instruments of Christ, and who others are as brothers and sisters deserving of respect and dignity.
Some scholars suggest that in this reading Jesus was calling us to be mindful especially of fellow Christians who suffer for the faith, such as those in our day persecuted by extremists and some secular governments.
I have been impressed by the generosity of so many in our diocese, especially as it came to the restoration of this historic Cathedral, a beacon of hope for all, for the Bishops Dudley Hospitality House, a beacon of hope for those who need a helping hand and a help up, and for the House of Prayer which the monastery for the Adoration Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament will soon become. The generosity in support of the Catholic Family Sharing Appeal which allows diocesan ministries and parish assistance to continue is gratifying. Just recently some $220,000 has been donated to help those devastated by the hurricanes. This does not include the contributions of time and talent in so many ways in parishes, schools, health care facilities and one on one with those who need a sign of love, a sign of Christ’s kingdom.
We will pray in today’s Mass these words which describe his kingdom:” it is an eternal and universal kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace.” It is in recognizing that kingdom that can move and motivate us in this world and give us hope for the world to come.
The Church provides guidance on how we might live out this call to love others as a reflection of our love of God They are the corporal works of mercy. They do not require heroic action, they can be simple gestures, but they do require an acceptance of the dignity of all persons and our sensitivity to respond to the needs of others if we can. Recall what the corporal works of mercy are, the basis on which the king judge will evaluate us: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, bury the dead.
Christ the King offers hope in the time of challenge and doubt, when we are worn down and question why things happen the way they do or to whom they do. He offers strength in the time of trial and temptation, when we know we cannot go it alone.
There is a famous patting by Herbert Schmaltz entitled “The Silent Witness”. It shows the interior of a church with weary soldiers lying on the straw floor. One of them is leaning on his arm, gazing intently up at a vision. He sees the transfigured Christ before a background of radiant light. The reflection throws a touch of brightness on the wounded head of Christ on which rests his crown, the crown of thorns. Christ is King, the king of truth and life, the king of holiness and grace, the king of justice, love and peace. Christ is our king and will give us hope, if only we would look up from the distractions of this world and see his crown of thorns, worn for us. Give praise to Christ, our king.