Solemnity of Christ the King - November 16, 2014

Ez 34:11-12, 15-17; I Cor 15:20-26, 28; Mt 25: 31-46  

In the Berlin Art Gallery there is a painting by the famous artist Mengel that is only partially finished.  It is supposed to be a painting of King Frederick of Germany talking to his generals.  Mengel painstakingly painted the generals first, placing them around the outside of the painting as a background and leaving a bare patch in the middle of the painting for the King.  But Mengel died before he could finish the painting.  So there is a painting full of generals but no king.  We often spend much time enthroning the generals of insignificance in our lives and postpone inviting Jesus the King of Kings into our hearts till the last moment which is quite uncertain.  As a result, many Christians die without putting Christ into the very center of their lives.  The painting of our lives will never be complete until we place at its center Christ the King whose feast we celebrate today. 

Introduction: The Church celebrates the feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday (34th Sunday) of her liturgical year.  The Franciscan Order was instrumental in establishing this feast and in extending its celebration to the universal Church, following the lead of its great thirteenth century theologians St. Bonaventure and Blessed Duns Scotus.  It was Pope Pius XI who introduced this feast in the liturgy in 1925.  Although Emperors and Kings now exist mostly in history books, we still honor Christ as the King of the Universe, enthroning him in our hearts and allowing him to take control of our lives.  Today the Church presents Jesus, whom we have contemplated preaching, teaching and healing during the 33 Sundays of Ordinary Time, as our King and Lord who was and is the visible presence of God in our midst.  The first reading presents God as a Shepherd reminding us of Christ’s claim that he is the true shepherd.  In the second reading, St. Paul introduces Christ as the all-powerful ruler who raises the dead and to whom every other power and authority must eventually give way. Today’s Gospel presents Christ the King coming in Heavenly glory to judge us, based on how we have shared our love and blessings with others through genuine acts of charity in our lives. Matthew adds a new dimension to the risen Jesus’ presence in the Christian community in the parable of the Last Judgment.  Jesus is present to us now, not only as our good shepherd leading, feeding and healing his sheep, but also as dwelling in those for whom we care.  In the parable of the separation of sheep from goats in the Last Judgment, every person to whom we give ourselves, "whether hungry, thirsty or a stranger, naked, sick or in prison," is revealed to us as having been the risen Jesus.  Our reward or punishment depends on how we have treated this risen Jesus in the needy.

The First reading, Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15:17: The prophet Ezekiel was consoling the Jews exiled in Babylonia, explaining that their exile had been caused by infidelity and disloyalty to God on the part of their Kings and leaders.  In this passage, Ezekiel prophesied that God would eliminate the middle-men, the unfaithful shepherds of His People of Israel, and would Himself become Israel’s Shepherd leading, feeding, healing and protecting His sheep.  Though the prophet originally was talking about a specific point in Israel’s history in which Yahweh would appear to shepherd the Chosen People, Jesus' disciples believed that the risen Jesus was with the early Christians, fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy of God, the Good Shepherd, rescuing, pasturing, seeking, bringing back, and healing his sheep.  No longer limited to His earthly body, the risen Jesus continues his loving ministry through such saving actions as we perform them in Him and with His power.

The Second Reading, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28: In his letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul answered the question: "If Jesus is alive among us by his resurrection, how does he affect our lives?"  Many of the Corinthians believed in Plato’s doctrine that human beings were originally pure spirits or souls who lived in the presence of God.  They sinned and as punishment they had to carry a human body which they shed at death and thus were liberated to return to their state of happiness.  So those Corinthians could not understand how Jesus had been raised with his glorified body.  Paul explained to the Corinthians that as God the Father had raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus too would raise those who believed in him.  In other words, the first mission of the risen Christ as King is to give us eternal life by raising us from death, thus undoing the primary consequence of the first Adam’s sin.  The final mission of Christ the King is to subject all cosmic powers to himself, and then to God his Father.

Exegesis: Kingship of Jesus the Messiah in the Bible.

In most of the messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Micah, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Christ the Messiah is represented as a King.  Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the Prophet Micah announced His coming as King.  "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days"(5:1).  Daniel (7: 13-14), presents Christ as "one coming like a human being ... to him was given dominion and glory and Kingship that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away and his Kingship is one that shall never be destroyed."

The New Testament tells us that Jesus is the long-awaited king of the Jews.  In the Annunciation, recorded in Lk.1: 32-33, we read: “The Lord God will make him a King, as his ancestor David was, and he will be the King of the descendants of Jacob forever and his Kingdom will never end.”  The magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: (Mt. 2:2) “Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews?  We saw his star… and we have come to worship him.”  During the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday, the Jews shouted: (Lk.19: 38) “God bless the King, who comes in the name of the Lord.”  When Pilate asked the question: (Jn.18: 37) “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus made his assertion, “You say that I am a King,” then went on, “For this I was born and came into this world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.” Luke’s Gospel tells us (19: 19), that the board hung over Jesus’ head on the cross read: “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews,” and Jesus (Luke 23: 42-43), promised Paradise to the repentant thief on the cross, who made the request: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”  Before his Ascension into Heaven, Jesus declared: (Mt. 28:18) “I have been given all authority in Heaven and on earth.”  Today’s Gospel on the Last Judgment presents Christ the King coming in his Heavenly glory to judge us.

A unique King with a unique Kingdom: Jesus Christ still lives as King in thousands of human hearts all over the world.  The cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount is his rule of law.  His citizens need obey only one major law: “Love one another as I have loved you."  His love is selfless, sacrificial, kind, compassionate, forgiving and unconditional.  That is why the preface in today’s Mass describes Jesus’ Kingdom as “a Kingdom of truth and life, a Kingdom of holiness and grace, a Kingdom of justice, love and peace.”  He is a King with a saving and liberating mission: to free mankind from all types of bondage, and to enable us to live peacefully and happily on earth and to inherit eternal life in heaven. 

The Kingdom of God is the central teaching of Jesus throughout the Gospels.  The word Kingdom appears more than any other word throughout the four Gospels.  Jesus begins His public ministry by preaching the Kingdom.  "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:14).  In Christ's Kingdom, “we are all a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). According to the teachings of the New Testament, the “Kingdom of God” is a three-dimensional reality: i) the life of grace within every individual who does the will of God, ii) the Church here on earth, and iii) eternal life in Heaven.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that the Church is the Kingdom of Christ already present in mystery.  It is the mission of the Church to proclaim and establish the Kingdom of Christ in human souls.  This mission takes place between the first coming and the second coming of Christ.  The Church helps us to establish Christ’s Kingdom in our hearts, thus allowing us to participate in God's inner life.  We are elevated and transformed through Sanctifying Grace.  This supernatural life of grace comes to fulfillment in the eternal life of Heaven.

Life messages: 1) We discover our hidden King and God in the suffering millions.  One of the first lessons that grow out of this parable of the Last Judgment is that our God is a hidden God Who hides himself and Who goes incognito wearing a mask. When our God is being crucified today in the suffering millions, He is the most hidden God.  Hence, the real message of today’s parable is to seek God hiding behind the faces and in the places of suffering people.  It is an invitation for us to embrace a suffering humanity, just as St. Francis of Assisi did and just as Blessed Mother Teresa did.  The first requirement for doing so is to have the love of Christ inside us.  We can’t embrace hurting people unless the love of God lives in us.  That embrace begins at home, in unselfconscious acts of generosity to one’s husband, wife and family.  We start forgetting ourselves in loving and caring for another person.  This quality of love then spreads from our home to the neighbor down the street and to the man who had a stroke or to a person who was crippled in a car accident.  This love is amplified when I begin to feel that it is my brother who is starving in Asia and Africa and my sister who is starving in Latin America.  I reach out to help because we are a family.  The love of God living inside us begins to reach out to all kinds of people precisely because the same God who lives in me is living in them.

(2) We need to be prepared to answer “Yes” to the king’s six questions: In the parable about the separation of the sheep from the goats at the Last Judgment, Jesus reminds us to get ready to answer “yes” to his six questions based on our corporal and spiritual acts of mercy.  “I was hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, sick, imprisoned; did you help Me?”  When God threatens us with punishment or the withholding of rewards, it is His way of motivating us to do what He wants us to do, just as mature parents have always done.  We are reminded that when we care for the hungry, thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned, we are actually taking care of Jesus who lives behind the faces of these people. Mother Theresa explains that they are, "hungry, not only for bread, but hungry for love; naked not only for clothing, but for human dignity and respect; homeless not only for want of a room of bricks, but homeless because of rejection.  This is Christ in distressing disguise." Jesus lives within these hurting people, behind their eyes, their tears, and their pain.   All the Sacraments and prayers in the Church are meant to make us truly compassionate toward them all and so make us eligible to be rewarded on the day of the Last Judgment by our King and Lord Jesus Christ Whom we have thus helped,

3) The fight against the enemies of Christ’s Kingdom: Terrorism has affected the entire world.  The Kingdom of Christ is under attack by Satan's terrorists.  These terrorists continue to engage in a frontal attack on the modern family by making the evils of abortion, same-sex marriage, cohabitation, and all kinds of greedy exploitation seem “normal” and palatable by means of provocative television shows, movies, internet sites, dance, dress, speech and music. The whole of this campaign is designed and intended to eradicate any recognition of Jesus Christ as our King and Lord.  These terrorists have infiltrated even the ordained ranks of the Catholic Church as evidenced by the scandals of clergy sex abuse cases. Hence, Jesus the King needs convinced apostles prepared and ready to fight against the enemy.  Through Baptism, all of us are called to become dynamic members and to bear committed, active witness to the Kingdom, thereby uniting our forces in order to remedy the decline of religious belief and the erosion of morality in the world.  Thus, and only thus, will the Kingdom of Christ come to reign in the hearts of all peoples.  The battlefield is the home, the school, the place of employment, the neighborhood, and the parish.  These   provide new and exciting challenges to stand up for what is right and new opportunities for  defending the truth of Jesus Christ our King by living lives of Christian virtue, love and service. To ensure that Jesus is always the King of our hearts requires of us great commitment, sacrifice, conviction, hard work and the continuing prayer that we may receive and be transformed by His presence and His grace.

4) We need to use our authority for serving Jesus in our subjects. This feast is an invitation to all those who have power or authority in the government, public offices, educational institutions or in the family to use it to serve Jesus.  Let us examine our own consciences asking the following questions: Are we using our God-given authority in order to serve others?  Are we using it to build a more just society rather than to boost our own egos?  Are we using our power in any way that could help to alleviate pain instead of causing pain?  Let us conclude the Church year by asking the Lord to help us serve the King of Kings to the best of our abilities.  Christus vincit!  Christus regnat!  Christus imperat!  Christ conquers!  Christ rules!  Christ reigns!  God bless you.

As the body of Abraham Lincoln lay in state for a few hours in Cleveland, Ohio for mourners to pay their homage, a black woman in the long queue lifted up her little son and said in a hushed voice: “Honey, take a long, long look. He died for us, to give us freedom from slavery.” Today’s Gospel gives us the same advice presenting the crucifixion scene of Christ our King who redeemed us from Satan’s slavery by his death on the cross.

(Source: Homilies of Fr. Anthony Kadavil)