By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
Solemnity of Christ the King: November 24, 2019
2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43
Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever! Jesus Christ is the king – yesterday, today and forever! We celebrate the Kingship of Christ this Sunday – what a wisdom for the Church to invite the faithful to end the liturgical year with their King. And next Sunday we would begin a new liturgical year. Today, the readings invite us to reflect on the kingship that Christ holds and the way he exercises it!
How many types of leaders we have – there are those that showcase themselves to ‘saviours’ of human kind but make choices and alliances that promote nothing but their own interests, there are those who show themselves to be champions of rights and turn out to be no different from the oppressive ones when it comes to certain situations, there are those who are outspoken but at times totally unaware as to what they speak builds or breaks, and unfortunately there are a majority who care truly nothing about those whom they would rule or govern and specially those in need or those difficulties but fend for themselves and their own! How many…. and how many colours they change! We are presented today with Jesus, who remains the same yesterday, today and forever!
St. Paul summarises the entire feast that we celebrate today, in just three verses in the second reading – Col 1: 17,18,20.
CHRIST IS before all things, and in him all things hold together (Col 1:17). The first reading establishes the kingship of Jesus in the line of David – God makes David the king of Israel and promises that his line will never end. In fact, in God’s mighty plan, the kingship seems eternal, without beginning or end, for God places David a king, to rule in God’s name and for Israel it was always Yahweh, who was the King! When Jesus claimed, ‘before Abraham ever was, I am’ (Jn 8:58), they were unable to grasp it; let us not blame them, even we do not grasp it. Because, we human beings cannot think out of the categories of time and space. God is eternal, which means timeless! God has always been… and that is from where everything good comes.
Every leadership in Christian community therefore derives from God; it is an invitation, a commitment to act on behalf of God, at the service of God’s people! Jesus Christ is King, Jesus Christ has been king from eternity, as the first-born of all creation, to him all glory and majesty! True Christian leadership is a participation in this ministry that Jesus carried out while he lived on earth: the ministry of love and service.
CHRIST LIVES in each of us, through him God is pleased to reconcile all things on earth or heaven (Col 1:20). The verse speaks to us of a future, of the universal harmony in the One Lord, One God, the new earth and new heaven where only Love will reign, that is, only God will reign, for God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Everything that moves towards harmony, peace, love, fellowship and universal brotherhood and sisterhood, resembles Christ. And anything that militates against these values of reconciliation, is against Christ.
Jesus Christ is King, Jesus will be forever the king. Everything, everyone is moving towards that union with God, in Christ our Lord. It fills us with a hope, despite all the tribulations we go through here and now. But it is not automatic, it all depends on the choices we make today. If we choose the Lord, we endear the Lord. On the contrary, if we choose the passing glories and fleeting pleasures of the moment, that is what we will have. As St.Paul instructs us elsewhere, if you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit (Gal 6:8).
CHRIST RULES as the head of the body, the church (Col 1:18). The Gospel presents us a strange sort of a King. Jesus is the one who rules…who rules from the Cross as his throne, who rules with the thorns as his crown, who rules not with the sceptre in his hands but with the marks of nail on his hands, who rules not with laws but with love, a love that abounds without any measure whatsoever.
The most important truth to reflect on today, is the fact that the ruler has appointed you and me as his ambassadors – the ruler is not understood, so will we be -not understood; the ruler is not welcome into the schools and public places and the moral arena in the world today, so will we be not welcome to voice our opinions for truth and for justice. But as his ambassador, what should I do? What am I ready to do?
Yes, Christ is King, but I am his ambassador, wherever I am… in my service of love, in my witness of faith, in my joy of hope, in my testimony of humility, in my commitment to truth and in my yearning for justice, I have to prove myself that I am the ambassador of that Eternal King. How worthy am I of the king whom I represent! How faithful and loyal am I to the King who has died for me, and who calls me to do the same! You are the people of God, Royal Priesthood says the Word, yes, that is what we are…we share the kingship with Christ – a kingship that consists in loving service to humanity and loving surrender to the Lord!
Long live my King! And let me today live my life worthy of my King!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him.
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