Once again, we’ve arrived at the end of another
church year. Leading up to today, you may have noticed how the readings have
become increasingly apocalyptic and speak of the end times and the divine
judgment of the earth. To mark the conclusion of this liturgical year, the
Church gives us the feast of Christ the King.
But for us Americans, the notion of a king, is odd
to say the least. And to our forefathers, it would have seemed troubling
indeed. We live in a democracy, founded in reaction to the abuses of kings,
queens, and other royalty. So we might wonder why we celebrate such a feast,
which seems so outdated and unrelated to our social experience.
Now this feast is relatively new in the life of the
Church. It was founded in 1925 by Pope Pius XI for a very practical reason. At that
time, a dictator named Mussolini seized control of Italy and another young man
named Adolph Hitler was gathering support for the Nazi Party. Across the world,
the economy was beginning to fail and peace was faltering only a few years
after the devastating First World War. These were dark times and many were
wondering if God was present or if evil had finally conquered the world. So
Pius XI founded the feast of Christ the King to remind Christians that Jesus
was in charge of the world and history, not evil people and their destructive
plans.
This sounds like a great idea, at least in
principle, but consider the odd mixture of readings that the Church gives us
today. Our first reading comes from second Samuel and tells us about David and
how he is anointed King of Israel. The second reading, from Colossians, follows
this kingly theme and talks about Jesus as the head of all creation, the image
of the invisible Father. But then we have the gospel. The Church doesn’t give
us the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, she gives us
the passage of Jesus hanging on the cross, talking with the good thief. At
first glance, this gospel doesn’t seem to fit here! How does a description of
the victorious and majestic King David, along with Paul’s theological portrait
of the eternal Christ, fit with Jesus hanging on the cross? Isn’t the cross the
sign of Jesus’ defeat? Doesn’t it prove the weakness of our Lord and King? How
can we celebrate a king hanging on a cross, disgraced and broken next to two
common criminals?
But this is certainly no mistake. The Church gives
us this gospel to show us the wisdom of God, which is infinitely wiser than our
own human understanding. The Church gives us this gospel to show us true power and real kingship. So while Hitler and Mussolini and so many others
were snatching up power for themselves and building armies and waging wars; the
Church offered another view of power. This type of power is eternal and humble
and self-sacrificing. It saves, heals, comforts, and brings new life. It shows
mercy to those who repent of their sins and not even death can defeat
this power, shown to us by Christ on the cross. This sovereignty of Christ the
king comes from putting others first and caring for the weak. This is why the Church gives us the
gospel we hear today!!
Now our times aren’t so different from the 1920’s.
We often experience the effects of modern-day Mussolini’s and present-day
Hitler’s; evil people still seize power and oppress the weak. Our world hopes
for peace even while wars rage and terrorists murder the innocent and
defenseless. So many in our world are affected by the struggle for earthly
power and dominance, which causes abuses in marriages, families, and whole
societies. Our times have seen some horrendous attacks on human life and
dignity. People still go hungry; the rich still oppress the poor, good so often
appears to be defeated by evil. We need
the message of hope and comfort given to us by Christ the King just as people
did in 1925!! We need to be reminded that Christ still rules over history, even when things look terrible and
depressing. We need to recall the fact that this world is passing away and the
kingdom of God is coming to take its place for all eternity.
This is the truth of Christ the
King. He is Lord of heaven and
earth. He will return to make things
right and to destroy evil once and for all. But for now he waits and despite
his unlimited power, he gives us a choice, he doesn’t force us to serve him. He
asks us to choose between serving him and serving the world. But we cannot do
both.
Do we allow Christ to be Lord of our lives and king
of our hearts? Or do we allow a desire for earthly power, personal autonomy,
and worldly comfort to take hold of us? Do we choose Christ’s version of power,
with its mandate to serve others and sacrifice ourselves? Or do we seek the
power of this world, which so often crushes and dominates.
The perfect image of our King and Lord is found in
the gospel today with Jesus on the cross. And even while he is dying on the
cross, he finds the strength to show mercy and compassion to the repentant
thief. Despite the fact that Jesus was humiliated and crucified, the good thief
recognized him as a true King and as the
Lord of heaven and earth. I hope that in the midst of all the confusing things
of our society, all of the different elements that compete for our allegiance,
that we too will recognize Christ as our king and make him Lord of our lives.
Our actions already say that this is true; when we walked into Church today we
genuflected and when we receive him in the Eucharist, we will bow. Both are
signs of reverence given to a king. May our hearts do the same and enthrone
Christ in our lives so that when our lives are over we, like the good thief,
might hear him say, “this day you will be with me in paradise.”
