Homily originally presented November 25, 2018
There’s but one King, who governs all, and lives forever!
There’s a beautiful Hymn that Catholic Priests all around the world will sing or say to begin Morning Prayer on Sunday ... the Solemnity of Christ the King.
Hail, Redeemer, King divine!
Priest and Lamb, the throne is thine;
King whose reign shall never cease,
Prince of everlasting peace.
Angels, saints, and nations sing:
“Praised be Jesus Christ, our King;
Lord of earth and sky and sea,
King of love on Calvary.”
Christ, thou King of truth and might,
Be to us eternal light,
Till in peace each nation rings
With thy praises, King of kings.
This short little hymn announces three attributes of Jesus
that we celebrate today in this Solemnity of Christ the King.
First, His title is King ... announced 6 times ... twice in each of the 3 stanzas.
Second, His span of Kingship is vast, encompassing all nations, earth and sea &.sky.
Third, His duration of Kingship is unending, it is a reign that will never end.
This little Hymn summarizes the understanding
that the first Christians had after the Resurrection.
They knew that now... there was a new King ... not just of Jerusalem ...
but of all nations!
and they saw it as their job to announce this truth … to the whole world!
And just as people today go to big cities like New York or Chicago or Los Angeles to spread big news, the early Christians went to big cities around the Mediterranean
St. Peter and St. Paul went many places ... and both ended up in Rome,
the center of culture and civilization at the time of Christ.
Everywhere they went they spoke of Christ’s Kingship ... that He is the Lord of all,
and for that they were both killed
Peter by crucifixion in 65 AD and Paul by beheading in 67 AD.
A few years later, in 70 AD, the Romans went & destroyed the city of Jerusalem!
And when they got back to Rome, they built a huge stone structure to commemorate their destruction of Jerusalem ... it’s known as the Arch of Titus.
An image on the side of the stone arch shows Roman Soldiers carrying the Jewish menorah candelabra out of the Temple … to show that their victory brought
the end of the Jewish religion ... and the end of the God of Israel.
Well, that wasn’t the case.
While their destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem radically changed the way that the Jews would practice their religion ... it in no way eliminated the God of Israel!
What they failed to see was that ... through St. Peter and St. Paul ...
who they had killed a few years before, the God of Israel had come to Rome …
and from Rome, God’s Church would grow to encompass the whole world.
Peter & Paul were killed because they openly professed that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
You see, for them to proclaim that in Rome … those were fighting words.
Because the Romans had another saying, namely, “Caesar is lord!”
The Evangelist Mark, who wrote his Gospel shortly after the fall of Jerusalem,
also used seemingly subversive and revolutionary words that would challenge the Roman authority.
He opens his Gospel saying, “The Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
We’re so comfortable with those words today that we might not see
how truly antagonistic they would have been to the Roman royalty.
The Romans used the words “Good News” to announce victory in battle ...
while the Good News of the Apostles didn’t have a thing to do with Caesar …
rather it had to do with someone Caesar put to death ...
someone the Apostles were claiming to be alive again!
Moreover, the title “son of god” was an imperial title
that the Romans attached to their King … Caesar was called son of god.
And now Mark was saying that not Caesar ... but Jesus Christ was the Son of God!
So those were fighting words … and you may wonder ... who won the fight?
Well … fast forward 2000 years ... to a beautiful day in Rome, April of 2005, when newly elected, Pope Benedict XVI came out & waved to the people
from the balcony of St. Peters Basilica.
Surrounding him were many of the Cardinals who had just elected him as Pope.
And standing at the edge of the balcony was Cardinal George ...
the former Archbishop of Chicago (who died 10 yrs. later in 2015).
The TV cameras caught Cardinal George
peering out over the crowd with a very pensive look on his face.
When he got back to Chicago, the reporters there asked him,
“What were you thinking about as you looked out from the Balcony of St. Peter’s?
Cardinal George said,
“I was gazing over to the Palatine Hill where the Roman Emperors once reigned ...
and the Circus Maximus where they watched the persecutions of the Christians … and I thought … where are their successors now?”
I wondered, “Where is the successor of Julius Caesar?
Where is the successor of Marcus Aurelius?”
They’re not here!
“But if you want to see the successor of Peter,
he’s standing right next to me … smiling and waving to the crowds!”
Wow! What a powerful insight!
The Coliseum and the Circus Maximus are still standing in Rome … in ruins.
And the leaders who once reigned there are gone … no successors are alive.
St. Peter’s Basilica is still standing in Rome ... the largest church in the world ...
it is beautiful ... and there on the balcony ...
stood the 264th Successor of Peter ... waving to the people!
Who won? You tell me!
one JC ... Julius Caesar ... is dead.
another JC ... Jesus Christ ... is alive!
No one owes allegiance to a dead person.
It’s only to Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, that we owe our allegiance.
So, the Good News of St. Peter and St. Paul is still true … Jesus Christ is Lord!
Fr. Robert Barron emphasizes this in his DVD series called “Catholicism”,
pointing out that only Jesus Christ
fulfilled the 4 tasks that were prophesized for the Messiah, namely:
- He gathered the Tribes,
- He cleansed the Temple,
- He dealt with the enemies of Israel, and
- He now reigns as Lord of the Nations.
It’s that 4th accomplishment that we celebrate today on this feast of Christ the King!
Why do we celebrate this feast?
Well, 93 years ago, in 1925, Pope Pius XI ... wrote an Encyclical Quas Primas emphasizing that the kingdom of Christ embraces all mankind.
Pope Pius wrote this in response to growing nationalism and secularism
around the world that he saw as strong opponents of the Church.
Sure enough, during the 1930’s, in Russia and Mexico and Germany and Italy and Japan ... atheistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church …
but civilization itself ... drawing the whole world into war!
Pope Pius’ encyclical gave Catholics hope … that while governments of men around them crumbled … the kingdom of Jesus Christ would endure forever.
The Prophet, Daniel prophesized this truth in our First Reading today, saying, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away. His Kingship shall not be destroyed.”
2 weeks from now when we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we’ll hear Angel Gabriel use similar words when he announces to Mary that ...
the son she would bear would be named Jesus, the Son of the Most High, and
“the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever and of His Kingdom there would be no end.”
Old Testament and New ... both declare the permanent Kingship of Jesus.
So there is a King .... a Permanent King of all the Nations.
He lives now and forever.
His name is Jesus.
You know, we’re so comfortable thinking of Jesus as the Good Shepherd ...
picturing Him as King might be quite a shift.
But you see, Jesus is more than just a gentle God ...
who picks up lost sheep and carries them home.
Jesus is the King of ... earth and sea and sky. He is the King of all Nations.
And what do people owe to their king? Allegiance and obedience.
Pope Francis puts it this way: (I quote)
Jesus is not a King according to earthly ways. Rather, “his reign
is not to command, but to obey the Father, to give himself over to the Father,
so that his plan of love and salvation may be brought to fulfillment.
Salvation does not begin with confessing Christ’s sovereignty, but with
the imitation of Jesus’ works of mercy through which He brought about His kingdom.
Jesus brought about His Kingdom through His closeness and tenderness towards us.
The Gospel teaches what Jesus’ Kingdom requires of us:
It reminds us that closeness and tenderness are the rule of life for us also, and that on this basis we will be judged ... (namely) the imitation of Jesus’ works of mercy.
The one who accomplishes these works shows he has welcomed Christ’s sovereignty.
In the twilight of our life we will be judged on our love for, closeness to and tenderness towards our brothers and sisters.
Upon this will depend our entry into, or exclusion from, the Kingdom of God.
His Kingdom begins now – by being close in concrete ways to our brothers and sisters who ask for bread, clothing, acceptance, solidarity, catechesis.
If we truly love them, we will be willing to share with them what is most precious to us: Jesus himself and His Gospel.
Wow! What lasting wisdom ... from the 265th Successor of Peter!
He’s reminding us that we still have a King, Jesus, who reigns now and forever.
And what does our King want us to do?
He wants us to do what He does ... which is ...
to build up the Kingdom of God through our closeness & tenderness towards others.
Are we doing that?
Are we obeying our King? Are we showing our allegiance to our King?
Now would be a good time to take stock of our lives ... because the day is coming
where the King will come and separate the sheep from the goats ...
and only the sheep will enter into the Christ’s Heavenly Kingdom
We affirm our belief in this truth each time we pray the Nicene Creed and say,
“He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead …
and his kingdom will have no end.”
Our country doesn’t have a king … but we ... have a king … Jesus Christ.
There are many nations without a King … but there is a King of all nations!
For as we heard in our Second Reading from Revelation,
“Jesus is the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”
Yes, Jesus is a King … as Pilate concluded while interrogating Jesus.
Jesus is the King of Heaven and Earth.
Our task, as His followers,
is to prepare ourselves and others for the coming of God’s Kingdom.
We voice our commitment to this … each time we pray the Our Father, saying
“Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”
Today, let’s thank the Father for such a great & mighty King, His only Son.
Jesus is God. He is all powerful. He is ever-living and He leads us with love.
If we follow him, we’ll never have to worry about who governs us on earth.
Let’s pray for the grace to be obedient to our King and to follow Him ...
as He leads us to His Kingdom that never ends.
As Cardinal George wondered,
“Where are the followers of Julius Caesar?” They’re nowhere to be found!
Earthly Kings will come and go, they always have and always will,
but Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, will live and reign ... forever and ever.
Where are the followers of Jesus Christ? Right here!
We are his followers! Some 2.3 Billion around the world!
Our King is alive ... in Heaven ... and in our hearts.
So let’s follow Him … through this life ... and into Eternal Life ...
Let’s follow Him ... both now and forever. Amen.
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Vatican City, Nov 23, 2014 / 09:48 am (CNA/EWTN News).-
On the Feast of Christ the King, during the canonization Mass of six new saints, Pope Francis said that Jesus Christ’s kingdom comes through his works of mercy--works that Christians must imitate with tenderness.
“In the twilight of life we will be judged on our love for, closeness to and tenderness towards our brothers and sisters,” the Pope said Sunday to myriad people in St. Peter’s Square. “If we truly love them, we will be willing to share with them what is most precious to us, Jesus himself and his Gospel.”
“Jesus is not a King according to earthly ways,” the Holy Father said. Rather, “his reign is not to command, but to obey the Father, to give himself over to the Father, so that his plan of love and salvation may be brought to fulfillment.”
“Salvation does not begin with confessing Christ’s sovereignty, the Pope said, but with “the imitation of Jesus’ works of mercy through which he brought about his kingdom.” In so doing one opens “his heart to God’s charity.”
Tens of thousands of people attended the Nov. 23 Mass in Saint Peter’s Square, which featured the canonizations of six men and women. Four of the new saints were from Italy: Giovanni Antonio Farina, Ludovico da Casoria, Nicola da Longobardi and Amato Ronconi. The other two were from India: Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Eufrasia Eluvathingal.
The Pope said Jesus “brought about his kingdom... through his closeness and tenderness towards us.”
Pope Francis then turned his reflection to the day’s Gospel reading from Matthew 25, where Jesus Christ commends those who have inherited the Kingdom: “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”
This reading “reminds us that closeness and tenderness are the rule of life for us also, and that on this basis we will be judged,” the Pope explained.
Pope Francis spoke of the new saints canonized at the beginning of the Mass. He said each of them “served the kingdom of God, of which they became heirs, precisely through works of generous devotion to God and their brothers and sisters.”
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