Feast of Christ the King
Well today is the last
Sunday of our church year so Father Marty figured that it would be a good deal
to have the deacons do the homily, so that’s why we’re here today.
Today we’re celebrating the
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Christ the King. The last time that this gospel was read to
you was during a dialogue between Jesus and Pilot at the trial of Jesus during
Holy Week last spring, at the reading of the Passion on April 5, Palm
Sunday. Pilot asked Jesus, “Are you the
King of the Jews?” And then Jesus asked
Pilot if he was saying this for himself or have others told you about me? Pilot answered Jesus saying, “I’m not a Jew
am I?” Next pilot asked Jesus what He
had done to be put up for crucifixion.
And Jesus answered him saying, “My kingdom does not belong to this
world. If My kingdom did belong to this
world my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the
Jews. But as it is My kingdom is not here.” Pilot looked at Him and said, “Then You are a
king.” And Jesus answered, “You say that
I am a king. I was born for this. I came into the world to testify to the
truth.”
As we celebrate Jesus
Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, whose kingdom is not a territory, not a
power, not a wealth but grace. By
serving and loving Jesus we share in the greatest love possible. His kingdom where all is glory. Just where is the kingdom of Jesus? His kingdom is wherever people worship Him,
wherever people listen to His voice and proclaim Him as the Alpha and the
Omega.
My dear friends Jesus should
be first in our lives and also the last.
He is All in All, King of Kings.
And it’s through the crucifixion of Jesus and His rising from the dead
that we made Him our king. Yes, Jesus is
worthy of our worship. Jesus is the
greatest gift that we have ever received.
He died once for all of the sins of the whole world.
When we joined the kingdom
of God we probably didn’t even know it because you joined when you were
baptized. You were baptized into death
and rising as a priest or deacon poured holy water on our heads and said, “I
baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The next thing that happened was this; you
were anointed with the oil of chrism.
The prayer of anointing goes like this; “God the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ has freed you from sin giving you a new birth by water and the
Holy Spirit and welcomed you into His holy people. As Christ was anointed priest, prophet and
king so may you live always as a member of His body sharing everlasting
life.” The oil of chrism was put on the
ball of the top of your head in the shape of a cross. That was when you joined His kingdom here on
earth.
When we ask ourselves, who
do we live for? In Romans 14: 7-12 St.
Paul tells us that we are the Lord’s in these words. “Brothers and sisters, none of us lives for
oneself and no one dies for oneself. For
if we live for the Lord and we die for the Lord so then whether we live on or
die we are the Lord’s.” This is why
Christ died and came to life, that He might be Lord of both the living and the
dead. To Him, our King, may His power
and glory be for ever and ever.
At the close of our
liturgical year we are all reminded that it was Jesus Christ our King who died
on the cross so that we can have eternal life.
No greater love can be given than this, to die for one’s friends. By serving and loving Jesus Christ, King of
Kings, we also share in the greatest love possible, meaning His kingdom where
it is all glory.
Now we who live in the
United States of America have a very limited understanding of kings. When we think about them it tends to be
history or memories rather than from our immediate experience. We who have been lucky enough to travel to
Europe have been in countries that still have a king as head of the government
and those people are ruled over by this king.
But this Sunday we celebrate
a King whose presence and power is Christ, who’s kingdom is not a territory,
not power, but service, not wealth but grace.
I believe what God really wants us to do on this feast of Christ the
King is this; Ask yourself, “Have I given service to my church? My family? My community?
Have I been Christ to other people every day of the week, not just on
Sunday mornings? Have I been fair to the
people that I work with? Have I helped
feed the poor? Have I supported my
church by being a good steward and giving God and His church His fair share of
my earnings? Am I a good neighbor to
those who live next to me? Am I a good
driver and do I share the road with my fellow drivers? Also have I shown people by example that I am
a Christian and treat other people like I like to be treated?”
If someone should ask you
what have you done to show others that you do indeed love and worship Christ
the King, how would you answer that person?
The answer could be, “I have served our King. I have loved Christ the King above all
others, other gods like money, power, and authority.” In this way we have shared in the greatest
love possible, His kingdom where all is glory.
My dear friends, it’s only
through the grace of God that we serve the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. Just a few thoughts of how I feel about how
we should serve Jesus. We should love
one another as Jesus loves us. We should
let go and let God run our lives. We
should try and live out our baptismal promises so that when Jesus comes again
we will be ready to meet him with the soul as white as new-fallen snow. Yes, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the
Light and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
Lastly always remember that
Jesus is the greatest gift that God has ever given to us. We should thank God for Jesus through prayer,
praise and thanksgiving every day of our life.
At the end of Mass the priest or deacon says, “Go in peace to love and server
the Lord and each other.” I challenge
you to do this and see what a difference it will make in your life.
Have a wonderful feast day
today celebrating the feast of Christ the King.
Amen.