Cycle B, Year II
25 November 2012: Solemnity of Christ the King
(Liturgical color: White)
John 18:33b-37
Jesus reigns!
Today we celebrate a special feast: Solemnity of Christ the King. It is also the last Sunday to end the liturgical season. Thus, the Church will begin a new liturgical year with Advent season, which starts on December 2.
This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI on December 11, 1925 as a way for human beings to proclaim a truth about God that indeed he is the King of kings and the Lord of all creation. Of course, it is a limited concept but it is the highest title human beings can use to refer to Jesus.
Perhaps, our knowledge of kings is usually associated with power and authority. And in the real world all too often what comes to mind when we talk of power and authority is dominion over the weak, and worst, deception, corruption and exploitation.
But it is not so with Jesus, our King. Because he is a King who exercises a totally different kind of power.
Even the Gospel reading from John presents a picture of Jesus that is far from being a king. Because he was a captive Jesus in front of Pontius Pilate. But he did acknowledge his kingship before Pilate: "You say that I am a King. For this I was born and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
In other words, Jesus is a King who exercises a totally different kind of power or reign. His kingship is not one of military might or oppressiveness but rather one of peace, liberation, and above all, service. Thus, Jesus turned the whole concept of leadership and primary upside down. By his example, Jesus showed us that being a ruler is to be a servant of all. This is the whole mystery of the Incarnation: God the Son, King of all creation, humbled himself to become human, even to the extreme of sharing the ultimate fate of his subjects, death.
Jesus as King exercises his role as Judge in a different way too. While human justice is retributive, Christ is restorative, designed to lead us to repentance. Christ knows the weakness of our human flesh as we often fail to submit to him in all ways, which is why he has left us with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Indeed Christ looks at the heart and does not judge us by human standards.
Ironically, Jesus' kingship is proclaimed multiple times while he is on the cross. It is on the cross that the Son of God became human and died a terrible death to release us, his subjects, from captivity of sin. On the cross we proclaim Christ our King: all-powerful but also all-loving, all-merciful and in a loving relationship with his creatures through his Church. We must, therefore, submit to Jesus as our Lord and King, because it is a submission that paradoxically brings with it our liberation, our freedom from sin.
For Christians, we proclaim to the world Christ's Kingship not as a king with a jewel-encrusted crown in purple finery on a golden throne. Rather, he is a crucified God with a crown of thorns hanging half naked on a cross of shame in order to set us free from bondage.
This is Christ the King. He is our King. All praise and homage be to Christ our King. Amen.
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.
25 November 2012: Solemnity of Christ the King
(Liturgical color: White)
John 18:33b-37
Jesus reigns!
Today we celebrate a special feast: Solemnity of Christ the King. It is also the last Sunday to end the liturgical season. Thus, the Church will begin a new liturgical year with Advent season, which starts on December 2.
This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI on December 11, 1925 as a way for human beings to proclaim a truth about God that indeed he is the King of kings and the Lord of all creation. Of course, it is a limited concept but it is the highest title human beings can use to refer to Jesus.
Perhaps, our knowledge of kings is usually associated with power and authority. And in the real world all too often what comes to mind when we talk of power and authority is dominion over the weak, and worst, deception, corruption and exploitation.
But it is not so with Jesus, our King. Because he is a King who exercises a totally different kind of power.
Even the Gospel reading from John presents a picture of Jesus that is far from being a king. Because he was a captive Jesus in front of Pontius Pilate. But he did acknowledge his kingship before Pilate: "You say that I am a King. For this I was born and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
In other words, Jesus is a King who exercises a totally different kind of power or reign. His kingship is not one of military might or oppressiveness but rather one of peace, liberation, and above all, service. Thus, Jesus turned the whole concept of leadership and primary upside down. By his example, Jesus showed us that being a ruler is to be a servant of all. This is the whole mystery of the Incarnation: God the Son, King of all creation, humbled himself to become human, even to the extreme of sharing the ultimate fate of his subjects, death.
Jesus as King exercises his role as Judge in a different way too. While human justice is retributive, Christ is restorative, designed to lead us to repentance. Christ knows the weakness of our human flesh as we often fail to submit to him in all ways, which is why he has left us with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Indeed Christ looks at the heart and does not judge us by human standards.
Ironically, Jesus' kingship is proclaimed multiple times while he is on the cross. It is on the cross that the Son of God became human and died a terrible death to release us, his subjects, from captivity of sin. On the cross we proclaim Christ our King: all-powerful but also all-loving, all-merciful and in a loving relationship with his creatures through his Church. We must, therefore, submit to Jesus as our Lord and King, because it is a submission that paradoxically brings with it our liberation, our freedom from sin.
For Christians, we proclaim to the world Christ's Kingship not as a king with a jewel-encrusted crown in purple finery on a golden throne. Rather, he is a crucified God with a crown of thorns hanging half naked on a cross of shame in order to set us free from bondage.
This is Christ the King. He is our King. All praise and homage be to Christ our King. Amen.
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.
Deo Optimo Maximo
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