Cycle C - Year II:  

20 November 2016: Solemnity of Christ the King

(Liturgical color: White)

Gospel: Please read  Luke 23:35-43

King of the Universe!

This Sunday we end the liturgical year with the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King. This is fitting because our Lord Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of creation: He is the beginning and the end of human history and of the created world, and through Him "all things were created and by whom the world is being restored to the Father."

Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King 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 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.

How do Filipinos relate to the celebration of Christ the King?  Since we are a democratic country, we have no experience of being under a king as a nation.

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Turning to the scriptural reading, we find it not much of help either, so it seems at first glance, in trying to understand Christ as King. Because the Gospel reading from St. Luke presents to us Jesus as He was dying on the cross. In other words, He sat not on a kingly throne but nailed on a wooden cross with a crown of thorns; he wore no royal robe but stripped to His loin clothes. How can He be a king in this way?

Also, our knowledge of kings is usually associated with power and authority. And in the real world, particularly our own experience with our political leaders, all too often what comes to mind when we talk of power and authority is dominion over the weak, and worst, associated with deception, corruption and exploitation.

Yet for Christians we know that it is not so with Jesus' kingship. For He is a King who exercises a totally different kind of power.

Let us reflect deeper on the Gospel passage to know about Jesus' brand of being a King.

Jesus is not a king in the usual, earthly sense that we are familiar with. He did not come to establish political or military power. He did not come to govern a country or raise an army. He Himself said so that He was not an earthly king: "My kingdom is not of this world." (Jn 18:36)

How do we uncover the real dimension of Christ's kingship? The Gospel account on Christ on the cross presents to us a glimpse into the mystery of our Lord's kingdom where His kingship is not through dominion but made of service by love. On the cross before His last breath, Jesus forgives and saves the repentant thief, Dimas, who asks for His forgiveness. Thus, Jesus is a King who welcomes to His kingdom all those who need most of His mercy.

But when our faith is shaken by what is happening to our nation lately, we ask whether Christ still reigns in our world today?

It is a challenging question but we find the answer in the very example of Dimas as he himself was dying on the cross. Even though his life on earth was about to end, Dimas realized in his waning moments that Christ's kingdom was not best understood by earthly standards. Rather, it is a kingdom that begins within, with a complete surrender in faith to the One ho truly saves, Jesus Christ Himself. In other words, it is a remarkable act of faith that Dimas recognized that Jesus has a kingdom and that He is King of that kingdom.

Perhaps, in the same context that Dimas pleads with Christ for forgiveness ad mercy in his most desperate hours, our Holy Mother Church wants to bring us to the cross of Christ's throne, as the liturgical year closes, where "God rules" over us and the whole world. So that as we begin a new season of hope and joy in the coming of Advent Season and Christmas, we keep the faith, in spite of our trials and suffering, and like Dimas we entrust ourselves completely to Christ, our King, who will set us free from bondage of sin and death in the resurrection to come. For our Lord Jesus Christ is a victorious King, who defeated the moral enemy of human existence -- sin, death and the  evil one.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!