CHRIST THE KING FEAST 23

CHRIST THE KING, 34TH SUNDAY, 26 NOVEMBER 2023   Thrust: Hail the true King! Indicative: Christ is king in the truest sense because he reigns over his subjects, takes care of them and constantly works to spread his reign beyond the territories and boundaries   1. We celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King. This 34th Sunday marks the end of the ordinary liturgical year. He is a king with a difference, made and makes a difference and summons his followers too to make a difference. He is a king by contrast. he stands apart from all the rest of the kings. 2. He is king by his very nature. His kingship or kingdom is not something inherited or acquired. It is not something extraneous to him, added from outside. It is his own. He is the Son of God, seated in the kingdom of heaven, beside the Father. 3. He is the king of all, a universal king. There are no boundaries or restrictions. His kingdom is not confined to some specified territory. His subjects are not defined by any particular area or religion or language or culture. People of the whole universe belong to him. There are no divisions or discrimination. There are no exclusions. 4. He is a spiritual king. His kingship is not earthly or worldly. He does not fight wars with the other kings to conquer their kingdoms. He does not sit on an earthly throne and rule over his people, demarcated by a certain territory. He rules in the spiritual realm. He reigns over hearts. 5. He is a peaceful king. In his reign, there is peace and harmony. There is no violence or bloodshed. He does not use violent means to dominate and subjugate others. Death and destruction are totally out of his kingship. 6. He is a humble king. There is no pomp, no display of self-glory and no craving or striving for it. There are no traces of pride and arrogance in him. Though all glory belongs to him and he is above all, he does not suppress them or overpower them. He humbled himself to become an ordinary human being like us. Though Son of God and possessed all the divine power of working miracles and wonders, he never paraded his greatness and sought to impress others. 7. He is a gentle and meek king. There is no particle of rudeness or harshness. He would treat even his deadliest enemies with the utmost gentleness, and respect. He would certainly rebuke, admonish and correct regarding truth and authenticity. But he would never despise or degrade anyone. 8. He is a virtuous king. Unlike many other kings and rulers, he does not carry the baggage of weaknesses or defects. He is not subject to any vices or addictions. There is no malice or guile in him. There is no negative that he tries to hide within. 9. He is an authentic king. There is no iota of duplicity or hypocrisy in him. He does not say one thing and do the opposite. He practises what he preaches. He lives what he believes. He follows what he expects from others. He is what he appears outside whereby there is no contradiction between his interior and exterior. There is no falsity or pretension in them. 10. He is a sacrificing king. He empties himself for the sake of filling others. He impoverishes himself so as to enrich others. He lowers himself so as to raise others to dignity. Cross is the biggest testimony of his sacrifice and self-effacement. He even dies so as to revive and renew with new and eternal life. 11. He is a healing king. This is one key ingredient of his mission. He came to heal the sick, to restore them to health. This is holistic health, and not limited only to the physical aspect. Real health is when the person is able to live with human dignity and experience the beauty and joy of life. 12. He is a merciful and forgiving king. He never condemns others, even the greatest sinner. He never refuses to offer forgiveness to others, even when done the greatest harm. Forgiveness for him is not a favour given at one’s convenience; rather it is an obligation. He does not keep an account of our sinfulness. All that he wants is to repent and return to him. 13. He is a passionate king. There is no room for tepidity or lukewarmness in him. Indifference and mediocrity would be frightened to go near him. Zeal for God and His mission is like an ever-burning fire. 14. He is a shepherding king. He takes meticulous care of his subjects. He leads them to pastures, fresh and green. He feeds them, nourishes and strengthens them. He never neglects them. He never subjects them to starvation and malnutrition. 15. He is a valiant and persevering king. He waged a relentless battle against evil. He was assaulted violently all through his life. Even on the cross also, he was tempted to go against God’s plan and go his own way. He was criticised and persecuted for his goodness and integrity. But he would never relent. 16. He is a saving king. This is the fundamental purpose for which he incarnated himself. He came to remit our sins by the shedding of his blood on the cross. Thus he redeemed us. 17. He is a leader-king. He leads us by example. He not only knows the way, not only shows the way but also walks the way, walks us in the same way and leads us to destiny.   Imperative: Let us learn to give up our petty self-made kingdoms. Let us stop being arrogant and puffed-up kings. Let us learn to follow the one king. Let us strive to spread his kingdom of love and truth   (Reflection 2) Focus: Christ is the king of the universe. But it is not in terms of power and subjugation. Rather it is in terms of love and animation 1.      Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King with great joy and honour. This Sunday marks the last Sunday of the ordinary liturgical year as we will step into the holy season of Advent next Sunday. This placement at the end of the ordinary year can indicate something significant: our whole life with all its ordinariness culminates in the kingship of Christ. We find our end and fulfillment under the reign of Christ. Our entire life must be geared and oriented toward Christ the Lord. 2.      The concepts of king, kingship, and kingdom are not strange to us. History has seen a great many kings and kingdoms, both benevolent and malevolent, both just and unjust, righteous and wicked, promotive and destructive. But when we say and celebrate Christ as King, there is an enormous difference. 3.      One obvious and explicit difference is he is a king with no demarcated territory of the kingdom. There are no boundaries. There are no disparities or inequalities. It is a boundless, boundaryless kingdom. It is a way of life. It is open to all and embraces all. There is equity and justice. There is no hierarchy of higher or lower, no scope for subjugation and suppression. There is no division or discrimination. There is no partiality or favouritism. 4.      There is no aggression or violence. There is no death and destruction. There is no falsity or deception. There is no manipulation and corruption. There is no ruthless seeking power and popularity. Rightly, he is a king of hearts. He is the king of souls. He is the king of communities and families. He is a spiritual king. 5.      Thus his kingdom is not a location or domain. It is a reign and ambience of love, justice, mercy, joy, and peace. It is a reign of truth and authenticity, loyalty and commitment. It is where one readily makes himself “the first to become the last and the servant”. It is the divine reign where one “serves and not craves to be served”. It is where one loves selflessly even to the extent of “dying for the other”. It is where one seeks relentlessly the will of God. It is where one can affirm courageously, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let everything happen according to your holy word and will”. 6.      In sum, Christ is king when and where he reigns with his virtues and values. Where there is love and not hatred, peace and not violence, reconciliation and not retaliation, forgiveness and not grudge, altruism and not egoism, truth and not duplicity, humility and not arrogance, unity and parity and not division and discrimination, magnanimity and not malice, generosity and not jealousy, purity and not pollution – there and then is Christ the king, his kingship and kingdom. 7.      Today, many followers of this unparalleled and unique king sadly “profane” and “secularize” their king because they themselves are such, stung by high profanity and mundanity. They forget that they are citizens of a spiritual kingdom and not a temporal one. They forget that it is a spiritual reign and not a material domain or gain. They forget the very fact that they are only members and subjects and not the king or master themselves. They ignore the very pillars of this kingdom and build petty kingdoms with worldly pillars and ingredients.   Direction: Time is ripe now to demolish all the false kingdoms based on money, manipulation, deception, corrupt power and lording authority, discrimination, aggression, malice, and destruction. Let our prayer be sincere: “Let  your kingdom come!"