Jesus
Christ, the King
My dear brothers
and sisters,
Today, the holy mother Church celebrates the
solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Universal King. Let us adore Him as the
King of kings and the Lord of lords (Rev 17, 1).
In the First Reading of today from the 2nd Book of
Samuel, we see all the tribes of Israel coming to David in Hebron to make him
their king. The account of David’s anointing speaks of his closeness to the
people and his future role as a shepherd-king. David is the deliverer and shepherd
of his people, thus pre-figuring the mystery of Christ, who is King, Shepherd
and at the same time the lamb slain on the cross for his sheep. That is the
point of Luke’s crucifixion narrative, in which everything said about Jesus
comes to be true: the “chosen one”, the “Messiah”, the “Saviour of all”; the
one who saves himself by surrendering his own life. So what message do we take
home this Sunday? Ask ourself, “Are we, each of us in our own life, following
the way of Jesus? Do we really want to let ourselves be a slave to others?” If
we are going to worship Jesus as our King, we are going to do it according to
his way. The one who is to be first has to be the servant and the slave of all,
has to follow the way of Jesus in the way of reconciliation and love. That’s
how we will bring peace into our own lives and into the world.
We
are invited to live by the Gospel Christ preached; by His values of peace,
Justice and love that Christ shared; and by rules that govern His Kingdom –the
Commandments. The readings exhort us to let Christ reign in our lives, so we
may be truly united with him, and thus be effective witness in Christ’s
kingdom.
In the second reading, Paul reminds us that God: “has created a place for us in the kingdom of the son that
he loves.” What more do we need! We believe that nothing, not even
death, can take away the dream of His Kingdom from us.
My dear brothers and sisters,
The prayer after Communion beautifully sums up
the mystery of Christ we celebrate this Sunday: “Lord, you give us Christ, the
King of all creation, as food for everlasting life. Help us to live by his
Gospel and bring us to the joy of his kingdom”. This last Sunday of the
Liturgical Year challenges us to be more determined to live by the values and
principles of Christ our King, and to be willing to sacrifice ourselves for
those values. Our baptism into the life of Christ was and continues to be a
bold statement to the world: Jesus is Lord and King of our lives. We dream His
dreams. We share His hopes. We believe that nothing, not even death, can take
away the dream of His Kingdom from us. Amen.
Fr. Joseph Pham, O.P.
