CHRIST KING OF PEACE
What marks the kingship and reign of Christ from every other kingship or reign is peace. The kingship and reign of men have always been one of violence, bloodshed and lack of enduring peace. The British movie “THE GAMES OF THRONES” depicts this horrible reality and the characteristics of the reigns and kingships of men.
Even up till today, we see the bloody reign of men in the monarchic systems that are left and more in the political system of dominance and control in the world. The world is full of everything but short of peace. From human conflicts and cybersecurity alerts to nuclear threats, our lives are not in peace but in strife.
This is the most urgent reason why the kingship and reign of Christ should and must to establish in our lives, families, churches institutions and the world. Without Christ, the world is in turmoil. Christ is the king of peace whose mercy and graciousness are above everything else.
OUR THEME
Therefore, the main theme of this Sunday celebration is the call to let Christ, the King of Peace and Mercy reign in us and through us in a world short of peace.
The readings of this Sunday describe the enthronement of Christ as the victorious King of heaven and earth in glory.
Hence, today, we celebrate the last and thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time of the year C. It is also the Solemnity of Christ the Universal King. The readings invite us to reflect on the qualities of Christ’s Kingship and his Kingdom.
WHY THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING?
This Feast of Christ, the King was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI when proclaimed: “Pax Christi in Regno Christi” (the peace of Christ in the reign of Christ). This means that we live in the peace of Christ when we surrender our lives to him every day, accepting him as our God, Lord, Saviour, and King and allowing him to reign over and in our lives.
FIRST READING: 2 SAMUEL 5:1-3
In the first reading 2 Sam. 5:1-3, the people´s king David was acclaimed in anticipation of Christ´s kingship. The King: pastor, guide and protector of the people. In other words, the King is for the people, he is a shepherd and leader for the people, even if he was anointed by God for the people.
It describes all the tribes of Israel choosing Israel’s second king, the great David, as their “shepherd” and “commander.” David’s successful 40-year reign became the model for the hoped-for Messiah– the Christ or the Anointed One in later Judaism.
SECOND READING: COLOSSIANS 1:12-20
St. Paul in Col 1:12-20 acclaimed Christ and his Kingdom of glory, peace, light, victory, mercy, love and justice. For St. Paul, Christ is a redeeming King whose life, passion and death offered reconciliation and salvation to all.
Paul quoting an early Christian hymn assures the Colossian Christians of:
(1) The primacy of Christ over and above all angels and cosmic powers.
(2) The value and necessity of the cross which is the victory of Christ the King over sin, death, evil and powers that are there.
(3) The cosmic effects of Christ’s salvation over all creation.
THE GOSPEL: LUKE 23:35-43
Luke 23:35-43 gives us an account of a mocked, despised, belittled, and maltreated King with all the mighty, power, and authority and yet humble and merciful King that assumed the nature and condition of a slave to redeem us all with an everlasting promise: “Today, I assure you, you will be with me in Paradise”.
1. We need to accept Christ the King as our God, Lord, King, and Saviour and surrender our lives to him.
2. Christ should be acclaimed as King only with our lips but with our bodies, thought, heart and will.
3. We must be humble and serve the Disciples of Christ a mighty and powerful, yet humble and serving King.
4. We must allow Christ’s kingdom of Peace, Love, Mercy, Joy, Light, and Justice to reign through us to the world without peace, love, mercy, joy and full of darkness and injustice.
Indeed, Luke presents us with an image of Christ a Powerless King of the Cross, suffering and dead who was mocked, insulted and humiliated, yet showed mercy and forgiveness to all especially the condemned and dying, repented and good thief.
LESSONS FOR LIFE FROM THE GOSPEL PASSAGE
1. The best way to honour Christ our King is to work to develop his project of mercy among us. Whatever we do to help the deprived and underprivileged is also a service to Christ, who identifies himself personally with people in need.
2. Following Christ the King is not the passive option of “keeping myself to myself” or “I do harm to anyone.”
3. To ignore the needs of our neighbour is to close our ears to Christ. To turn aside from the anguish of the dying is to shut our eyes to him.
4. If we follow Jesus Christ as our Shepherd-king we must in some way be shepherds ourselves, for his sake.
5. Abuse of power or authority especially for those who despise or fell to recognise us is not Christ’s way of leadership. Christ, it is normal to be powerful and to fill very powerlessly the amidst many seeming situations.
6. Here we learn good leaders who must take critics and despises from the people we care for. He must be willing to let go of insults and mockeries of the subjects.
7. Though mighty must learn to be humble with the use of power and authority to determine their fate or destiny in our care.
8. We need to assess our commitment to Christ the King today. By cultivating in our lives the gentle and humble mind of Christ and showing others that Jesus Christ is our King and that he is in charge of our lives.
THE REIGN AND KINGSHIP OF CHRIST
Indeed, Christ is King of the Universe; visible and invisible, yet his kingship and kingdom must be felt in our hearts, lives, families, homes, churches, institutions, villages, towns, cities and nations. He cannot be lip-praised and worship with songs and shouting, he must also reign in us.
Today, we pray to Christ our King, Lord and Shepherd that his kingship and kingdom as the Preface prayer of today’s celebrated articulated; is a kingdom of Truth and Life, kingdom of Holiness and Grace, the kingdom of Justice, Love, Peace and Mercy come among us and reign forever.
May Christ in his mercy, love and grace for us, help us to be like the good thief to take advantage of his rich and unfathomable mercy to reach out every time or moment to the Shepherd-King of our souls.
OUR PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ: My Lord and King, it is very hard today to find among the leaders of the world, the Church, and the family, these qualities of love, peace, mercy and justice. As we acclaim Lord and King, may it not just be a lips-praises or a simple eye-service of Christ rituals, but a living reality of accepting your kingdom of love, peace, mercy justice, and light to reign in us, in our heart and among us. Amen!
One Comment