SOLEMNITY OF MARY THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD (Jan 1, 2023) Numbers 6:22-27, Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21

 

In 1929, just 17 days short of his 9th birthday, the young Karol Wojtyla — the future Pope John Paul II — came home from the school in the evening. He was accustomed to see his father — a strong soldier in the Polish army — praying on his knees on their parlor’s hardwood floor. That day, when the young Karol, saw his father praying, he saw his dad’s knees bathing in a pool of tears. “What’s wrong, Papa?” the young future Pope asked his dad. “Karol, your mother has died!” was his father’s reply. Not knowing quite what to do, the eight-year-old ran out of his home to the local parish Church in Wadowice, less than half a block from the Wojtyla apartment. He entered the Church and almost instinctively ran up the aisle of the Church to a kneeler in front of a statue of our Lady and, with his own tears, said to her: “Blessed Mother of Jesus, I don’t know why God took my mother to His Home at the time He did. But I do know one thing: YOU are my mother now!” The Holy Father, who entrusted himself to our Lady before his ninth birthday, continued to consecrate himself to her ever after. His very motto, “Totus Tuus,” comes from a prayer of consecration to our Lady written by St. Louis de Montfort, which he prayed every day: “I am all yours, O Mary, and all I have is yours. I take you completely into my home. Give me your heart, O Mary,” so that I may love God with it. 

 

Today we celebrate the oldest of all Marian feasts in our liturgy, most appropriate for those of us concerned with new beginnings, new resolutions, and renewed hopes. Today’s Feast of Mary, the Mother of God, is a very appropriate way to begin a new year. Our ideal motto for the New Year 2023 should be “” To Jesus through Mary!” This is an occasion to renew our devotion to Mary, who is also Mother of the Church because she is our spiritual mother — and we are the Church.

There are 19 Marian feast days, solemnities, and memorials on the liturgical calendar, ranging from the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God on January 1 to the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12. There are May devotions to Mary, and October is the month of the Holy Rosary, of which Mary is Queen. And then of course the Church has dedicated every Saturday to the Blessed Virgin.

The Church puts this feast of this solemnity today on the first day of the New Year to emphasize the importance of Mary’s role in the life of Christ and of the Church. She has a special role and mission given to her by God. As Mother of our Redeemer and of the redeemed, she reigns as the Queen at the side of Christ the King. She is a powerful intercessor for all of our needs here on earth. In celebrating her special feast day, we acknowledge this great gift for the Church and world; we call on her to be actively involved in our daily life; we imitate her virtuous life as a great inspiration; and we cooperate with all the graces we get through her.”

 

The shepherds mentioned in today’s gospel are models for every Christian. They clarify what's most important in life: seeking Christ, sharing Christ, and rejoicing in Christ. But life for the shepherds didn’t end on Christmas. They had to return to the humdrum of the daily grind. And after today, we will too.

How can we keep the meaning and lessons of Christmas shining in our hearts even after we take down the Christmas lights? Mary, whose motherhood we remember in a special way today, gives us the secret. 

Mary didn't let life's hustle and bustle drown out the beauty and wonder of Christmas.  St Luke tells us that "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."  God did not tell Mary his entire plan. We know much more than she did about how everything was going to work out. She had to walk in the dim light of faith, one step at a time, trusting in God, witnessing his action, and seconding it whenever she could. But she paid attention.

She pondered in her heart all of God's gifts to her, all of his words and deeds. Today in Holy Communion we will receive the Body of Christ, which was formed in the womb of Mary. When we do, let's ask our spiritual Mother, the Mother of God and of all Christians, to teach us how to take care of the precious faith we have received and renewed during these days, just as she took care of the baby Jesus.

In today’s Scripture God gives Moses and Aaron the formula they should use while conferring the Divine blessing upon the Israelites. That biblical blessing is very appropriate for us to receive on this New Year day:  “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His Face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His Countenance upon you and give you peace” , today and every day of the coming year.

 CHRISTMAS DAY : Is 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14  

Eight-year-old Benny died of AIDS in 1987. CBS made a movie drama about the trauma called Moving Toward the Light. As Benny lies dying in his mother’s arms, he asks, “What will it be like?” His mother whispers softly in his ear, “You will see a light, Benny, far away — a beautiful, shining light at the end of a long tunnel. And your spirit will lift you out of your body and start to travel toward the light. And as you go, a veil will be lifted from your eyes, and suddenly, you will see everything … but most of all, you will feel a tremendous sense of love.” “Will it take long?” Benny asks. “No,” his mother answers, “not long at all. Like the twinkling of an eye.” — Many families have been devastated by AIDS. Amid the darkness and despair an eight-year-old boy and his mother witnessed to the sustaining power of the Light of God’s presence. They have touched the lives of a multitude of people. “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is Light and in Him, is no darkness at all” – (1 John 1:5).

 

 While Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus goes back to Abraham, the father of God’s people, and Luke’s genealogy of Jesus’ ancestry goes all the way back to Adam, thus embracing the whole human race, John’s goes back to God Himself. John is the only Gospel writer who does not stop at Bethlehem to explain the “reason for the season.” John is more concerned with the WHY and WHO of Christmas than with the WHERE of Christmas. So he travels to eternity to reveal the Person of Jesus Christ. This is a great passage because it gives us the theology of Christmas. While the Gospel selections for the Vigil, Midnight, and Dawn Masses describe the history of Christmas, the selection from John’s Gospel for this Daytime Mass lifts us out of history into the realm of Mystery—His wonderful Name is the Word. The reading tells us that the Baby in the manger is the Word of God, the very Self-expression of God. He is one with God just as our words are part of us and they will always remain ours as inseparable. God’s Word was present at creation; He is actually the One through Whom and for Whom all things were made. The Prologue to the Gospel of John and the prologue to the Letter to the Hebrews in the second reading are superb affirmations of the Person of Jesus Christ, expressed in beautiful theological words and metaphors. 

The first reading gives us the assurance that just as Yahweh restored His chosen people to their homeland after the Babylonian exile, Jesus the Savior will restore mankind to the kingdom of God.  In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 98), the Psalmist reminds us that the Kingdom includes everyone, not just the Chosen People, singing, “All the ends of the earth have seen the Salvation by our God!” In the second reading, St. Paul tells us how God, Who conveyed His words to us in the past through His prophets, has sent His own Son so that He might  demonstrate to us humans, by His life, death and Resurrection, the real nature of our God. In the Prologue of his Gospel, John introduces the birth of Jesus as the dawning of the Light Who will remove the darkness of evil from the world. He records later in his Gospel why Light is the perfect symbol of Christmas:  Jesus said “I am the Light of the world,” (Jn 8:12) and “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14-16).

John says, “He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not” (1:11; RSV 2 Catholic).  Jesus “came home” to Israel, where the people should have known Him.  And it was the homefolk, “His own,” the Israelites, the Chosen People, who did not receive Him.  God had prepared them for centuries to receive the Messiah into their midst, but they rejected Him.  This rejection of the Word by Jesus’ own people is restricted neither to the time of Jesus nor to that of the Fourth Gospel. Much of the world today is still in rebellion, “preferring darkness to Light, because its deeds are evil” (3:19-20). We need no testimony to that if we look around or watch the news. It is not just others, but it is  true of all of us at certain points in our lives. But we do not need to remain imprisoned in those moments, as long as we are alive, turn to Him, repentant and believing, and become His own again.  “But to all who received Him, who believed in His Name, He gave power to become children of God” (v. 12).

Today, let’s remember that there isn’t room in the manger for all the baggage we carry around with us.  There’s no room for our pious pride and self-righteousness.  There’s no room for our human power and prestige.  There’s no room for the baggage of past failure and unforgiven sin.  There’s no room for our prejudice, bigotry, and jingoistic national pride.  There’s no room for bitterness and greed.  There is no room in the manger for anything other than the absolute reality of who and what we really are: very human, very real, very fragile, very vulnerable beings who desperately need the gift of love and grace which God so powerfully desires to give.

 

Today, while we remember and celebrate God’s first coming into our world in human form, we also look forward, because the liturgy we celebrate reminds us that the Lord is going to return in his Second Coming.  However, Christ is not going to return as a Child but as a Warrior, a Judge, a mighty Savior.  The liturgy calls on us to prepare His way, to be ready to be judged by Him.  So we are looking back and remembering the past coming of Jesus as our Savior, and looking forward and preparing for His future coming in glory as Judge to reward and punish.  In addition to these two “comings,” the Church teaches us that Christ is here now, Christ is present, Christ comes to us today, and Christ comes to us every day. Christmas is a celebration calling us to be vigilant and prepared. In his Dec. 22 speech, Pope Francis focused on Christmas as a time of joy but also conversion, which he said is a lifelong process requiring the faithful to always be vigilant. Christmas is actually a celebration intended to heighten that awareness of ours to the fact that Christ has been born, Christ lives, and Christ is present now in our souls and in our lives. May this awareness sharpen our eagerness to welcome Christ today and every day of our lives.

 CHRISTMAS MIDNIGHT: Is 9:1-6; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14

Nine-year-old Wally was in second grade when most children his age were fourth graders. He was big for his years, a clumsy fellow, a slow learner. But Wally was a hopeful, willing, smiling lad, a natural defender of the underdog, and he was well-liked by his classmates. His parents encouraged him to audition for the annual parish Christmas play. Wally wanted to be a shepherd. Instead, he was given the role of the innkeeper. The director reasoned that Wally’s size would lend extra force to the innkeeper’s refusal of lodging to Joseph. During rehearsals, Wally was instructed to be firm with Joseph. When the play opened, no one was more caught up in the action than Wally. And when Joseph knocked on the door of the inn, Wally was ready. He flung the door open and asked menacingly, “What do you want?” “We seek lodging,” Joseph replied. “Seek it elsewhere,” Wally said in a firm voice. “There’s no room in the inn.” “Please, good innkeeper,” Joseph pleaded, “this is my wife, Mary. She is with child and is very tired. She needs a place to rest.” There was a long pause as Wally looked down at Mary. The prompter whispered Wally’s next line: “No! Be gone!” Wally remained silent. Then the forlorn couple turned and began to slowly move away. Seeing this, Wally’s brow creased with concern. Tears welled up in his eyes. Suddenly, he called out, “Don’t go! You can have my room.” 

The gospel reading this night said, they laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Each year when we hear this statement: “they had no room”, we are called to open up our hearts and make room for him, like Wally did in the play. He had room for the needy in his heart that was why he went out of the script of the play.

The Gospel for the midnight Mass tells us how Jesus was born in Bethlehem and how the news of his birth was first announced to shepherds by the angels. While Matthew places the birth of Jesus against the backdrop of Herod’s reign, Luke places it against the background of the Roman Empire. In the Roman Empire, a census was taken periodically with the double object of assessing taxation and of discovering those who were subject to compulsory military service. Luke’s purpose in mentioning the census was to provide connection to the city of David, wherein the promised heir of David was to be born, as prophesied by Micah (5:1). Bethlehem was commonly thought of as the City of David because of David’s birth and childhood there. Luke mentions that baby Jesus was born in a manger. A manger is a feeding trough (food box), and it symbolizes the sacrificial meal that Jesus becomes, which provides sustenance for the whole world. Father Raymond Brown in his masterful book on the Infancy Narratives says that these stories are not so much literal history as stories with a theological point. The important thing to remember is that they are stories of God’s love and Jesus’ role in history and that’s what counts, not historical details.

Since David was a shepherd, it seems fitting that the shepherds were given the privilege of visiting David’s successor in the stable. The Temple sheep and lambs, meant for daily sacrifice in the Temple of Jerusalem, were under the care of shepherds year-round. How suitable, then, that despised shepherds were the first to see the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world! Shepherding was a lonely, dirty job, and shepherds found it difficult to follow all the obligatory religious customs. Hence, they were scorned as non-observant Jews. So the Baby Jesus selected these marginalized people to share His love at the beginning of his earthly ministry. The shepherds expressed their joy and gratitude by “making known what had been told them” (v. 17). Just as very ordinary people would later become witnesses to the Resurrection, very ordinary shepherds became witnesses to the Incarnation. Other than the angels, they were the first to proclaim the Good News of Jesus’ birth. Once we have been privileged to experience God’s presence, we, too, have the responsibility and the privilege of sharing that experience with other people – of spreading the word – of proclaiming the Gospel.

Christmas asks us a tough question. Do we close the doors of our hearts to Jesus looking for a place to be reborn in our lives? There is no point in being sentimental about the doors slammed by the folk in Bethlehem, if there is no room in our own hearts for the same Jesus coming in the form of the needy.  We need to reverence each human life and to treat others respectfully as the living residences of the Incarnate God.  To neglect the old, to be contemptuous of the poor or to have no thought for the unemployed and the lonely is to ignore those individuals with whom Christ has so closely identified Himself.  Unless we are vigilant, like the people of Jerusalem, we can also fail to recognize the Messiah of our life. In his Dec. 22 speech, Pope Francis focused on Christmas as a time of joy but also conversion, which he said is a lifelong process requiring faithful to always be vigilant. 

 

The real meaning of Christmas actually is Emmanuel, God-with-us: God coming down to us; God seeking us out;  God coming alongside us; God revealing Himself to us; God bringing us forgiveness, healing, comfort, moral strength, guidance; God dwelling within us. Each one of us has, deep down in our souls, an incredible hunger: for purpose and meaning; to feel and celebrate the redeeming, forgiving, sustaining love of God; to be in the presence of God. Christmas is special because it reminds us concretely that God is indeed with us. Christmas is actually a celebration intended to heighten our awareness of the fact that Christ has been born, Christ lives, and Christ is present now in our souls and in our lives. May this awareness sharpen our eagerness to welcome Christ today and everyday of our life.

 

CHRISTMAS VIGIL : Is 62:1-5, Acts 13:16-17, 22-25, Mt 1:1-25 [1:18-25]

A king fell in love with a poor maid. The king wanted to marry her. When he asked his counselors, “How shall I declare my love?” they answered, “Your majesty has only to appear in all the glory of your royal raiments before the maid’s humble dwelling, and she will instantly fall at your feet and be yours.” But it was precisely that which troubled the king. He wanted her glorification, not his. In return for his love, he wanted hers, freely given. Finally, the king realized love’s truth, that freedom for the beloved demanded equality with the beloved. So, late one night, after all the counselors of the palace had retired, he slipped out a side door and appeared before the maid’s cottage dressed as a servant to confess his love for her. — Clearly, the fable is a Christmas story. God chose to express His love for us humans by becoming one like us. We are called to obey, not God’s power, but God’s love. God wants not submission to His power, but in return for His love, our own.

 

The gospel today presents before us the genealogy of Jesus who became part of a sinful humanity. Joseph, who became Mary’s legal husband becomes the legal father of Jesus. Later, by naming the child, Joseph acknowledged Him as his own. The legal father was on par with the biological father as regards rights and duties. Since it was common practice for couples to marry within their clan, probably Mary also belonged to the house of David. Joseph is presented as a righteous man (v. 19), who chose to obey God’s command rather than to observe rigidly a law that would have required him to divorce Mary publicly. He resolved to divorce Mary quietly in order that he might not cause her unnecessary pain. In this resolution, Joseph serves as a model of Christ-like compassion. He also demonstrates a balance between the Law of Torah and the Law of Love.

This is the first of four occasions on which an angel appears to Joseph in a dream. In each instance, the angel calls Joseph to action, and Joseph obeys. Joseph is not to hesitate, but is to complete his marriage to Mary, his betrothed, by taking her into his house as his wife. “She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 

The name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehosua, which means “YHWH is salvation.” Just as the first Joshua (successor of Moses), saved the Israelites from their enemies, the second Joshua (Jesus) will save them from their sins. The Jews, however, did not expect a Messiah Who would save them from their sins, but one who would deliver them from their political oppressors. Matthew stresses the fact that the birth of Jesus as Savior is the fulfillment of a prophecy by Isaiah (7:14):  “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall name him ‘Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.'” The fulfillment of the prophecy is important to Matthew’s first audience, Jewish converts, which is why Matthew mentions the fulfillment of eleven prophetic statements about Jesus in his Gospel.

This is to be noted that the Messiah’s actual given name was not Immanuel. There are many “names” given to Jesus in the Old and New Testaments, and Immanuel is one of them. Isaiah elsewhere prophesied of the Messiah, “He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Jeremiah (23:6) calls him “the Lord our Righteousness”. Jesus was never called by any of those “names” by the people He met in Galilee or Judea, but they are accurate descriptions of who He is and what He does. The angel said that Jesus “will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32) and “the Son of God” (verse 35), but neither of those was His given name. The names of Jesus Christ multiplied due to His divine nature and miraculous work. To say that Jesus would be called “Immanuel” means Jesus is God, that He dwelt among us in His incarnation, and that He is always with us, as he himself promises: I will be with you till the end of times.

We need to look for Jesus in unlikely places and persons. During the Christmas season we, like the Magi, must give our most precious gift, our life, to Jesus. We will learn to discover Him in the most unlikely places and in the most distasteful people –- in those who live in suffering or in distress, in poverty, or in fear. The message of Christmas is that we can truly find Jesus if we look in the right places –- in the streets, in the slums, in the asylums, in the orphanages, in the nursing homes –- starting in our own homes, workplaces, and town. God challenges us to be like the shepherds who overcame their fear in order to seek out Jesus, or like the Wise Men who traveled a long distance to find Him. Then we will have the true experience of Christmas – the joy of the Savior.

John the Baptist urges us to repent daily of our sins and to renew our lives by leveling the hills of pride and selfishness, by filling up the valleys of impurity, and by straightening the crooked paths of hatred. Our second step in preparing for Christ’s rebirth in our daily lives is to cultivate the spirit of sacrifice and humility. It was by sacrifice that the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Magi were able to find the Savior. They were humble enough to see God in the Child in the manger. We, too, can experience Jesus by sharing Him with others, just as God shared His Son with us. Let us remember that the angels wished peace on earth only to those able to receive that peace, those “people of goodwill,” who possessed the goodwill and largeness of heart to share Jesus, our Savior, with others in love, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and humble service. May Jesus be born in all our hearts, today and every day, and we are able to share Him with this truth truth-hungry world.

 

 ADVENT IV [A]  Is 7:10-14; Rom 1:1-7; Mt 1:18-24 (L-22)

Today’s Gospel, from Matthew, focuses on the person and role of Joseph. It was common knowledge and expectation for New Testament times and writings that the Messiah would be of the House of David. Joseph is clearly pointed out as descendant of David in both genealogies of Matthew and Luke. In order for Jesus to fulfill the Messianic prophecy given by Isaiah, Joseph had to, and freely, willingly, did accept Jesus as his son, making Jesus a descendant of David because Joseph was a descendant of David. Through her marriage with Joseph she enters his family and legally becomes, she and her son Jesus, a part of the House of David. Matthew makes it clear that Jesus was not the biological child of Joseph.  But because Joseph was the husband of Mary at the time Jesus was born, and because he named and thus formally accepted the child as his own, Jesus was legally the son of Joseph and thus a descendant of David.

Joseph, in today’s Gospel, is a righteous man, unwilling to have Mary put to death for being pregnant. He falls asleep and, behold, an angel appears to him in his dreams. See and understand he is told. Shepherds were tending their flock, when the Angel of the Lord appeared to them and said, “Behold, I proclaim to you news of great joy. Go to Bethlehem. Find the infant in the manger. See and understand.” Behold!

King Ahaz in the first reading did not want to behold. He did not want to behold the work of God. He would rather decide his own fate and that of his Kingdom, then trust in God. Ahaz’s kingdom was the Kingdom of Judah, the southern of the two Hebrew Kingdoms. Here is what was happening: in the middle of the eighth century before Jesus, the powerful nation of Assyria was threatening to conquer its neighbors. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had made a pact with Syria to go to war against Assyria. Israel was in an alliance with pagans, the Syrians. Ahaz considered joining Judah to this alliance, or possibly making an alliance with Assyria, and then conquer the Northern Kingdom and become king of all the Jews, like David and Solomon.

This is when the prophet Isaiah came to him and told him to stay at peace and trust in God. Ahaz balked at this. He had his own plan. So Isaiah told him, "If you want proof that my message is from God, ask for a sign, and God will provide it." Ahaz might have appeared to be holy and pious when he said, "I will not tempt God," but actually what he was saying is that he did not want anyone telling him what choices to make. He certainly was not going to allow some prophet to determine his policies. He did not want to behold.

We all may have had temptations to react as Ahaz reacted when confronted with the action of God in our lives. There may have been temptations that we rather trust in our own ability to find happiness than be exposed to God and be forced to reject the pseudo joy of the world. Perhaps all of us to some degree or other have avoided God. Perhaps there are times that we think that embracing God in our lives would cost too much.

Isaiah told Ahaz that God had a far greater enterprise than the immediate political situation Judah was in. God was concerned with saving all His people for all time. "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and name him Immanuel." Seven hundred years before the angel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mary, the King of Judah was told how God would accomplish His plan to be with His People for all time. However, Ahaz did not want to behold. He did not want to trust in God.

In direct contrast to Ahaz, today's Gospel presents Joseph, a man who was also faced with a dilemma. He was betrothed to a beautiful young girl and anxiously awaiting the time that she would be ready to leave her parents and come into his home. Following the custom of the day, the first stage of marriage had taken place when Mary was still very young. That was the betrothal ceremony. From that point, Mary was Joseph’s wife, even though she still a virgin living with her parents. The marriage would be completed with the celebration of the entrance of Mary into Joseph's home. That is when they would have the big wedding feast, like Jesus would later attend with his disciples at Cana. There would be a great banquet and dancing and celebrating the new life of this couple and the new lives they hoped to bring into the world. It was exciting for Joseph.

Then it all came crashing down. Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant. Now, the reading says that Joseph was an upright man, a just man. According to the common interpretation of the law, he could have declared that Mary was unfaithful, guilty of adultery, and had her put to death. Joseph could have had Mary killed, but he was a just man. He had a real relationship with God. The girl was young. He could not fathom God wanting her dead. He would just send Mary away. Joseph was open to the will of God. And because he was open to God in his life, because he trusted in God rather than his own plans, his own thoughts, Joseph was able to behold the wonders of God's love in the world.

"Behold!" the Church tells her children on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Behold where happiness is found. “Trust in God,” we are told. His wonders are beyond our imagination. Trust in Him and behold His wonders, and live in His happiness.

The responsorial Psalm,“Let the Lord enter; He is King of Glory,” reminds us that, like Joseph,  we must choose to let Jesus enter our hearts to rule our lives, for God never forces us to receive His gifts. May this last week of Advent help us, like Joseph, to be open to God’s plans in our lives.

 Advent III-A: Is. 35:1-6a, 10; Jas. 5:7-10; Mt. 11:2-11

The theme of the third advent week is the joy associated with Christmas. We are joyful in our waiting for the coming of the lord. The readings assure us that his coming is very near. To benefit from this joy, we have to follow the example of John the Baptist. According to the gospel, while bearing pains of imprisonment, John sent his disciples to Jesus asking: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?’ John certainly knew who Jesus was. He himself bears witness to that: “I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ (Jn 1:33). So, it was for the sake of his disciples that John sent them to Jesus with the question. Jesus replied by telling him of the facts that confirm his presence as mentioned in Isaiah 35:5: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor.

If we remember last week’s gospel, John the Baptist called the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers and told them that they could not expect salvation just because they were sons of Abraham. He told everyone that they needed to repent. He called people sinners. And yet they crowded around him.

John was in jail because he did what he had been doing all along, proclaim the truth regardless of the ramifications. He told Herod that it was not right that he should marry his brother’s wife. This was not a politically healthy statement. It ended up costing John his life.

When the disciples of John went back, Jesus spoke to the crowd. “What did you go out to the desert to see?” What attracted you to John. Was it because he said what was popular, what was trendy, what was politically correct? Was John a reed swayed by the wind, blowing one way one day, another way another day? Or was John a proclaimer of the truth? The people Jesus spoke to had admitted that they were mystified by John’s words because they were straight forward and true. John did not care about anything other than the truth. People were sick of a world where every fact could be bent a dozen ways to serve the interest of the speaker. They were sick of the Temple priests, and the Jewish religious parties, the Sadducees and Pharisees, using religion for their own gain. They just wanted the truth. It attracted them. John fascinated them because he was not afraid of the truth.

I believe that more than half the world is now disenchanted by the perversion of truth in all areas of life. Honest people are attracted to anyone who will stand for the truth, regardless of whether it is popular or not, whether it is convenient or not, whether it is politically correct or not. They just want the truth. They do not want a reed bent by the wind. They want a John the Baptist who will die rather than sway from the truth. I believe that we also go to Church because like those people who went out into the desert to hear John the Baptizer, we are attracted when truth is proclaimed as written in the Bible, not when it is interpolated/twisted.

The truth alone can set us free. This truth that sets us free is more than a concept. It is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit. “I am the way, the truth and the life.” We rejoice because the light of truth, the light of Christ has destroyed the darkness of sin. The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, light of truth. We rejoice because we have been drawn by the truth. We rejoice because Jesus Christ is the truth. He embodies the truth. And He and the truth are, as the Letter to the Hebrews states, “The same, yesterday, today and forever.”

In these last days before Christmas, let's stir up our own joyful hope, so that it can overflow to others in deeds and words. Let’s not be swayed by half truth when Jesus is calling us to full truth and fullness of life. I came that you may have life, and have it in fullness.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas and the coming of God in our lives we need also to remind ourselves that we have been called to be the means of bringing Jesus into other people's lives. Jesus told John that he came to preach good news to the poor. Have we ever considered sharing the good news that we believe in? Some of our school kids took the message of Christ’s birth to some seniors and home bound this Friday. Let’s reflect, as adults, have we ever considered speaking about Christ and his arrival into this world and particularly in their lives? May this Christmas season give us the courage to share Christ and his gospel with others. Jesus said, blessed is he who takes no offense at me.

 ADVENT II [A]: Is 11:1-10; Rom 15:4-9; Mt 3:1-12

 Matthew begins today by telling us that Saint John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance in the wilderness of Judea. John's message was one of repentance in preparation for the Kingdom of Heaven that was at hand. It is the same message that Jesus proclaimed when He began His ministry in Galilee. "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near." [Mt. 4:17] 

In the New Testament, the call to repentance appears as a fundamental part of the message proclaimed. John the Baptist appears prominently preaching about the need for repentance (Mat 3:2). Jesus continued the message of John the Baptist (Mat 4:17), and repentance also played a key role in the disciples’ preaching (Mk 6:12). Afterwards, Jesus declared that in his name repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be preached to all nations (Lk 24:47).

Indeed the Bible leaves no doubt that repentance is a necessary condition for salvation. This means that without repentance there is no salvation. In this aspect, repentance appears directly linked to faith.

Bible speaks of three types of repentance. The first is just a human reaction to the punishment for sin. An example of this type of repentance is shown by Esau (Gn 27:30-46). At no time did Esau truly repent of his sin. He only mourned the losses he had suffered (Hb12:17). Another one who demonstrated this kind of empty repentance was Judas Iscariot (Mat 27:3-5). They both mourned their own losses but not in relation to God.

The second type of repentance is called attrition. This is imperfect contrition, a desire not to sin for a reason other than love of God.

Attrition is counterfeit repentance, which never qualifies us for forgiveness in itself. It is like the repentance of a child who is caught in the act of disobeying his mother and cries out, ‘Mommy, Mommy, I’m sorry, please don’t spank me.’ Attrition is repentance motivated strictly by a fear of punishment. If with the hope of pardon, and the desire to exclude the wish to sin, the sinner confesses his sin to God, not out of genuine remorse but out of a desire to secure a ticket out of hell. Although this attrition cannot of itself, without the Sacrament of Penance, conduct the sinner to justification yet it does dispose him to receive the grace of God in the Sacrament of Penance. Therefore, at least attrition is required for the sacrament of reconciliation.  For smitten profitably with fear, the Ninivites at the preaching of Jona did fearful penance and obtained mercy from Lord.

True repentance can be seen in the words of King David when he asked, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). This kind of repentance can only exist in a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, and surely God will not despise it (Ps 51:17; cf. 1 Jn 1:9). It can be understood as a gift of God resulting from regeneration. Contrition is motivated by love of God, causing the penitent to regret sin as evidence of a turning away from God who loves us. Here the sinner mourns his sin, not for the loss of reward or for the threat of judgment, but because he has done injury to the honor of God.” 

Plato tells the story of a shepherd named Gyges, who was in the service of the king. One day there was a great storm and an earthquake where he was pasturing his flock. A great chasm opened in the earth and Gyges descended into the chasm. There he saw many astonishing things, including what looked like a human corpse. Although there were many amazing treasures in the chasm, he took nothing except a gold ring the corpse had on his finger. He then made his way out. He attended the usual meeting of shepherds which reported monthly to the king, and as he was sitting in the meeting, he happened to twist the bezel of the ring towards the inside of his hand. He immediately became invisible to his companions. He was astonished, and began twisting the ring again, and turned the bezel outwards, whereupon he became visible again. He experimented with the ring to see if it really had this power and found that every time he turned it outwards he became visible, and every time he turned it inwards, he became invisible. Having made this discovery, he managed to get himself invited to the palace where he stole great treasures from the king himself. Being invisible, he would never be caught. There would be no consequences for his actions whatsoever. — Plato asks the question, if we remove all consequences, all fear of punishment, is there any reason to seek honesty, virtue, and character? It’s a good question. John’s answer is that God takes sins seriously, and, hence, we must repent and renew our lives.

 

During Advent, we are called to be repentant of our sins. John the Baptist, the stern and uncompromising preacher, challenges our superficial attempts at change, demanding that we take a deeper look.  He says, Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. We must mend ruptures and soothe frictions, face family responsibilities, work honestly, and treat our employers and employees justly.   Start where you are, John says.  Our domestic and social lives must be put in order.    He calls for rectitude and social consciousness.   We must abandon our selfish thirst for consumption and, instead, be filled with the expectation of Jesus’ coming.   Therefore, following John’s advice, let us celebrate the memory of this first advent, prepare for Jesus’ new advent in our lives, and wait for his second advent at the end of the world.

 

 I ADVENT [A] Is 2:1-5; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44

Early on Sunday morning, June 30, 1974, a hundred young people were dancing to the soul-rock music at Gulliver’s in Port Chester, on the border between New York and Connecticut. Suddenly the place was filled with flames and smoke. In a few minutes 24 were dead, burnt by fire, suffocated by smoke, or crushed in the exit passage by the escaping youngsters. According to the Mayor of Port Chester, the dancing crowd ignored the repeated and frantic warnings given by the band manager when he noticed the smoke. — Today’s second reading passes on to us the warnings given by St. Paul, and today’s Gospel gives Jesus’ warning to be vigilant and prepared for his coming as our Judge.

"Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." This gospel text indicates that the end will seem to be a peaceful and normal time, with people eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and working in their homes or businesses.  In this routine normal life, it might be easy to forget the “coming of the Son of Man.”   In a reference to the story of Noah, Jesus says that the sin of the people was placing too much emphasis on the normal cares and necessities of life.  They were too concerned with eating and drinking – just as we are during the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s holidays.  Jesus reminds us that there is something more important than feasts or weddings: the Son of Man will come to us unexpectedly, either at our death or at the end of the world, and that could be at any moment.  

The man working in the field and the woman working at the mill will be “left”, because they won’t leave their work.  True enough – work is important.  We need to provide food and shelter for ourselves and our families.  But there is something more important than our work: the coming of the Son of Man, which will happen unexpectedly. We don’t know when a thief might break into our house, so we are prepared for him at all times.  We lock our doors and windows.  We leave a light on when we’re gone. We put in an alarm system. We insure our possessions.  We do these things now because a thief could come at some unknown time.  Hence, especially during this busy Christmas season, we must keep our daily life centered on Christ.

How do we prepare for the unexpected coming of the Son of Man?  In Jesus’ parable, we have an example of the proper and improper methods of waiting.  The faithful slave who, with sincerity and good management, has faithfully carried out his master’s instructions to ensure the welfare of his fellow-slaves (20:26-27), is always ready for his master’s coming. In contrast, the wicked servant is primarily concerned with power, food, and drink.  The master is the image for Jesus.   To be prepared for his coming (Mt  24:3, 36-43), we must be obedient to the Divine will, which means that our actions must serve the community.  The question we might ask is: “Am I being faithful and wise in caring for others while waiting for Christ’s return?”  The text reminds us that our preparation for the Incarnation of our Lord is only one aspect of our Advent preparation, and not necessarily the most important. St. Augustine says, “Live your life as you would like your death to be.”  Let us remind ourselves of our need to be prepared for our Lord’s return in judgment without “doomsday paranoia” on the one hand or complacency on the other.

 We need to have an Advent project to become alert and watchful in the spirit of today’s Gospel.  Every morning when we get up, let us pray, “Lord, show me someone today with whom I may share your love, mercy and forgiveness.”  St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, “Whatever you do in your family, for your children, for your husband, for your wife, you do for Jesus.”  Every night when we go to bed, let us ask ourselves, “Where have I found Christ today?”  The answer will be God’s Advent gift to us that day. By being alert and watchful, we’ll be getting an extra gift:  Christ himself.  There is a saying about being saved which goes back to St. Thomas Aquinas: “Without God, I can’t.  Without me, He won’t.”

Pope Benedict XVI explains: “To watch means to follow the Lord, to choose what He has chosen, to love what He has loved, to conform one's own life to His.” Then the Son of Man will come… and the Father will embrace us for resembling his Son.

According to CCC, “The Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events of salvation history in the ‘today’ of her liturgy.”  During the liturgy today let’s ask for the grace to prepare ourselves during this season and unconditionally surrender ourselves to God’s will and remain prepared always so that we can say “Yes” to His will as Blessed Virgin Mary said in her big “Amen”.

 

 

 

 

CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY (2 Sm 5:1-3; Col 1:12-20; Lk 23:35-43)

The Church’s liturgical year concludes with the feast of Christ the King, instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Christ is our spiritual King and Ruler who rules by truth and love. We declare our loyalty to him by the quality of our Christian commitment, expressed in our serving of others with sacrificial and forgiving love, and by our solidarity with the poor. Although emperors and kings with real ruling power exist today only in history books, we nevertheless honor Christ as the King of the Universe and the King of our hearts by allowing him to take control of our lives. In thousands of human hearts all over the world, Jesus still reigns as King.

 Kings are supposed to be powerful, successful and victorious. But today we are staring at a dying, helpless man hanging from a cross and acclaim him king. Because the cross is our King's throne - Christ reigns not from velvet-covered, diamond-encrusted, gold-plated seats, like passing earthly kings, rather, he reigns from the cross. 

Charles Colson, former legal counsel to Richard Nixon and later founder of the Christian Prison Fellowship, says: “All the kings and queens I have known in history sent their people out to die for them. I only know one King who decided to die for his people.”

During the trial Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "You have said it." (Luke 23:3). "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (Jn 18:37) After a few hours, the same king stood elevated on the cross with the inscription INRI, (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum - "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews") By placing this title Pilate had  made an involuntary, but historical proclamation  that Jesus is the King not only of the Jews but of the Universe.  Many a time such involuntary proclamations of Jesus’ Kingship are heard from unbelievers. The soldiers made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head, and they put a royal purple robe on him, and shouted, "Hail! King of the Jews!"(John 19) 

Pope John Paul II said, "If it is assessed according to the criteria of this world, Jesus' kingship can appear 'paradoxical'. Indeed, the power he exercises does not fit into earthly logic. On the contrary, his is the power of love and service that requires the gratuitous gift of self and the consistent witness to the truth (cf. Jn 18:37)."

Christ's Kingdom begins in this world, but it is not of this world. It begins in the hearts of Christians like us, his followers, who believe in him and obey him. The Church and the saints are living signs of this Kingdom, as buds in springtime are signs of summer. And so, since his Kingdom transcends this world, it makes sense that Christ's throne is different from earthly thrones. Christ's Kingdom is built on the unconquerable power of God's unconditional love for each one of us. On the cross Jesus reveals that love by suffering and dying for our salvation, even while we were still sinners. In the Resurrection he will reveal that unconquerable power. And that's why our King reigns from such a throne. 

 

As we celebrate the Kingship of Christ today, let us remember the truth that he is not our King if we do not listen to him, love him, serve him, and follow him. We belong to his Kingdom only when we try to walk with him, when we try to live our lives fully in the spirit of the Gospel and when that Gospel spirit penetrates every facet of our living. If Christ is really King of my life, he must be King of every part of my life, and I must let him reign in all parts of my life. We become Christ the King’s subjects when we sincerely respond to his loving invitation: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart“ (Mt 11:29). By cultivating in our lives the gentle and humble mind of Christ, we show others that Jesus Christ is in indeed our King and that he is in charge of our lives.

Today’s Feast of Christ the King reminds us of the great truth that Christ must be in charge of our lives, that we must give him sovereign power over our bodies, our thoughts, our heart, and our will. In every moral decision we face, there’s a choice between Christ the King and Barabbas, and the one who seeks to live in Christ’s Kingdom is the one who says, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Let us ask ourselves the question, “What does Jesus, my King, want me to do or say in this situation?” Are we praying each day that our King will give us the right words to say to the people we meet that day, words that will make us true ambassadors of Jesus? Does our home life as well as the way we conduct ourselves with our friends come under the Kingship of Jesus? Or do we try to please ourselves rather than him?

Let’s pray that we get the grace to totally surrender ourselves to the King of the Universe and king of our hearts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we celebrate the feast of Jesus Christ King of the Universe. As king he would like to rule our lives but only if we accept him as king. Citizens of Christ’s kingdom are expected to observe only one major law–the law of love. “Love God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments”(Jn 15:10). Jesus expects a higher degree of love from His followers: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). On this great Feast of Christ, the King, let us resolve to give him the central place in our lives and promise to obey his commandment of love by sharing what we have with all his needy children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount, his rule of law. His citizens need obey only one major law: “Love God with all your being, and love others as I have loved you.” His love is selfless, compassionate, forgiving, and unconditional. He is a King with a saving and liberating mission: freeing us from all types of bondage, enabling us to live peacefully and happily on earth, and promising us an inheritance in the eternal life of heaven.

 

 

4) We need to obey the law of love of Christ the King. Citizens of Christ’s kingdom are expected to observe only one major law–the law of love. “Love God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself.”(Mt 10:10; 22:37-40; Mk 12:30-31); Lk 10:27.) “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments”(Jn 15:10). Jesus expects a higher degree of love from His followers: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). On this great Feast of Christ, the King, let us resolve to give him the central place in our lives and promise to obey his commandment of love by sharing what we have with all his needy children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He revealed himself in humility, aware that his Kingship would bear fruit not in human glory, but in human ignominy. But even among those in the crowd who praised and exalted him, who honored and flattered him with the waving of branches and laying down of their cloaks, were those who would soon cry out for his crucifixion, betraying him. Of those, some would repent and others would not. Jesus wept for them. In his humanity he felt the weight of rejection. But it was not rejection that he experienced due to the desire to preserve his human respect. His divine heart was pierced with sorrow as he felt the weight of damnation for those who would be lost. 

 

3) We need to follow Christ the King’s lesson of humble service to the Truth. Christ has come to serve and to be of service to others. Hence, we are called to his service – service to the Truth. In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus saying that the reason for his coming – the reason that he was born – was to “bear witness” to the Truth. The Truth to which Jesus bears witness by His Life and which he teaches us is that God, his Father, is also our loving and forgiving Father, so we are all His children, forming one body. Hence, whatever we do for His children, and our sisters and brothers, we do for Him. So we are called to be a people who reach out to embrace the enemy and the stranger, a people who are called to glory in diversity, a people who will endlessly forgive, a people who will reach out in compassion to the poor and to the marginalized people of our society, a people who will support one another in prayer, a people who will realize that we are called not to be served, but to serve. In other words, servant-leadership is the model that Christ the King has given us. “For the Christian, ‘to reign is to serve him,’ particularly when serving ‘the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder’” (CCC #786).

 

Since we are the members of this kingdom, we are bound to practice its fundamental virtues, that others will recognize us as the citizens of the kingdom of Jesus. 

 

 

CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY (2 Sm 5:1-3; Col 1:12-20; Lk 23:35-43)

Homily starter anecdotes: #1: Christ has conquered; Christ now rules: In the middle of St Peter’s square in Rome, there stands a great obelisk. It about four and half thousand years old, and it originally stood in the temple of the sun in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis. But it was bought to Rome by the dreadful Emperor Caligula and it was set right in the middle of Circus of Nero, equally dreadful, that was on the Vatican hill. It was in that Circus that St Peter was martyred, and the obelisk may well have been the last thing on this Earth that Peter saw. On top of the obelisk there now stands a cross. In ancient times there was a gold ball representing, of course, the sun. Now there is a cross — the cross of Christ, and on the pedestal of the obelisk there are two inscriptions. The first of them in Latin, “Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat”, which translated means, Christ has conquered, Christ now rules, Christ now reigns supreme. The other inscription says “The Lion of Judah has conquered.” — So here we have the language of victory. Christianity has triumphed by the power of the cross and triumphed even over even the greatest power that the ancient world had known, the Roman Empire, and here in the middle of St Peter’s square stands the obelisk bearing those triumphant inscriptions. (Mark Coleridge Archbishop of Brisbane) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

#2: “Long live Christ the King!” In the 1920s, a totalitarian regime gained control of Mexico and tried to suppress the Church. To resist the regime, many Christians took up the cry, “Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long live Christ the King!”) They called themselves “Cristeros.” The most famous Cristero was a young Jesuit priest named Padre Miguel Pro. Using various disguises, Padre Pro ministered to the people of Mexico City. Finally, the government arrested him and sentenced him to public execution on November 23, 1927. The president of Mexico (Plutarco Calles) thought that Padre Pro would beg for mercy, so he invited the press to the execution. Padre Pro did not plead for his life, but instead knelt holding a crucifix. When he finished his prayer, he kissed the crucifix and stood up. Holding the crucifix in his right hand, he extended his arms and shouted, “Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long live Christ the King!”) At that moment the soldiers fired. The journalists took pictures; if you look up “Padre Pro” or “Blessed Miguel Pro” [beatified by Pope St. John Paul II, September 25, 1988) on the Internet, you can see that picture. (Fr. Phil Bloom). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

#3: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” St. Thomas More is the patron saint of lawyers and politicians, among others. He was a brilliant lawyer and diplomat in 16th century England. His patriotism and loyalty to the throne attracted the attention of King Henry VIII who made him Lord Chancellor of England. What Henry VIII did not know was that Thomas More’s first loyalty was to Christ, the King of kings. When Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, marry Anne Boleyn, and make himself head of the Church of England, Thomas More thought this was not right. Rather than approve what he believed to be against the Divine will, he resigned from his prestigious and wealthy position as Lord Chancellor and he and his family lived a life of poverty thereafter. Since he would not give his support to the king, Thomas More was arrested, convicted of treason, imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1534 and beheaded in July of the following year. On his way to public execution, More encouraged the people to remain steadfast in the Faith. His last recorded words were: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.”– For More, it was not simply enough to confess Christ privately in the safety of his heart and home; he believed one must also confess Christ in one’s business and professional life as well as in the laws and policies that govern society. (Fr. Munacci). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

# 4: On His Majesty’s Service: Polycarp, the second century bishop of Smyrna, was brought before the Roman authorities and told to curse Christ and he would be released. He replied, “Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my King, Jesus Christ, who saved me?” The Roman officer replied, “Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt.” But Polycarp said, “You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish.” He was condemned to be burnt at the stake, and the sentence was carried out, but the flames did not touch him, so his executioners had to stab him to death. – Only through the grace of Holy Perseverance for which he asked God, was Polycarp enabled to remain faithful through all his trials. We all need to ask God for that same grace daily, if we would be with God in Heaven! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

# 5: A king with a big difference: Charles Colson, former legal counsel to Richard Nixon and later founder of the Christian Prison Fellowship, says it like this: “All the kings and queens I have known in history sent their people out to die for them. I only know one King who decided to die for his people.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

Introduction: In the Church’s calendar, Christ the King is the parallel of the Super Bowl trophy or the Final Four in college basketball or the last game of the World Series. The Church’s liturgical year concludes with this feast of Christ the King, instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to celebrate the Jubilee Year and the 16th centenary of the Council of Nicaea. Instituting this feast, Pope Pius XI proclaimed: “Pax Christi in regno Christi” (“The peace of Christ in the reign of Christ”). This feast was established and proclaimed by the Pope to reassert the sovereignty of Christ and the Church over all forms of government and to remind Christians of the fidelity and loyalty they owed to Christ, who by his Incarnation and sacrificial death on the cross had made them both adopted children of God and future citizens and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Feast was also a reminder to the totalitarian governments of Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin that Jesus Christ is the only Sovereign King. Christ is our spiritual King and Ruler who rules by truth and love. We declare our loyalty to him by the quality of our Christian commitment, expressed in our serving of others with sacrificial and forgiving love, and by our solidarity with the poor. Although emperors and kings with real ruling power exist today only in history books, we nevertheless honor Christ as the King of the Universe and the King of our hearts by allowing him to take control of our lives. In thousands of human hearts all over the world, Jesus still reigns as King. The Cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount, his rule of law. His citizens need obey only one major law: “Love God with all your being, and love others as I have loved you.” His love is selfless, compassionate, forgiving, and unconditional. He is a King with a saving and liberating mission: freeing us from all types of bondage, enabling us to live peacefully and happily on earth, and promising us an inheritance in the eternal life of heaven.

Today’s scripture summarized: The first reading (II Samuel 5:1-3) 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. In the second reading (Col 1:12-20), 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; and (3) the cosmic effects of salvation. Today’s Gospel (Lk 23:35-43), referring to the sign board hung by the order of Pilate on the cross of Jesus, “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews,” presents it as an imperial admission of the kingship of Christ, although it was intended to serve as a three-fold mockery. It prompted the Jewish leaders to call out, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God,” and the soldiers to shout at Jesus, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself,” and the thief on Jesus’ left side to challenge him, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Then save yourself and us.” Pilate may have had his own reasons for writing this inscription on the board: to protect himself from being charged with bowing to the pressure of the mob; to mock Jesus and thereby to appease the Jewish leaders; and to forewarn other would-be revolutionaries that their rebellion against the empire would be similarly extinguished. But Pilate was unknowingly accepting the person and mission of Jesus as King and Savior. The repentant thief accepts Jesus as his Savior, calling Jesus Jeshuah, or Jesus, meaning “the Lord saves!” Jesus assured the thief that he had the power to promise him a share in Jesus’ everlasting reign: “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise!” (Lk 23:43)

First reading: II Sm 5:1-3, explained: This reading recalls the story of David’s anointing as King of Israel. David was seen in the Old Testament as a type, a representation, of the future Messianic King (2 Sm 7:16, Is 9:6-7, Jer 23:5). Jesus is often identified as the Son of David, as the Messiah, and as the Shepherd of God’s people. King David’s successful 40-year reign became the model for the hoped-for Messiah (that is, the Anointed One, or the Christ), in later Judaism. Saul, the first King of Israel, learned from the Lord God through the prophet Samuel that the kingship would not remain in his family because he had disobeyed the laws of God. David was chosen by God to replace Saul and was anointed secretly by Samuel in Bethlehem. Forced to flee from Saul, David settled in Hebron. Accepted by the tribe of Judah, he reigned there as King of Judah for seven years. The first reading tells us how, on the death of Saul, the northern tribes came to David in Hebron and anointed him King over all of Israel. David’s reign lasted a mere forty years, but Christ’s reign is eternal. David was a mere man, sinful but repentant. Christ is True God and True Man, sinless and All-perfect. Christ died on the cross to free all men from their sins.

Second reading: Col 1:12-20, explained: Among the early Christians at Colossae, there were people promoting a detailed belief in angels and their mediating role in our relationship with God. Neither affirming nor denying the existence of these “Thrones, Dominations, Principalities or Powers,” Paul simply states that Christ is superior to the whole lot. St. Paul tells the Colossians how grateful they should be to God for having made them Christians and citizens of Christ’s kingdom. The Apostle then describes Who and What their new Sovereign is: true God and true Man, the true Image of the invisible God and, at the same time, the perfect exemplar of true humanity. As God’s beloved Son, our King has direct and immediate access to God. As the Image of the invisible God, Jesus, our King, is the embodiment of Divine Sovereignty. As the firstborn of creation, He is the promise of all the good things that will follow. As risen Lord, He is the Head of the Church and the promise of our own resurrection. This portion of St. Paul’s Epistle is aptly chosen for this great Feast of the Kingship of Christ, for it reminds us of how blessed, how fortunate we are to be Christians, citizens of His Kingdom on earth, with a promise of perpetual citizenship in His Heavenly Kingdom if we remain faithful to Him, because “in Him all things hold together.”

Gospel explained: Today’s Gospel presents Christ the King as reigning, not from a throne, but from the gibbet of the cross. Like the “suffering servant” of Isaiah (53:3), Jesus is despised and rejected, as the bystanders ridicule the crucified King, challenging him to prove his Kingship by coming down from the cross. The Gospel also tells of the criminal crucified beside Jesus who recognized Jesus as a Savior King and asked Jesus to remember him when he entered his kingdom. Jesus promised the good thief, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise!” Tradition remembers the criminal on Jesus’ right side as “the good thief” who repented of his sins at the last moment, though Mark and Matthew call him a “revolutionary.” Although the Romans intended the inscription on the cross, “This is the King of the Jews,” to be ironic, it reflected the popular Jewish speculations about Jesus’ possible identity as the Messiah of Israel. For Luke and other early Christians that title was correct, since the Kingship of Jesus was made manifest most perfectly in his suffering and death on the cross, followed by his Resurrection on the third day, as he had foretold.

The Biblical basis of the feast: A) Old Testament texts: The title Christ the King has its roots both in Scripture and in the whole theology of the Kingdom of God. In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, Christ the Messiah is represented as a King. B) New Testament texts: a) In the Annunciation, recorded in Lk 13:2-33, we read: “The Lord God will make him a King, as his ancestor David was, and He will be the King of the descendants of Jacob forever and His Kingdom will never end.” In fact, the Kingdom of God is the center of Jesus’ teaching and the phrase “Kingdom of God” occurs in the Gospels 122 times, of which 90 instances are uses by Jesus. b) The Magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: (Mt. 2:2) “Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews? We saw his star… and we have come to worship him.” c) During the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday, the Jews shouted: (Lk 19:38) “God bless the King, who comes in the Name of the Lord.” d) During the trial of Jesus described in today’s Gospel, Pilate asked the question: (Jn 18:33): “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied: “You say that I am a king. I was born and came into this world for this one purpose, to bear witness to the Truth.” e) Today’s Gospel tells us that the board hung over Jesus’ head on the cross read: “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews,” (Lk 23:36; see also, Mt 27:37; Mk 15:26; John 19:19-20), and that, to the repentant thief on the cross who made the request: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom,” Jesus promised , “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise!” (Lk 19:39- 43). f) Before his Ascension into Heaven, Jesus declared: (Mt. 28:18): “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.” g) Finally (Mt 25:31), we read that Christ the King will come in glory to judge us on the day of the Last Judgment.

What is the Kingdom of God? What is the Kingdom of Christ the King? Here is a beautiful explanation given by Gerald Darring (St. Louis University: Center for Liturgy): The Kingdom of God is a space. It exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It exists in every region and country that cares for its weak and vulnerable. It exists in every parish that reaches out to the needy. The Kingdom of God is a time. It happens whenever someone feeds a hungry person, or shelters a homeless person, or shows care to a neglected person. It happens whenever we overturn an unjust law, or correct an injustice, or avert a war. It happens whenever people join in the struggle to overcome poverty, to erase ignorance, to pass on the Faith. The Kingdom of God is in the past (in the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth); it is in the present (in the work of the Church and in the efforts of many others to create a world of goodness and justice); it is in the future (reaching its completion in the age to come). The Kingdom of God is a condition. Its symptoms are love, justice, and peace. Jesus Christ is king! We pray today that God may free all the world to rejoice in his peace, to glory in his justice, to live in his love.

Life Messages: 1) We need to assess our commitment to Christ the King today. As we celebrate the Kingship of Christ today, let us remember the truth that he is not our King if we do not listen to him, love him, serve him, and follow him. We belong to his Kingdom only when we try to walk with him, when we try to live our lives fully in the spirit of the Gospel and when that Gospel spirit penetrates every facet of our living. If Christ is really King of my life, he must be King of every part of my life, and I must let him reign in all parts of my life. We become Christ the King’s subjects when we sincerely respond to his loving invitation: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart“ (Mt 11:29). By cultivating in our lives the gentle and humble mind of Christ, we show others that Jesus Christ is in indeed our King and that he is in charge of our lives.

2) We need to give Jesus control over our lives. Today’s Feast of Christ the King reminds us of the great truth that Christ must be in charge of our lives, that we must give him sovereign power over our bodies, our thoughts, our heart, and our will. In every moral decision we face, there’s a choice between Christ the King and Barabbas, and the one who seeks to live in Christ’s Kingdom is the one who says, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Let us ask ourselves the question, “What does Jesus, my King, want me to do or say in this situation?” Are we praying each day that our King will give us the right words to say to the people we meet that day, words that will make us true ambassadors of Jesus? Does our home life as well as the way we conduct ourselves with our friends come under the Kingship of Jesus? Or do we try to please ourselves rather than him?

3) We need to follow Christ the King’s lesson of humble service to the Truth. Christ has come to serve and to be of service to others. Hence, we are called to his service – service to the Truth. In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus saying that the reason for his coming – the reason that he was born – was to “bear witness” to the Truth. The Truth to which Jesus bears witness by His Life and which he teaches us is that God, his Father, is also our loving and forgiving Father, so we are all His children, forming one body. Hence, whatever we do for His children, and our sisters and brothers, we do for Him. So we are called to be a people who reach out to embrace the enemy and the stranger, a people who are called to glory in diversity, a people who will endlessly forgive, a people who will reach out in compassion to the poor and to the marginalized people of our society, a people who will support one another in prayer, a people who will realize that we are called not to be served, but to serve. In other words, servant-leadership is the model that Christ the King has given us. “For the Christian, ‘to reign is to serve him,’ particularly when serving ‘the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder’” (CCC #786).

4) We need to obey the law of love of Christ the King. Citizens of Christ’s kingdom are expected to observe only one major law–the law of love. “Love God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself.”(Mt 10:10; 22:37-40; Mk 12:30-31); Lk 10:27.) “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments”(Jn 15:10). Jesus expects a higher degree of love from His followers: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). On this great Feast of Christ, the King, let us resolve to give him the central place in our lives and promise to obey his commandment of love by sharing what we have with all his needy children.

JOKES OF THE WEEK

#1: Christ is in charge: Susan C. Kimber, in a book called Christian Woman, shares a funny piece of advice she received from her little son: “Tired of struggling with my strong-willed little son, Thomas, I looked him in the eye and asked a question I felt sure would bring him in line: ‘Thomas, who is in charge here?’ Not missing a beat, he replied, ‘Jesus is, and not you mom.’ ”

#2: Co-pilot Christ the King: Many people love bumper sticker theology. Bumper stickers may not always have the soundest theological statements, but they generally at least have the ability to make you think.

# 3: “Right near the end!” Once a priest was giving a homily and as he went on, he became more animated. He made a sweeping gesture – and accidentally knocked his papers from the pulpit. He scrambled to pick them up, then asked, “Now, where was I?” A voice from the congregation responded, “Right near the end!” — Well, we are at the end – not of the homily, but of the liturgical year

# 4: The most famous man who ever lived: One day a kindergarten teacher nun said to the class of 5-year-olds, “I’ll give $2 to the child who can tell me who was the most famous man who ever lived.” An Irish boy put his hand up and said, “It was St. Patrick. “The teacher said, “Sorry Sean, that’s not correct.” Then a Scottish boy put his hand up and said, “It was St. Andrew.” The teacher replied, “I’m sorry, Hamish, that’s not right either. “Finally, a Jewish boy raised his hand and said, “It was Jesus Christ.” The teacher said, “That’s absolutely right, Marvin, come up here and I’ll give you the $2.” –As the teacher was giving Marvin his money, she said, “You know Marvin, you being Jewish, I was very surprised you said Jesus Christ.” Marvin replied, “Yeah. In my heart I knew it was Moses, but business is business…”

USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK (For homilies & Bible study groups

1)  Fr. Nick’s collection of Sunday homilies from 65 priests & weekday homilies: https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies

2) Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://sundayprep.org/featured-homilies/ (Copy it on the Address bar and press the Enter button)

 3) Fr. Geoffrey Plant’s beautiful & scholarly video classes on Sunday gospel, Bible & RCIA topics:   https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant20663)

4) Dr. Brant Pitre’s commentary on Cycle C Sunday Scripture for Bible Class: https://catholicproductions.com/blogs/mass-readings-explained-year-Biblical basis of Catholic doctrines: http://scripturecatholic.com/

5)    Agape Catholic Bible Lessons: http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/

6) The Catholic Liturgical Library: http://www.catholicliturgy.com/

7) Liturgical Calendar: http://www.themass.org/c-1109.htm

8) Intercession for priests: http://www.intercessionforpriests.org/

9) Preach the word:

http://www.preachtheword.com/topical.html

10) Text week homilies: http://textweek.com/yearb/christb.htm

33- Additional anecdotes

1) A Man for All Seasons: There is a great scene in the play, A Man for All Seasons, that fits very well with today’s Feast of Christ the King.  You might remember that the play was about the determination of St. Thomas More to stand for the Faith against the persuasion and eventually the persecution of Henry VIII of England.  In the scene I’m referring to, Henry VIII is trying to coax his second-in-charge, Thomas More, to agree with him that it is proper for him, the King, to divorce his wife Catherine on the grounds that she was also his sister-in-law but really because she had not given birth to a male heir to the Kingdom.  After the King made all his arguments, Thomas More said that he himself was unfit to meddle in this argument and the King should take it to Rome.  Henry VIII retorted that he didn’t need a Pope to tell him what he could or couldn’t do.  Then we come to the center point.  Thomas More asked the King, “Why do you need my support?”  –Henry VIII replied with words we would all love to hear said about each of us, “Because, Thomas, you are honest.  And what is more to the point, you are known to be honest.  There are plenty in the Kingdom who support me, but some do so only out of fear and others only out of what they can get for their support.  But you are different.  And people know it.  That is why I need your support.” —         In the presence of integrity, Henry VIII knew who was King and who was subject. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

2) “I am the greatest.” Jesus is not a king like the ancient Egyptian king, Ramses, whose arrogant motto was inscribed on temples still standing, “I am the greatest.” Jesus is not a king like the king of China, a savage tyrant who used millions of slaves to build the Great Wall of China, a wall so huge that it can be seen from the moon. He is not a king like Louis XIV, who lived in excessive luxury in his Versailles palace of 1000 rooms. Jesus is different in that he was not born of a reigning King, though He is of the royal House of David, but as the Scripture tells, Jesus is the One Whom God “will choose as king….” — There is no other king like King Jesus, for Jesus is a Divine King, none other than the very Son of God, the Messiah. Jeremiah calls Him, “the Lord of our Salvation.” (v. 6) St. Paul sees this in Jesus who is “the image of the invisible God” and in whom dwells “all the fullness of God.” Jesus himself knows who he is, for he says, “The Father and I are One … he who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:10). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

3) Desperate deaths of autocratic kings and dictators: The death of Josef Stalin (1879-1953) the Communist dictator was described by his daughter as difficult and terrible. Silenced by a stroke shortly before he died, Stalin’s “last words” were more visible than audible. Newsweek magazine quoted Svetlana Stalin who said, “At what seemed the very last moment, he cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane, angry, and full of fear of death. With one final menacing gesture, he lifted his left hand as if he were bringing down a curse on us all.” Philip III of Spain (1578-1621), who proved himself to be an unfit king, indifferent to the plight of his people, breathed his last wishing, “Would to God that I had never reigned. What does all my glory profit but that I have so much the more torment in my death?” Charles IX of France (1550-1574, reigned 1560-1574), who in 1572 had ordered the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of the Huguenots throughout France met death with despair, “What blood! What murders! I am lost forever. I know it.” When she lay dying, Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) was reported to have said she would give, “All my possessions for a moment of time.”– Today’s Gospel challenges us to compare with these royal deaths Christ the King’s death on the cross, offering his life to God his Father in all serenity and elegance. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

4) King in disguise: The story is told of Mother Teresa of Calcutta observing a novice using tweezers to pluck maggots from the leg of a dying leper. The young woman stood at arm’s length to perform the odious task. Gently but firmly, Mother Teresa corrected her charge. — Taking the tweezers and putting her face quite near the wound, she said, “You don’t understand, my dear. This is the leg of Christ our Lord. For what you do to this man, you do to him.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

5) Francis of Assisi was wealthy, high-born, and high-spirited, but he was not happy. He felt that life was incomplete. Then one day he was riding, and he met a leper, loathsome and repulsive in the ugliness of his disease. Something moved Francis to dismount and fling his arms around this wretched sufferer; and, lo, in his arms the face of the leper changed to the face of the Christ. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

6) Leo Tolstoy’s story “Martin the Cobbler” tells of a lonely shoemaker who is promised a visit by our Lord that very day. Eagerly all day he awaits his arrival. But all that come are a man in need of shoes, a young mother in need of food and shelter, and a child in need of a friend. Each of these Martin serves willingly. The  cobbler ends the day thinking “Perhaps tomorrow he will come,” only to hear a voice reply, “I did come to you today, Martin; not once, but three times.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

7) “Long Live Christ the King!  Long Live the Pope!”  Those of us, who pray for the persecuted Church, mourned the loss of Ignatius, Cardinal Kung who died at the age of 98.  He stood by his convictions, and withstood persecution for his Faith.  He was consecrated the bishop of Shanghai in 1949, shortly after the Communists took over China. The Chinese government pressured him to align his loyalties to the “Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.”  But he refused, choosing to remain loyal to his Church’s chain of command.  In 1955, the authorities brought him and 200 other priests to a stadium in Shanghai.  The government ordered them to “confess their crimes.”  Instead, Kung shouted “Long Live Christ the King!  Long Live the Pope.”  Shortly thereafter, he received a life sentence, where he spent the next 30 years in prison, most of the time in solitary confinement.  When he was freed in 1987, he came to the United States with his nephew and settled in Stamford, Connecticut.  He went to his eternal reward on March 12, 2000. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

8)   “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!”  Of thirty Roman emperors, governors of provinces and others in high office, who distinguished themselves by their fanatical zeal and bitterness in persecuting the early Christians, one became mentally deranged; another was slain by his own son.  One of them became blind; another was drowned.  One was strangled; another died in miserable captivity.  One of them died of so loathsome a disease that several of his physicians were put to death because they could not abide the stench that filled his room.  Two committed suicide; another attempted it but had to call for help to finish the work.  Five were assassinated by their own people or servants, five others died the most miserable and excruciating deaths and eight were killed in battle, or after being taken prisoners.  Among those who died in battle was Julian the Apostate.  In the days of his prosperity he is said to have pointed his dagger to heaven, defying the Son of God whom he commonly called “the Galilean.”  But when he was wounded in battle and saw that all was over with him, he gathered up his clotted blood and threw it into the air, exclaiming, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!” (Boise) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

9) “He is something more than a king.” In Lloyd Douglas’ novel, The Robe, the slave, Demetrius, pushed his way through the crowd on Palm Sunday, trying to see who the center of attraction was.  He got close enough to look upon the face of Jesus.  Later another slave asked, “See him – close up?”  Demetrius nodded.  “Crazy?”  Demetrius shook his head emphatically.  “King?”  “No,” muttered Demetrius, “not a king.”  “What is he then?” demanded the other slave.  “I don’t know,” mumbled Demetrius, “but he is something more than a king.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

10) “Honey, take a long, long look”: As the body of Abraham Lincoln lay in state for a few hours in Cleveland, Ohio for mourners to pay their tribute, a black woman in the long queue lifted up her little son and said in a hushed voice: “Honey, take a long, long look. He died for us, to give us freedom from slavery.” — Today’s Gospel gives us the same advice, presenting the trial scene of Christ our King who redeemed us from Satan’s slavery by His death on the cross. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

11) “Little omission of kindness“:  William McKinley, the 25^th U.S. President, once had to choose between two equally qualified men for a key job. He puzzled over the choice until he remembered a long-ago incident. On a rainy night, McKinley had boarded a crowded streetcar. One of his prospective candidates was in the car. When an old woman carrying a basket of laundry struggled into the car looking for a seat, the job candidate pretended not to see her while McKinley obliged. Remembering the episode as a “little omission of kindness,” McKinley decided against the man on the streetcar. —  Our decisions, even the small fleeting ones, tell a lot about us, whether we serve ourselves or Christ our King living in others. [Presidential Anecdotes by Paul F. Boller Jr. (Penguin Books).] (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

12)  The Generals of Insignificance in our lives: In the Berlin Art Gallery there is a painting by the famous artist Adolph von Menzel that is only partially finished.  It is called, “Frederick the Great Addresses His Generals before the Battle of Leuthen in 1757.” Menzel painstakingly painted the generals first, placing them around the outside of the painting as a background and leaving a bare patch in the middle of the painting for the King.  But Menzel died before he could finish the painting.  So there is a painting full of generals but no king. — We often spend much time enthroning the generals of insignificance in our lives and postpone inviting Jesus the King of Kings into our hearts till the last moment which is quite uncertain.  As a result, many Christians die without putting Christ into the very center of their lives.  The painting of our lives will never be complete until we place at its center Christ the King whose feast we celebrate today. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

13) “I shall be that soldier.” Sportsman and best-selling author Pat Williams, in his book The Paradox of Power, tells about one man who deserved to bear the name Christian. In fact, that was his name, Christian X, King of Denmark during World War II. The people of Denmark remember him the way any of us would want to be remembered, as a person of character, courage, and principle. Every morning, King Christian rode without bodyguards in an open carriage through the streets of Copenhagen. He trusted his people and wanted them to feel free to come up to him, greet him, and shake his hand. In 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Denmark. Like so many other European nations, this small Scandinavian country was quickly conquered. But the spirit of the Danish people and their king proved unquenchable. Even after the Nazis had taken control of the nation, King Christian X continued his morning carriage rides. He boldly led his people in a quiet but courageous resistance movement. On one occasion, the king noticed a Nazi flag flying over a public building in Copenhagen. He went to the German Kommandant and asked that the flag be removed. “The flag flies,” the Kommandant replied, “because I ordered it flown. Request denied.” “I demand that it come down,” said the king. “If you do not have it removed, a Danish soldier will go and remove it.” “Then he will be shot,” said the Kommandant. “I don’t think so,” said King Christian, “for I shall be that soldier.”  — The flag was removed. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

14) Jesse Owens crushing Hitler’s Aryan Supremacy theory: The black man standing in the arena was an affront to Der Fuehrer’s authority. The scene was the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany. The black man was Jesse Owens of The Ohio State University representing the U.S.A. He was aptly called “the fastest human alive.” Der Fuehrer was Chancellor Adolf Hitler who had recently risen to power championing an arrogant theory that his “Aryan race” of “supermen” would conquer the world. In implementing his theory, he began systematically to stamp out the Jews in a bitter expression of prejudice and discrimination. Hitler also publicly denounced Blacks (Negroes as they were called then), as an inferior race. Jesse Owens, in his estimation, should not even be present at the Games. Jesse Owens was not only present, but he went on to win four gold medals in the 100-meter-dash, the 200-meter-dash, the broad jump and the 400-meter relay race. He demolished Hitler’s claim that the Aryan race was superior to all others. Furthermore, this soft-spoken black athlete embarrassed Hitler and undermined his pompous authority in the heart of the Fatherland. — Today is Christ the King Sunday in the liturgical calendar, an appropriate time for us to grapple with the whole question of authority. We may not be in danger of being seduced by an evil power such as Hitler, but we may not be clear on the authority to whom we do give allegiance. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

15) Faith in and fidelity to the King: While battling the Philistines, King David was camped at a place called the Cave of Adullam. He was tired of fighting and was longing for a taste of home. David said, wishing out loud, “O that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” Three of his most able and faithful soldiers overheard the king, and took it upon themselves to go and get water from that well for him. It meant risking their necks, for they had to break through the camp of the Philistines to do it. When they brought the water to David, however, he refused to drink it. He recognized how dangerous it had been to get the water, and he realized that this act showed how highly they regarded him. Instead of drinking it, he poured it out on the ground as an offering to the Lord. — David had already shown his faith in his men, and these three were responding with faith and love for their king. (1 Chr 11:15-19). What about Christ? Does he inspire Faith in you? (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

16) In the Line of Fire. Dr. Gary Nicolosi compares God’s love to the 1993 hit film, In the Line of Fire. Clint Eastwood plays Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan. Horrigan had protected the life of the President for more than three decades, but he was haunted by the memory of what had happened thirty years before. Horrigan was a young agent assigned to President Kennedy on that fateful November day in Dallas in 1963. When the assassin fired, Horrigan froze in shock. For thirty years afterward, he wrestled with the ultimate question for a Secret Service agent: Can I take a bullet for the President? In the climax of the movie, Horrigan does what he had been unable to do earlier: he throws himself into the path of an assassin’s bullet to save the President. — Secret Service agents are willing to do such a thing because they believe the President is so valuable to our country that he is worth dying for. At Calvary the situation was reversed, says Dr. Nicolosi. The President of the Universe actually took a bullet for each of us. At the cross we see how valuable we are to God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

17) The shivering and hungry King: This is a story about an Irish King.  He had no children to succeed him on the throne, so he decided to choose his successor from among the people.  The only condition set by the King, as announced throughout his kingdom, was that the candidate must have a deep love for God and neighbor.  In a remote village of the kingdom lived a poor but gentle youth who was noted for his kindness and helpfulness to all his neighbors.  The villagers encouraged him to enter the contest for kingship.  They took up a collection for him so that he could make the long journey to the royal palace.  After giving him the necessary food and a good overcoat, they sent him on his way.  As the young man neared the castle, he noticed a beggar sitting on a bench in the royal park, wearing torn clothes.  He was shivering in the cold while begging for food.  Moved with compassion, the young man gave the beggar his new overcoat and the food he had saved for his return journey.  After waiting for a long time in the parlor of the royal palace, the youth was admitted for an interview with the king.  As he raised his eyes after prostrating himself before the King, he was amazed to find that the King, who was wearing the overcoat he had given to the beggar at the park, was now  greeting him as the new King of the country. —  When He comes in glory, Christ the King is going to judge us on the basis of our corporal and spiritual works of mercy. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

18) “If only I knew it was you!” Nelson Mandela was still a young man when he became leader of the banned African National Congress. At a certain stage of the struggle he was forced to go underground. He used many disguises and in general remained as unkempt as possible, so that he would not be easily recognized. Once he was to attend a meeting in a distant part of Johannesburg. A priest had arranged with friends of his to put him up for the night. However, when Mandela arrived at the house, the elderly woman who answered the doorbell took one look at him and exclaimed, “We don’t want your kind here!” And she shut the door in his face. Later when she found out who it was she had turned away she was horrified and said to him, “If only I knew it was you, I’d have given you the best room in the house.” Mandela did not let incidents like this deter him. —  Jesus appears to us in different guises. If only we knew it was he … [Flor McCarthy in New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho.] (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

19) Gluttonous kings versus humble king: 1) Hu Hai was the second emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC). Hu Hai indulged in the super-luxurious life. He forced a large number of peasants from around the country to build Epang Palace and the mausoleum in Lishan Mountain. He ordered 50,000 soldiers to defend the capital and all parts of the country were forced ceaselessly to send provisions to the capital. 2) Several of the Roman emperors, unmatched in wealth and power, fully demonstrated a capacity for luxury and gluttony. Among these emperors, Claudius (ruled AD 41–54) is famous. 3) The luxury banquet laid out in the famous tomb of King Tutankhamen of Egypt (died 1352 BC.), which was intended for the monarch to enjoy in the afterlife, included a gourmet selection of wines inscribed with names of wine districts— one may call them— the Nile Valley, the Nile Delta, and the Oases. Hundreds of attendants waited on them. — Against this background, there came a King, giving a shocking surprise to his followers. Jesus washed the feet of his followers and waited on them. He performed a gesture that had never been heard of, and commanded his followers to do the same, and to follow it as a new commandment in his Kingdom. (Fr. Bobby Jose). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

20) Large grave in the monastery: St. Theodosius was a monk who lived in Palestine in the 500s. After growing in holiness himself, he decided to start a new monastery, which soon attracted so many vocations that it became more of a monastic city than just a monastery. One of the first things he did when he founded his monastery was rather shocking. He dug a large grave, right in the middle of the cloister. When he had finished digging, the little group of curious monks gathered around the rectangular pit to get an explanation. Theodosius said simply: “Here you see a grave. Here we will all one day be buried and our bodies will return to the dust from which they were made. Remember this, my sons, so that you never stray from the Lord’s sure but narrow road of prayer and self-denial. It is better to die to ourselves each day and rise again on the Day of Judgment than indulge ourselves foolishly now and remain in the grave forever.” — St Theodosius had learned well the lesson of today’s parable: Christ wants us to know what’s going to happen after death, so that we can make the right choices throughout our life. (E-Priest). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

 21) The British Navy Welcomes the Devil: The main point of Pope Pius XI’s 1925 encyclical on the Fest of Christ the King was to remind Catholics that Christ matters not only for our private lives, but for our public lives too. That reminder is as valid today as it was in 1925. We are constantly bombarded by media messages that tell us to keep our religion safe at home and keep it out of the public square. But if we don’t defend and spread Christian values in society, what values will thrive there? If we don’t continue to bring Christ into culture, what will culture become? You may remember a story that was in the news a couple of years ago. It told how the British Royal Navy officially recognized and approved of the practice of Satanism. A naval technician named Chris Cramer, who explicitly claimed to be a devil worshipper, was granted permission to perform satanic rituals on his ship. A Royal Navy spokesman explained that the Navy was “an equal opportunity employer and we don’t stop anybody from having their own religious values.” —  If we truly believe that Christ is the Savior, that there really is one God who created us and redeemed us, we should not be afraid to bring that Faith to play in the society around us. If we don’t bring it to play, others will bring into play other values and beliefs, and those may not be as innocent as we would like. All religions are not the same. All values systems are the not the same. Today, the Church is reminding us of this, and encouraging us to be faithful followers of the one, true God, who so loved the world that He sent His Son to be our Savior by winning for us the forgiveness of sins through his death on the cross. [Rev. Francis M. de Rosa, STL; E- Priest.] (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

22) Hilaire Belloc won the election:  In 1908, the famous Anglo-French historian and writer, Hilaire Belloc [BELL-ock] ran for the British Parliament. His opponents tried to scare off his supporters by claiming that Belloc’s faithfulness to the Catholic Church would inhibit him from being objective. Belloc responded in a speech: “Gentlemen, I am a Catholic. As far as possible, I go to Mass every day. This [taking his beads out of his pocket] is a rosary. As far as possible, I kneel down and tell its beads every day. If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God for having spared me the indignity of being your representative.” The crowd was shocked for a minute, and then burst out in applause. Belloc went on to win that election, and many more. — If Catholics cannot bring Christ’s wisdom, goodness, and grace into our society, what do we have to offer?  Our paltry human wisdom? Our own tendencies to selfishness? Our shortsightedness? Pope Pius XI’s encyclical stresses that Christ truly is the King of the Universe, that he will reign forever, and that the Church on earth is the beginning of his Kingdom. It is not enough, therefore, for Christians to hold onto their Faith just in their private lives. We must bring Christ and Christian values into culture, politics, and every sphere of society. If we truly believe in Christ, why would we be afraid of defending and spreading Christian values? Why would we let ourselves be bullied by secular fundamentalists who try to exclude Christ from culture? (E- Priest). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

23) The Obelisk in St Peter’s Square: In St Peter’s Square in Rome, there stands an ancient Egyptian obelisk – a single block of granite in the shape of the Washington monument, almost 100 feet high and weighing 330 tons. It is the oldest obelisk in Rome, dating from about 1850 BC. At that time it had been erected as a monument to the Pharaoh, and it watched over two thousand years of Egyptian history – the longest reigning empire in history. It stood there when Abraham was called, when Joseph was viceroy of Egypt, when Moses led his people out of Egypt. At the time of Christ, soon after the Magi came to worship him, the Roman Emperor Caligula brought it to Rome as a sign of Rome’s superiority as conqueror of Egypt. There it stood for four more centuries, a symbol of the Roman Empire, the largest empire in human history. A golden urn with Julius Caesar’s ashes was placed on it. It stood in the arena where St Peter himself was martyred, along with hundreds of other early Christians. Then the barbarians invaded Rome, and in the Middle Ages it fell. Ivy grew around it. It was half-buried near the old Basilica. But the Church converted the barbarians, and when a new Christian culture emerged and flourished, and St. Peter’s Basilica was rebuilt and expanded, Pope Sixtus V had the obelisk re-erected in the center of the plaza. No longer is it a reminder of the long-perished empires of Egypt, Rome and the barbarian hoards. Now it is topped with a bronze cross, and inside that bronze cross is a small fragment of the true cross, the cross on which Christ, conquering his Kingdom, was crucified. Now it serves the universal Kingdom that will have no end, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. (E- Priest). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

 24) Empires Come and Go – The Church Endures: St Maximilian Kolbe: This is one of the reasons why tyrants hate the Catholic Church so much. Tyrants want total control – we call their governments “totalitarian regimes”. And so they can’t stand the Catholic Church, because it is a constant reminder that they don’t have total control – that they can’t; only God can. And so, just as Herod tried to do with Jesus, the eternal King, they try to stamp out the Church, the eternal Kingdom. The Roman emperors tried. The barbarian tribes of northern Europe tried. The Medieval Islamic Caliphs tried. The French Revolutionaries tried. Napoleon tried – he even kidnapped the Pope, twice! The Nazis tried, and the Communists tried too, giving the twentieth century the bittersweet honor of having more Christian martyrs than any previous century. The tyrants of every generation try to take over the throne that only Christ can occupy, but the Church continues to survive, grow, and spread. A favorite example of this unconquerability of our Faith is found in St. Maximilian Kolbe. He was the Franciscan priest who died famously in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. A fellow prisoner had been condemned to death. But the condemned man had a family, and St. Maximilian had none, so the saint offered himself as a substitute. It was the crowning action of a string of selfless deeds that he performed throughout his imprisonment. Even the horrors of that concentration camp couldn’t conquer his Christian spirit. He celebrated secret masses on crowded, plank bunk beds; he secretly heard confessions walking through the mud to work; he even gave hope to his fellow death-row inmates: for fifteen days they prayed and sang hymns in the bunker where they were being starved to death. — This is Christ the King’s everlasting, unconquerable, universal Kingdom. This is our Kingdom. This is our Church. (E- Priest). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

25) The King of Kings is here! The old Cardinal, Hugh Latimer, often used to preach before King Henry VIII. It was customary for the Court preacher to present the King with something on his birthday, and Cardinal Latimer presented to Henry VIII a pocket handkerchief with this text in the corner –“Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge,” a very suitable text for King Henry. Then he preached very forcefully on the sins of lust and did not forget the personal application to the King. And the King said that the next time (the next Sunday), when the Cardinal preached, he must apologize. The next Sunday, when the Cardinal stood in the pulpit, he thought to himself, “Latimer, be careful about what you say, the King of England is here.” At the same time a voice in his heart said, “Latimer, Latimer, be careful about what you say, the King of Kings is here.” Strengthened by this, he preached what God wanted him to preach. -Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. We must enthrone Jesus as our King in our hearts and in our homes. (John Rose in John’s Sunday          Homilies). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

26) The real king? This happened a number of years ago when the late King Baudouin was reigning in Belgium. As the Constitutional Monarch, one of his duties was to “rubber stamp” all the bills passed by Parliament with his signature, thereby officially promulgating them as law. In 1990, the Belgian parliament passed a reprehensible bill that basically removed all legal sanctions against abortions. As a practicing and conscientious Catholic, King Baudouin objected to abortion vehemently, and so he could not and would not endorse the measure. But according to the constitution, he did not have a choice – as figurehead monarch, he had to ratify the bill, so by refusing to sign the bill into law, he was, in effect, attempting to veto the Parliament, and putting his throne on the line! The parliament simply dethroned him for one day, promulgated the law on that day when there was no reigning monarch in Belgium, and then re-instated him on the next day. — Granted, earthly monarchs need constitutional limitations to prevent the abuse of power.  But, that’s not true for the Heavenly Monarch, the all-good, all-loving God, for any time we attempt to impede Christ’s reign in our lives, we’re just erecting an obstacle to the good that He could be in our lives.  Clearly then, there’s false comfort and perilous perdition in that illusion of ultimate self-determination: if someone on the street swears at you and says, “Go to Hell!” sure, it’s easy to invoke your autonomy then and shrug it off with the slur, “I’m free – I don’t have to go anywhere I don’t want to go!” Yet the same people who declare self-determination their highest law and have thus pretended to enthrone themselves as the sovereign moral authority by dethroning in their hearts Christ the King, will discover, when HE solemnly speaks those same words as the judgment of eternal damnation, the absolute limits of personal freedom, limits constituted by the True and Almighty King of all creation. [John Ruscheinsky in Daily Online            Reflections; quoted by Fr. Botelho.] (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

27) A king of love, mercy and justice: The contemporaries of Jesus grew up hearing the stories of the cruelty of the ancient kings and rulers. Biblical Accounts give vivid descriptions of the cruelty of the Assyrians. In 722 BC Assyrian armies swept through the Near East. They became notorious for their cruelty.  There are caves in Palestine to this day where we can find etched into cave-walls depictions of Assyrian cruelty: men beheaded, children disemboweled, pregnant women ripped open. The Assyrians did it. Up until the Assyrian assault there had been twelve tribes in Israel. The Assyrians slew ten. After 722 BC there were only two tribes left, Judah and Benjamin. The other ten will never be seen again. The kings of Assyria tormented the miserable world. They flung away the bodies of soldiers like so much clay; they made pyramids of human heads;  they burned cities;  they filled populous lands with death and devastation;  they reddened broad deserts with carnage of warriors;  they scattered whole countries with the corpses of their defenders as with chaff;  they impaled ‘heaps of men’ on stakes, and strewed the mountains and choked rivers with dead bones;  they cut off the hands of kings and nailed them on the walls, and left their bodies to rot with bears and dogs on the entrance gates of cities;  they employed nations of captives in making brick in fetters;  they cut down warriors like weeds, or smote them like wild beasts in the forests, and covered pillars with the flayed skins of rival monarchs. The contemporaries of Jesus also were familiar with the cruelties of the Roman emperors and King Herod. They knew how the kings in the ancient world treated their enemies. Against this background there arose a king with a different code of conduct. Hammurabi, the ancient Babylonian king, created the first written set of laws. Since the laws were clearly written down, everyone was expected to obey them. — But Jesus, the king of Kings, summarized all the laws into two and wrote them down in the hearts of men. He taught, “Love God with your whole being and love your neighbors as yourself”  (Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk10:34),   and “Love one another as I have loved you!” (Jn 1:34) In the ancient world where enemies were treated with great cruelty, and criminals were murdered mercilessly, this was a shocking message. But from this emerged the uniqueness of the Kingdom Jesus. On this code is grounded the power of his kingdom which will last forever. This has made the kingdom of Jesus different from all the kingdoms on the earth. History has seen the rise and fall of many empires. But history has not seen any empire other than the empire of Jesus that grows century after century. When the angel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of Jesus, he said, “His kingdom will have no end.”(Lk 1:33) The angel thus conformed the prophecy of Daniel: “His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed.” (Dan 7:14). Fr. Bobby Jose. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

28) Jesus is the king of hearts: Bishop Villegas in his book entitled Jesus in My Heart said that Jesus is king of hearts in every Christian. To explain this contention, Villegas used the image of a deck of cards which carries four images of kings. The first image is the king of clubs. A club is an extension of a violent hand. A club is an extension of a hostile man. Christ cannot be king of clubs because Jesus is not here to sow violence. Jesus is not here to sow hostility. Jesus is here as a king of peace. Jesus is here, gentle and humble of heart, not to sow enmity among us. Jesus is here so that all may be brothers and sisters to one another. Bishop Villegas continued that Jesus could not be king of spades. A spade is used to throw dirt. Jesus is not here to make our lives dirty. Jesus is here to cleanse us from everything that defiles us. Jesus is not the king of spades because Jesus is not in the grave. Jesus is risen from the dead. Jesus is not king of spades because the business of Jesus is not to make other people dirty, to make people look at the grave dug by spades. The business of Jesus is to give hope and purity to us. Jesus cannot be king of diamonds for he came to bless our poverty. Jesus came to bless our pains and our aches. Jesus is not here to make our lives easier and more comfortable. Jesus is here to give meaning and purpose to our crosses and pains and trials. Jesus can only be king of hearts. This is the kind of king that Jesus is. He is the king of the universe because he is the king of hearts. (Fr. T.S. Benitez). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

29) Come unto me: A wonderful statue of Jesus the Christ exists in the cathedral of Denmark’s fairy-tale city of Copenhagen. The sculptor was the master Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen who died in 1844. He chose to sculpt a monumental Christ, the Christus, that would reveal Him in all His majesty. His hands would be raised as befitted His awesome power. His face would look out regally on everyone and everything. He would indeed be the King of kings, the Man in total control. It was done. “Jesus is the greatest figure in human history,” the sculptor said when the clay model was finished, “and this statue will so represent Him.” However, a funny thing happened on the way to the unveiling. The statue was left in a shed near the water. The dampness had its way with the clay Christ statue. The upraised hands had drooped. They no longer commanded. Rather, they beseeched. The fiercely upturned face had lowered itself onto the master’s chest. The person who wore this face had known many problems and was compassion itself. This was no longer a King before whom one would grovel and stutter, “Your Royal Majesty.” Rather, it was a Shepherd solicitous for every one of His sheep. — At first, Thorvaldsen was bitterly disappointed by the accident. Then he realized after reflection that this was a more accurate Jesus than the one he had originally conceived. Indeed, it might have been providentially planned. So, he left it undisturbed. His original intention had been to inscribe the dictum “FOLLOW MY COMMANDS” on the base of the statue. But now he realized that was no longer appropriate. Instead he chiseled the softer message “COME UNTO ME.” To this day, this benign Nazarene touches the hearts and spirits of those who enter the Copenhagen cathedral. It is reported that often Thorvaldsen’s masterpiece reduces spectators to tears. In most probability, it has more of a genuine effect on them than his majestic Christ ever would have. The statue reminds them of His famous words to a puzzled Pontius Pilate in today’s Gospel, “My kingdom is not of this world”(Jn 18:36). (Father James Gilhooley). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/). 

30) “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” I am sure that most of you have read the immortal play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. After the assassination of Julius Caesar by Brutus and Cassius, the body of Caesar lies before the people.  It is then that Mark Anthony gives his famous speech reminding the people how much Caesar loved and cared for them.  He said, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him; the evil that men do lives after them; the good is often interred with their bones. So be it with Caesar. The noble Brutus has told you that Caesar was ambitious. If it were so, it was a grievous fault and grievously has Caesar answered it. Caesar was my friend, faithful and just to me. He has brought many captives here to Rome, whose ransom did the general coffers fill.” Then he mentioned Caesar’s will in which he made the Roman citizens his heir. — Often, we forget the good and great things people do to us. It took Mark Anthony to remind the Roman citizens of Caesar’s love and care. Then their hearts were set on fire. This morning may we remember the great love, care, and power which Christ has bestowed upon us. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

31) Napoleon, writing in exile on St Helena, wrote these famous words before his death: “Alexander (The Great), Caesar, Charlemagne and I have founded empires.  But on what?  On force!  Jesus alone founded his empire on love; and at this hour, millions of men would die for him.  He is everywhere proclaimed, loved and adored and his sway is extended over all the earth.” —  The Church still stands – and it always will…as long as there are people ready to profess their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. (Fr. Tony Kayala) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

32) Bring Us to the Joy of His Kingdom: “You would have no power over me whatever,” Jesus said to Pilate, “were it not given you from above” (Jn 19:11). — Even the most powerful kings get their authority from Christ who was designated by His Father to be the “universal king.” Italy’s last king, Humbert II, who died in exile on March 18, 1983, learned through bitter experience the transiency of earthly kingship. Umberto was the son of King Victor Emmanuel III. Victor, who reigned from 1900 to 1946, was largely a figurehead. When Mussolini became Italy’s most powerful personage in 1922, Victor weakly named him prime minister. Thus, whether he wanted to or not, he became a partner in the building of Fascism. True, the king took a firmer stand when the Allies invaded Italy in 1943. He dismissed the Duce from office and installed an anti-Fascist as premier. But Victor Emmanuel had already compromised himself, so he abdicated on May 9, 1946, in favor of his son. Prince Umberto accepted the crown but wore it all too briefly. On June 2, 1946, the Italians voted to replace the monarch with a republic, and sentenced the new monarch to perpetual exile. Though Humbert did not abdicate, he resigned himself to exile. Italians nicknamed him “il Re del Maggio” – “the May King”: his reign had lasted only one month. Humbert passed the rest of his life in Portugal. He led a decent, humble, non-political life; but he missed his beloved land. In 1982 the ex-king, now in his seventies, fell ill with a terminal disease. He gently petitioned the Italian government to allow him to visit his homeland for one last time. The government was willing but it would take some time to change the law about his exile. The delay proved too long. When Umberto died in Switzerland, the last word he uttered was “Italia!” Even in death, he could not be buried in Rome. Instead he was interned with his forefathers in mountains of Savoy in southeast France.– Despite his frustration, Umberto made one last kingly gesture. Since 1453 his family had been owners of the Holy Shroud of Turin, the famous linen sheet that seems to have been the burial cloth of Jesus. This he bequeathed to the popes in his will. It was a high tribute of a suffering earthly monarch to the King of Kings. It was also a meek prayer that He Who reigned from the cross might welcome the lesser prince into the only permanent commonwealth – the kingdom of heaven. (Fr. Robert F. McNamara). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

33) What can I possibly learn from a dying felon who was justly convicted? 2,000 years ago, the mighty pagan Roman Empire ruled a giant portion of the known world, and persecuted the newly emerging Catholics for three hundred years simply because they refused to deny the Truth about Jesus. But today, that pagan empire that was based on power is completely gone. In fact, not a single government that existed 2,000 years remains in operation today. However, the Roman Catholic Church survives in the fullness of His truth! It is based not on power, but on powerlessness. In our RCIA classes and classes on the Early Church Fathers, the Creed has crucial and central importance. In that Creed, we profess our Faith – the foundation of our Catholicism – that “we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ…on the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures.” We are professing that this man called Jesus, who suffered and died on the cross, rose again – is indeed the King of Kings, the Messiah. Somehow he is with us at all times, even in our own suffering; he is still Christ our King. This is why today’s gospel (Lk 23:35-43) is so ironic. All those who ridiculed and reviled and jeered and sneered at him did not accept him as Messiah; they thought the Messiah would manifest himself in power. Yet here was their King and God right before their eyes, and they did not recognize him because of his powerlessness! But our Gospel does indicate that at least one person recognized and accepted Jesus: a criminal! Jesus’ words of forgiveness bring hope to our hearts: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43) — If a criminal can make a last moment’s conversion, then there is hope for me if I humbly return to him. That is Good News! (Fr. Robert F. McNamara).

This is the question we should ask ourselves: which king do I serve? The “temporal king” who may promise immediate gratification or an eternal King who invites a privileged participation in the building of his Kingdom?