What do the school year, the fiscal year and the liturgical year all have in common? That’s right, none of them conclude at the end of the calendar year.
This is the weekend we end our liturgical year. So, I have a few questions concerning the upcoming liturgical year.
The correct answer is d. The First Sunday of Advent
The answer is False. There are three cycles of readings referred to as Cycle A, B and C.
The answer is Cycle C, which is mainly the Gospel of Luke. Next week will be the first week of Advent and we will begin Cycle A, which is mainly the Gospel of Matthew.
Advent
Christmas
Lent
Triduum
Easter
Ordinary Time
In regard to today’s Feast, the Solemnity of Christ the King, some people reject the portrayal of Jesus as King, citing that the metaphor as too hierarchical, triumphant and sovereign. I, too, struggle with this dominant image of Christ the King.
Our Christ the King is not a king vested in fine silks and jewels, sitting in a castle on a glorious throne with faithful subjects bowing before him. Our Divine King is in fact stripped naked of his clothes and crowned, not with jewels but with a crown of thorns.
In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, our King of Kings is beaten up, bloody, and nailed to a cross at the city’s garbage dump.
The rulers sneered and called out:
“He saved others. Let him save Himself, if He is the chosen one, the Christ of God.”
The soldiers who drove the nails into His sacred hands took turns mocking and jeering Christ:
“If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.”
One skeptical criminal hanging beside our King angrily yelled at Jesus:
“Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.”
But another criminal, hanging from his cross, had eyes of faith. He said to the first criminal:
“Have you no fear of God? This man has done nothing criminal. ... Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
This second criminal looked at the bruised, bloody and dying man nailed to the cross and saw a King. Our faith-filled criminal, who is like you and me, did not have the theological grasp of St. Paul as described in our Second Reading, that Jesus is:
Our faith-filled criminal believed that there is more to existence than just this physical and human life. He believed that death was not the end, but rather a transformation to the unknown and eternal life. Jesus rewarded his faith, as he will reward ours, by promising, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Even though our faith-filled criminal only saw with his natural eyes a fellow man dying on a cross and condemned like a common criminal, his supernatural eyes of faith saw a Supreme and Servant King.
People who saw Jesus Christ on the cross could not recognize him as a King. In today’s world, many have trouble recognizing this same King in the faces of the starving children, neglected elderly parents, overworked parents and troubled youth. We have to look at all people with the eyes of faith and see Christ in them.
The Feast of Christ the King stands in stark opposition to any notion of what it means to be a king, queen or ruler, prime minster or president, or leader of a nation. They may promise to serve the will of the people, but once in power, our experience is that they are often self-serving.
The most striking evidence of Jesus’ kingship is his ability to serve others. His kingdom is a kingdom of justice and truth, love and forgiveness. He served the poorest of the poor, sick and terminally ill, the physically and mentally challenged, and those abused by domestic and sexual violence, the helpless babies inside or outside of the womb, the undocumented, the people with leprosy and the soldiers and victims of war.
Our King is unguarded. He doesn’t use a protective service or armies. What an obstacle. How baffling? Our King is a King crucified.
In celebrating Christ the King at the end of the Church year, we are forced to ask ourselves, “Am I willing to sacrifice myself to be a member of this Kingdom?”
Remember, of course, that the Kingdom of God is not a place, but a safe environment of love and forgiveness which is here and now and will be eternal.
Perhaps we can compare the Kingdom to a science project.
A boy laid a piece of candy on a table and picking up one little ant, he put it near the delicious chocolate. He wondered what the single ant would do. To his surprise, the ant took a single bite, then hurried off to inform the rest of the ants in the colony. Soon, the little creature returned, followed by a long train of other ants, who also enjoyed the treat with the original ant. The boy learned firsthand that ants look after each other and are willing to share what they have for the common good.
The candy is like the Kingdom, and we are the original ant. We go out and invite others to enjoy the eternal Kingdom.
St Teresa of Avila summed it up by saying, “Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.” The suffering of a neighbor is an invitation to become an active player in the game of life and bring relief to others. We become the hands and feet of Christ.
Fr. Jonathan Morris, in his best-selling book, “The Promise,” suggests four simple ideas to be the hands and feet of Jesus. These ideas will help you to avoid family conflicts during the upcoming holidays:
It helps to pray for the courage to enter personally into the lives of those who are spiritually poor, emotionally poor or physically poor and to do it in a Christ-like way. Doing so will bring you closer to Christ our King.
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