Christ the King Sunday

Reflection For The Feast Of Christ The King

A reflection for the Feast of Christ the King 2013

By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD

Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans Divine Mercy

Independent Catholic Church of the Americas

This week’s TV Reflection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQBes0hcAd8

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This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Kingship of Christ, it is also the final Sunday of the Liturgical year and next week we begin a new Liturgical year with the first Sunday of Advent.

Psalm 122 for this Sunday ends with “I will now say, Peace be within you.

“I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the LORD…….Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.  For my brothers and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within you.  Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.”

What wonderful greeting to offer to everyone we meet on our journey of life. “I say, Peace be within you”. 

This Sunday the 24^th of November has been set aside to acknowledge Christ as King. 

Christ declared that He was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end and as such the human embodiment of the His Father, Almighty God the creator of all things.  

Any king, more precisely a loving good king, is concerned about the safety and welfare of every one of his subjects and so it is with Jesus Christ who told us how a good shepherd, which is exactly what a good king is supposed to be to his people, would go seeking a one lost sheep.

Our present Bishop of Rome, Francis, has often referred to himself as a shepherd and called upon all his Bishops and priests to go out into the pastures and be a shepherd to your flock.

The Second Reading for the feast of Christ the King is from Paul’s letter to the Colossians 1:12-20 which also gives us an affirmation of God’s love and caring for every person on the face of the earth and for the earth itself.

“Giving thanks to the Father, … Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven”.

The kingdom that Christ reigns over is not of this world, but is the everlasting kingdom to which we are called after living in this material world. We were reminded of this a few weeks ago when the scripture readings told of the life after this earthly one.

The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual kingdom where peace and harmony and elation of being with the angels and saints and most especially the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, abounds.

As King, Christ has the ultimate say on who will and will not be welcomed into this kingdom. There is not one human being on the face of the earth that can make that judgment, although many who call themselves “pastors” have claimed they know who will be in heaven and who are condemned. 

In The Gospel from Luke 23:35-43, we hear the following; “Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews’.
One of the criminals hanging beside him abused him saying;. ‘Are you not the Christ?’ he said. ‘Save yourself and us as well.’ But the other spoke up and rebuked him. ‘Have you no fear of God at all?’ he said. ‘You and I received the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for the crimes we committed. But this man has done nothing wrong. He said to Jesus, ‘remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Christ replied; “‘Indeed, I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

That statement by Christ strengthens the concept that Christ is the power through which we gain eternal life in the paradise that is the Kingdom of Heaven.  

In First Chronicles 29:11 we find this statement “Lord, you are great and powerful. Glory, majesty and beauty belong to you. Everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you. Lord, the kingdom belongs to you. You are honored as the One who rules over all.” and in Matthew 5:19 we read these words of advice as to how we can gain entrance to the Kingdom for which Christ is king; Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
The Commandments we have been called to live by are simple according the Christ they can be found in Matthew 22: 38-39 and have been called “The greatest of Commandments” “Love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind, soul and body and the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself”, 

In Christ’s Sermon on the Mount where Christ gave us the instructions on how to live, often called “The Beatitudes” we were told to do the following; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Next week we enter into a time of preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ, the season of Advent, which is an excellent time for us to take an inventory of how well we are doing in preparing for our entrance into the Kingdom of Christ, heaven, when our time here on God’s earthly plain is over.

Are we mindful of the needs of others, are we caring and accepting of all of God’s children not just those we consider acceptable because they conform to our way of thinking?

Are we looking out for the welfare of the poor, sick, homeless, aged and those who are unemployed?

Do we discriminate against others because of Race, creed, marital condition, sexual orientation or political party?

Are we giving back 10% to God of from the gifts he has provided us in time or goods or financial assistance?  

Christ has given us the example, He did not reject anyone who came to Him and neither should we.

We will not have to look far for a place to extend help or assistance; there are people in need in every community and in every Faith community all over the Globe.

This Thursday, as we celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving, let us make it a point to reach out and share some of our resources with someone in need. Take time to help out at a food pantry, or at a homeless shelter.

Give thanks to God by giving back some of the goodness that you have in your life.   

In this time of Advent, when people are thinking of the gifts they are going to get for their family and friends let us acknowledge the gifts God, our father, has given us and how we can use them to benefit those who have not been blessed as much as we are.

I always recall one of my father’s sayings; “I thought I was bad off because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet”

No matter how poor we might be, there is always someone who is worse off than we are and we are called by God to reach out to them and give them a helping hand.

By sharing the gifts God has provided us with someone less fortunate we not only show our love and respect for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords but we build up our treasure in the Kingdom of God which is what we hope to attain when out time here on earth is over.. AMEN