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Dear Friend, Is it meaningful to
celebrate the feast of the Kingship of Christ when kings and royalty are out
of date? Strangely, though people do not hold royalty as an exalted position
in society today, yet deep down there is a need to look up to some human
beings as models of inspiration for our lives. We may not find such people
easily but there are such persons who are alive or have existed in the
history of mankind. One such person is Jesus Christ. May His word and life
inspire us to the nobility of service. Have an inspirational weekend! Fr. Jude Botelho |
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The first reading from Samuel reminds us that
while Saul was King during his life only of the tribes of the north, David
had been proclaimed king by all the people of Israel. The anointing of David
as king of Judah and Israel was an external sign that David was God’s
representative ruling over all the people of Israel. David was now the
‘anointed one’, a term that would be used for all the future kings of Israel,
ultimately leading to Jesus Christ the anointed one. The people expected from
David and his successors a type of kingship that would reflect God’s kingship
over Israel. David’s successors did not live up to that hope and so the
people were waiting for the Messiah King who would liberate Israel and be a
true shepherd. This hope would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The second reading from St.
Paul’s letter to the Colossians contains one of the most ancient
Christological hymns spelling out the faith of the believers in Christ. It
first touches on Christ’s role at creation, He is the beginning and in him
all things were made. It then speaks of his salvific role; He is the source
of unity and he brings reconciliation to all mankind. Thirdly, it is through
his spirit that we are recreated and renewed. Paul puts Christ in the center
of all creation and affirms that Christ is not merely a human being but God
dwelling and present in our midst. All from Him In today’s Gospel Christ is proclaimed king in the most unlikely of
all places by the most unlikely of all people -at the cross. It would hardly
be a fitting place to proclaim his kingship. At the cross Jesus appears
almost powerless. The leaders jeered at him and mocked him challenging him to
show his power. “He saved other” they said, “let him save himself if he is
the Christ of God, the anointed one.” The soldiers mocked him too and said,
“If you are the king of the Jews save yourself!” But Jesus refused to reveal
his power for he had come into the world not to dominate but to do the will
of his Father, and so he chose to be obedient unto death. At the same moment
when he was dying on the cross two criminals were nailed on each side of him.
While one abused him the other was repentant and pleaded with Jesus:
“Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus was moved by the prayer
of the criminal and responded: “Indeed I promise you, today you will be with
me in paradise.” Luke represents Jesus on the cross as one exercising or
continuing to offer forgiveness. He asks the Father to forgive them, for they
do not know what they do; he forgives the repentant thief and promises him a
place in his kingdom. For Luke therefore, Christ is king on he cross, from which
he offers salvation to others. His throne is his cross. His kingdom is not
one of power but one of service and love. "Service, not domination, is the great norm of the kingdom
announced by the Lord. It is betrayed when we use whatever power we may have
received in order to impose our ideas and to preserve our privileges, for
example, when as church people we take advantage of our situation in society
to turn a deaf ear to the rights of people who do not share our faith. An
attitude of service presupposes sensitivity to listen to others. That
testimony alone will open hearts and minds to the proclamation of the kingdom
of Christ. The attitude of Jesus who never used power to his own advantage,
broke the hardness of one of the criminals with whom he was crucified. The
Lord’s testimony made him understand of what kingdom Jesus was king: of a
kingdom which, from now on, in this world and society, must change our way of
perceiving things and relating with others. It must inspire us to incarnate
the great values of the reign of God in our history. In fact, we must not
forget that the one in whom the Lord has made the “fullness of God” dwell is
the son of David, a man of our history and, as Luke reminds us a Galilean – a
member therefore, of a despised people. From that situation, the Lord is
calling us to a kingdom of solidarity; he is calling us to be with him. - Gustavo
Gutierrez in ‘Sharing the Word through the Liturgical Year’ Charisma President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November22, 1963. Even
though he was president for less than three years, Kennedy captured the
nation’s imagination with his charisma, eloquence, decisiveness and wit. The
mystique surrounding his memory is summed up in a Time magazine essay
written by Hugh Sidey in 1983. He writes: “ John F. Kennedy was the greatest
actor of our time, dimming those more celluloid performers like Ronald
Reagan. He was on a stage as wide as the world and in a drama of the centuries.
He commanded with Marlborough and debated with Churchill, he dined with
Jefferson and rode with Sherman to the sea.” Sidey goes on to call Kennedy a
practical romantic who sought the company of the great, both in his fantasies
and in real life. Kennedy urged his fellow Americans to follow this youthful
adventure of mind and body with him. In conclusion Sidey says: “That is why
John F. Kennedy lives among us today. In death he found a place in the
caravan of history’s great, whose thoughts and words he used, whose actions
he revered. Today we honor another great leader whose bright trajectory in
history ended in midpassage-Jesus Christ our King! In the Holy Year of 1983
we commemorated the 1950th anniversary of his death on the cross. Just as
Kennedy did, Jesus too captured the imagination of his nation. He did it with
the Sermon on the Mount, his miracles of healing, his outspoken criticism of
the Pharisees and his sense of destiny. Christ’s charisma was compelling.
Also like Kennedy, Jesus too died a violent, shocking death at the peak of
his career. His death on the cross in the midst of two thieves is the scene
of today’s gospel. But unlike Kennedy, Christ’s life did not end at the tomb.
Christ the King rose from the dead to fulfill some of his own words on the
cross:” I promise you: today you will be with me in paradise.” Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word resounds’ 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. Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’ May we be loyal and faithful
to Jesus our king! Fr. Jude
Botelho |
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Other Sunday Homily Websites Daily Reflections Immaculate Heart Retreat Center Gospel Commentary from Ireland Daily Scripture |
Recent
Sunday Reflections Thirty-Third Sunday of the Year 18-Nov. 2007 Thirty-Second Sunday of the Year 11-Nov. 2007 Thirty-First
Sunday of the Year 04-Nov. 2007 Thirtieth
Sunday of the Year 28-Oct. 2007 Twenty-Nineth
Sunday of the Year 21-Oct. 2007 Twenty-Eight
Sunday of the Year 14-Oct. 2007 Twenty-Seventh
Sunday of the Year 07-Oct. 2007
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