20221120 KINGSHIP ON THE CROSS
20 November, 2022, Sunday, Christ the King
First reading | 2 Samuel 5:1-3 © |
They anointed David king of Israel
All the tribes of Israel then came to David at Hebron. ‘Look’ they said ‘we are your own flesh and blood. In days past when Saul was our king, it was you who led Israel in all their exploits; and the Lord said to you, “You are the man who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you shall be the leader of Israel.”’ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a pact with them at Hebron in the presence of the Lord, and they anointed David king of Israel.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 121(122):1-5 © |
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
I rejoiced when I heard them say:
‘Let us go to God’s house.’
And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
Jerusalem is built as a city
strongly compact.
It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
For Israel’s law it is,
there to praise the Lord’s name.
There were set the thrones of judgement
of the house of David.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
Second reading |
Colossians 1:12-20 © |
The Father has created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves
We give thanks to the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.
Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
He is the image of the unseen God
and the first-born of all creation,
for in him were created
all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers –
all things were created through him and for him.
Before anything was created, he existed,
and he holds all things in unity.
Now the Church is his body,
he is its head.
As he is the Beginning,
he was first to be born from the dead,
so that he should be first in every way;
because God wanted all perfection
to be found in him
and all things to be reconciled through him and for him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when he made peace
by his death on the cross.
Gospel Acclamation | Mk11:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David!
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 23:35-43 © |
'Today you will be with me in paradise'
The people stayed there before the cross watching Jesus. As for the leaders, they jeered at him. ‘He saved others,’ they said ‘let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers mocked him too, and when they approached to offer vinegar they said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’ Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
One of the criminals hanging there abused him. ‘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 got the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus,’ he said ‘remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ ‘Indeed, I promise you,’ he replied ‘today you will be with me in paradise.’
KINGSHIP ON THE CROSS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 Sm 5:1-3; Ps 122:1-5; Col 1:11-20; Luke 23:35-43]
Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. Unlike earthly kings, Christ’s kingdom is not measured in terms of territory under His control. Christ Himself is the Kingdom of God. Christ’s kingdom encompasses everything and everyone. He is the king of our hearts and our minds. In Him, God is present. Indeed, as St Paul in the second reading wrote, “He is the image of the unseen God and the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers – all things were created through him and for him. Before anything was created, he existed, and he holds all things in unity.” When the good thief asked Jesus, “‘remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ ‘Indeed, I promise you,’ he replied, ‘today you will be with me in paradise.'” The Kingdom of God is identical with our Lord. To be with Jesus is to be in the Kingdom.
Today, we too must invite Jesus to be our King just as the Israelites did in the first reading. The tribes of Israel came to King David who was then King of Judah and said to him, “Look, we are your own flesh and blood. In days past when Saul was our king, it was you who led Israel in all their exploits; and the Lord said to you, ‘You are the man who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you shall be the leader of Israel.’ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a pact with them at Hebron in the presence of the Lord, and they anointed David king of Israel.” We, too, by virtue of our baptism consciously accept Jesus as our King. At our baptism, we are anointed to be another Christ and thus are made members of His royal priesthood, called to be prophets and kings. All of us are to be at the service of Christ’s Lordship. However, it is more than just lip service to Christ’s kingship over us.
How is Jesus our king unless He rules our minds and our hearts? Accepting Christ as our king entails that we live under His rule, that is, governed by His precepts as enshrined in the Word of God. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. In other words, the kingdom of God is present in anyone who allows Jesus to reign in his heart and mind. St Paul wrote, “Now the Church is his body, he is its head. As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way; because God wanted all perfection to be found in him.” In Christ, we are perfected as His subjects. Living by His gospel and His values, Christ reigns in us.
This requires us to give up sins. We must not pay lip service in saying that Christ is our King when we seek to do our will and, most of all live, a life contrary to the gospel. To acknowledge our Lord’s kingship is to do what He asks of us. We must put an end to sin, especially selfishness and pride. We must no longer live in darkness as the world does, not knowing what is right or wrong, whether truth can be found or who we are in our identity and where we are destined after life on earth. St Paul wrote, “We give thanks to the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light. Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.” Christ is the one who brings about our forgiveness of our sins. He sets us free from condemnation. He shows us the way and the light to live our lives in truth and charity.
Yet, being true subjects of Christ in this world is never easy. We will be challenged and we will be put on trial like our Lord before Pontius Pilate and finally at the cross. The stark reality is that if we want to be popular with the world and gain acceptance, then we are called to be like the rest of the world, denying the truth. To be part of the world, we are expected to live a worldly life, to indulge in worldly entertainment, to believe that everything is permissible so long as it is not a crime. Of course, governments no longer see themselves as keepers of society’s morality but only act when others get hurt. These sins are “labelled” as crimes. But other than that, if one just contaminates one’s mind and heart, it is your private business.
That is why, the acid test of whether we are subjects of Christ is whether we are ready to stand up for what we believe and what He taught us in the scriptures. This will involve rejection and ridicule. The world is looking for every opportunity to discredit our faith and our beliefs. Of course, the fact that Christians, as Pope Francis tells us, must be in the battlefield, cannot but also get wounded and injured in the process of witnessing. Living in a promiscuous, permissive and materialistic society, some of our Catholics, including priests and bishops, have fallen to the snares of the world. This only makes our witnessing less credible because the world is too happy to show the hypocrisy of what we say and what we do, thereby discrediting us. Otherwise, they will go on the offensive and attack our values and our beliefs.
This was what happened to our Lord in today’s gospel. His kingship was put to the test when He hanged on the cross. Christ was also mocked and ridiculed by His enemies. They tried to discredit Jesus and denied Him of His kingship. The leaders jeered at Him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” The soldiers mocked him too and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” Even one of the criminals hanging there abused him. He said, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well.” In other words, they were all saying the same thing, “You are not credible! You are where you are because you are dishonest, a liar and there is no truth in what you claim to be. You are there on the cross because of your doing. It has nothing to do with us who condemn and expose you.” In other words, Jesus deserved His just due because He asked for it.
And yet the ultimate proof that we are His subjects and Christ is our King is when we have the courage to reign with Him on the cross. Jesus did not react or retaliate against His enemies. He chose to hang on the cross. He reigns from the cross because He was willing to pay the price for truth. He was truly the “king of the Jews” as accused. He welcomed the good thief into His kingdom. Through His suffering on the cross, He revealed the depth of God’s love and mercy for all of us who are ignorant of our sins. Death is the greatest act of love anyone can give to another. At the cross, love triumphs over sin, life over death. Indeed, clearly, we are “reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross.”
This was what Peter and the apostles initially could not accept. They could not accept His death and the idea of a crucified Messiah. He wanted to save Jesus from being killed. It was when they realized that only Jesus could save them, rather than they save Jesus, that they gave Him up to the cross. For it would be from the cross that the Lord would save them and His people. Participation in His cross is the only way to save the world. If we truly share in Christ’s Lordship, then we must also share in His suffering and abasement. Unless we are ready to undergo the scandal of the cross, Jesus is not yet our Lord. Jesus can only build His church on the rock of our faith in the cross. Indeed, the Church’s rock is the paschal faith which we hold, for by surrendering to the cross in obedience, we will rise from the dead to new life.
We are invited to follow Mary and the women who stood at the foot of the cross. We must stay with Jesus in proclaiming the truth even when rejected, do good even when taken advantage of, forgive even when we have been unjustly treated. We must do this not just for ourselves but for the world as we give witness to Him. Only when we align ourselves with the cross of Jesus, can we reveal the mercy and power of God to the world resting on Him alone.
We are called to be like the Good Thief in confessing in Christ’s kingship. The Good Thief saw the divine glory in Christ even though hidden by the cross. Indeed, we might seem foolish in the world but on the cross, we see nothing of pride and arrogance but only the humility of God in Christ. We are called to see the power of God in our weakness, in our suffering and in our trials in life. Christ is known not through philosophy, even though it comprises knowledge and wisdom. We only have to contemplate on the passion of Christ crucified to be moved to love Him and to repent of our sins. It is our contemplation on the passion of Christ, the King who rules from the cross that can motivate us to live for Him and in Him. Like the psalmist, we can then say, “I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’ And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built as a city strongly compact. It is there that the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord.” When we are with the Lord and the Lord is with us, we will remain strong in our trials and the challenges of life.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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