YEAR A – SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE (HOMILY)
THEME: THE SERVANT KING
By: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong
1. Royalty. As people living in a democratic society, the idea of a king or queen may make us uncomfortable. But every human authority should make us uncomfortable since we know too well of abuses of authority, irrespective of the form of government. Back in the Middle Ages, as the story goes, two people watched a medieval king get out of his golden chariot to go into a church for some service. One of them said with anger: “I long to see the day when royalty will be treated as common people.” But his friend turned to him and said, smiling: “I long to see the day when common people will be treated like royalty.” Sisters and brothers, that is precisely what has happened to you and me. We are now royalty because Christ our King has chosen to save and serve us. He has saved us from our sins. He is the Servant King. Yes, we commemorate our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, who “came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45, Jn 13: 1-17). Christ is a different kind of King who rules from the Cross, whose crown is made of thorns (Jn 19:2). St Elizabeth of Hungary, a princess from Hungary and Queen in Germany, understood this when she said: “How can I wear a crown of gold when the Lord wears a crown of thorns? And wears it for me!” She gave up her royalty to live a life of penance, prayer, and sacrificial charity. She turned her castle into a hospital and tended the sick herself. She carried out all the corporal works of mercy we just heard in today’s Gospel reading. Against the backdrop of dictatorships and secularism, Pope Pius XI instituted this Feast of Christ the King in 1925 in his encyclical Quas Primas, to remind Christians that Christ the Servant King must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies. The ongoing brutal wars in Ukraine, Gaza and other places, arising from man’s inhumanity to man, show that our world is still in need of such reminders. There are more reminders in all 3 Scripture readings today.
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2. Service. The 1st reading (Ez 34:11-12, 15-17) reminds us that God who provides for us as our shepherd, will also be our judge: “As for you, my sheep, says the Lord God, I will judge between one sheep and another”. The 2nd reading (1 Cor 15:20-26, 28) reminds us of the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, His resurrection and His 2nd coming for the last judgment. The Gospel reading (Mt 25:31-46) describes the criteria for the last judgement, the criteria for our sharing in God’s Kingdom. In this description, our Lord rewarded people for their charity: “’Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’” (Matt 25: 34-36). We refer to these as the 7 corporal works of mercy since they address the physical needs of the poor (CCC 2447). There are also 7 spiritual works of mercy, but we leave those for another day. The punchline from our Lord today is: ‘…whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ I thank God for you because many of you here are charitable in so many ways. We thank God as a community of believers because all over the world, the charitable works of so many Christians have become beacons of hope in an otherwise dark world. Since we serve Christ, when we help the poor, let us improve the quality of our charity.
3. High Quality. Just believing the words of Christ that whatever we do for the poor we do for Him, should raise the quality of our charity. I see new clothes donated at St Vincent de Paul Stores, not merely used ones. I see better medical facilities in poor areas where patients can hardly pay, not merely dispensaries; better meals at food pantries, etc. Looking for more inspiration? The people of Venice gave us some in their Ospedali Grandi, charitable hospices, which provided many high quality services for the needy. For instance, in Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage, the orphans were trained in classical music to the highest professional levels by the best music teachers of the day such as Antonio Vivaldi. The training was so good that rich parents, secretly brought their children and dropped them off at the scaffetta or foundling wheel, a secret small opening for dropping off orphans. The nuns and priests who ran the orphanage ended up putting up a plaque with a curse to deter such rich parents. Those parents then copied the orphanage by establishing Conservatories of Music which have spread around the world! Sisters and brothers, let’s share our best with Christ in the poor, not merely our leftovers! Then our charity becomes a sacrifice in union with that of Christ, the Servant King, to the glory of God and for the salvation of many.
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