Christ the King Year B, 2024

 

(Daniel 7:13-14;  Revelation1:5-8;  St. John 18:33-37) 

Today we are gathered to celebrate our King, Jesus Christ, Son of God,  ‘sent’ to be Our Lord and Saviour; and today is the very best time for us to recall that supreme memory of Him: Jesus Himself, explaining to Pilate, the Roman Governor in Jude , just WHO He was:

Pilate said, "So you are a king?".  Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice."
         
Jesus is King, and as King He bears witness to the truth.  Notice that Jesus says He witnesses to the truth, not just to truth, but to the truth, THE ETERNAL TRUTH that should guide and rule men’s lives here on earth and will ultimately determine their destiny.   Bearing witness to the truth is the distinctive sign of His Kingship.
 
That gives us something to ponder, because we are, or want to be, disciples of Jesus; and He Himself has told us (Luke 6:40):
 
Everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
 
Now we, as Christians and above all we Catholics, are very much aware of truth because we believe that there is an objective truth about Jesus to be learned and passed on to future generations; just as we have received it, through Mother Church from past generations, and ultimately from the Apostles themselves.  We also believe that as individuals we have to practice that truth, meant to both lovingly guide us how to live, and occasionally to rule us, in order to protect us from all sorts of lies that are wrong and sinful, because they are harmful to humanity created in God’s own image and likeness.
 
Nevertheless, despite this our strong, Catholic awareness of truth, it might possibly come as something of a surprise to renew our awareness of Jesus’ own attitude to truth.

First of all we note that He told Pilate:
For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.

Indeed Jesus’ even went on to say on another occasion when speaking to His disciples (John 14:6):
          I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.

Jesus is the Truth, and was sent by His Father to become a man, in order to bear witness to the truth of His Being.  In that case, surely, we can with both gratitude and appreciation, recognize Mother Church’s fundamental mission to proclaim Gospel truth: she cannot change the Gospel given her, to suit changing worldly preferences or satisfy popular demands.  You will remember that, when Jesus established Peter as the rock on which He would build His Church, He said:
          The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

How could the gates of Hades, Satan’s dominion, overcome her?  Listen!  Jesus once told us (John 8:44) of Satan, the Devil,

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 

So you see that “the gates of Hades”, the kingdom of the devil the father of lies, could only overcome Mother Church by leading her away from the truth into falsehood, by lies or obfuscation.  Such a church could never be allowed to bear the glorious appellation Catholic.   Founded on the rock of Peter’s confession of the truth about Jesus, the Catholic Church can never -- Jesus Himself solemnly promises us -- be led by the devil away from the truth.  Mother Church exists to proclaim and bear witness to the truth although, alas, the German synodal church is still under dark clouds, thanks to her leaders listening to the devil’s obfuscation, and proudly yielding to embrace his offer of ‘plenty’.

Finally, the disciples of Jesus, those called by the Father, those whom Jesus welcomes, are characterized by the following words of Jesus:
Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice. (John 18:37)

Jesus is the truth, Mother Church proclaims and protects the truth, we are on the side of  truth, and we listen to her proclamation of Jesus.
When Pilate heard those words of Jesus, we are told that:
Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"

Our modern Western society repeats Pilate’s question, and many don’t know what ‘truth’ is or means;  they don’t even bother themselves about it, trying desperately to fill their lives with pleasure and activity in order to forget the question of truth, because truth, as such, governs rational men, and our modern Western world wants, above all, to be free from all possible powers of coercion.

Just think of the glory of Jesus, our Saviour and Risen Lord as He was seen in Daniel’s vision (7:13-14)

He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.  And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom; that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Jesus, we learnt from the second reading, is:
The Alpha and the Omega, Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty.
And  when He comes, His majesty and power will be manifest to all:
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him.  Even so.  Amen.

Now He -- the Lord of Glory -- is Truth, and His whole kingdom, power, authority and glory, is founded on truth.  His disciples, too, have all been drawn by His Father, to His truth, for His truth.

Truth is our life as Catholics.  How do we live it?  Is it just a matter of trying not to tell lies of whatever sort?  That, of course, is absolutely essential.  The devil is the father of lies, we cannot serve him.  But we can only come to share in the Kingdom of God with Jesus our King if truth rules in our hearts, in each and every aspect of our life as Catholics and authentic Christians.

Our King is Truth, our Church proclaims and defends the truth, and we are drawn to Jesus because we are on the side of truth.

If we are to be truly sincere as disciples of Jesus, we have to endeavour to understand the ramifications of truth.  For example, can anyone who is always worrying be recognized as an authentic disciple of Jesus?  To love Jesus means also, surely, to trust Him!  Again, if, when trouble comes along, a disciple instinctively and repeatedly turns to human beings for help and consolation without recourse to Jesus in prayer, can such a disciple be considered an authentic disciple?  We have to be true to Jesus and to ourselves if we want  authentic disciples.  Again, if – in a free society -- we never speak up for Jesus, His teaching, and His Church, no matter what people say against Him, can we be considered authentic and true disciples?  Can parents who leave the teaching of their children exclusively to the school, without themselves speaking of Jesus with their children, be regarded as authentic Catholic, Christian, parents?

People of God, Jesus is King and He wants us to share with Him in the joys of His Kingdom.  Truth is the light that must shine in our lives if we are to be able to live with Him in the Kingdom of His Father as children of light.  Each and every one of us must think for ourselves: is Jesus indeed my King, first and foremost in my life?  Does His truth rule me? 

We all have been called by the Father, because we have come to Jesus in the Church.  However, the way we all have to travel is long and it can be steep and hard in places, Future heavenly promises might then seem unreal, and our faith unrewarding.  That is the devil’s work.  He is a liar.  The pleasures he offers are only for a time and they become inevitably less and less delightful as the years go by; and one can be robbed of them at any time by sickness or unforeseen circumstances.  Heavenly promises, on the contrary are eternal, they may seem small, like the mustard seed, to begin with, but they grow ever more wonderful over the years, and not even death itself will be able to rob us of them.

Look to yourselves, therefore, dear friends of Jesus and fellow Christians, take legitimate pride in your calling and above all in your King.  You are called to become like Him Who is the Truth: so persevere in truth; be His true disciples and His truth will make you free, able to reign (co-heirs) with Him in His heavenly Kingdom.