Christ the King 2013

CHRIST THE KING (2013)                

 (2 Samuel 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43)

 

There was a time when Jesus asked His disciples what people were thinking about Him:

Who do men say that I am?

They answered saying that people thought Him to be one of the former prophets back on earth.

Shortly afterwards, however, at His crucifixion, there was, as we heard in the Gospel reading, a public proclamation, made by the highest authority in the land for all peoples to read, concerning the identity of Jesus:

An inscription was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

The distinguishing mark for membership of the Jewish nation was, of course, circumcision, or so the Jews of Jesus’ time thought.  St. Paul, however, in his letter to the Philippians (3:3), tells us that circumcision of the flesh is not the true circumcision:

For we are the circumcision, we who worship through the Spirit of God, who boast in Christ Jesus and do not put our confidence in flesh.

Or, as another version puts it:

We who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort.

And the Jews of old -- those of the fleshly circumcision -- showed its provisional and ultimately false character by their rejection of Jesus as their King:

          We have no king but Caesar!

Are we, then, who are of the true circumcision, Christians and Catholics, quite sure that Jesus the Messiah is, indeed, King for us personally, our King, my King?  That question is of the utmost importance, for the Kingship of Christ would seem to be the supreme criterion for the true People of God, the true disciples of the One sent by God as their Messiah and Saviour, the true children of God. We, Catholics and Christians, ascribe the word ‘King’ to Jesus, but what do we mean by that word, is our understanding of it in tune with that of the Scriptures, of God’s Holy Word?

That He is a King, there is no doubt:

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.”   (Matthew 27:11)

Jesus was very careful in His reply because the Jews wanted to have Him put to death by the Romans for treasonable activities and royal aspirations, and so He did not directly use the word ‘King’ as the High Priest was provoking Him to do, for that word had a predominantly political import for Roman ears. Yet, neither could Jesus deny the word, since it had too much meaning in the historical, and too much significance for spiritual, development and expectations of Israel.  Therefore, He chose to accept its scriptural content and aspirations while rejecting its political implications by respectfully answering the High Priest of Israel with his own words:

          You (who are this day High Priest in Israel) say so.

Today, however, there is some doubt about whether or not He is our King: do we indeed accept Him as such?  What does that word “King” mean for us?  We can use the word, but do we give it its true, scriptural, meaning?  Are we aware of, do we accept in our lives, the full meaning of “King” when we say “Jesus is our King”?

Well, we are aware, first of all, of the splendour and power of kings; for in this our country we are still privileged to see and be able to appreciate something of that most ancient, imposing and impressive, and even -- perhaps to a small degree – inspiring, regal office and function.  And, in that regard, Jesus yields to no one, as St. Paul makes abundantly clear when telling us of Jesus’ power and splendour:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For in Him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17)

We can indeed be proud of, we can glory in, our King; no other earthly king could ever compare with Him.  On that account, we certainly are inspired to claim that “Jesus is King, our King”.

However, as we continue with this examination of the meaning of the word King we recognize in it not only power and majesty, but also authority … for there is no doubt that a king has always been thought to have authority over his subjects.  Do we now want to proclaim so loudly that Jesus is King over us?  Do we -- who so readily and enthusiastically recognize His splendour and glory, His wisdom and might – accept, with similar enthusiasm, that He has authority over us and the way we should live our lives?  Many claim to be Christians -- thereby acclaiming Christ as their King -- but do they, in fact, want to bask only in certain reflected aspects of His glory, without considering themselves in any significant way as being subject to His authority?  There are many so-called Catholics who want to accept Jesus as king in the style of our democratic monarchy: with pomp and circumstance indeed, and with no little popular support and respect, but without any real authority.  

However, that is not the style of kingship recognized in the Bible, such was not the leader that the people of Israel wanted; their king had authority (1 Samuel 8:19-20):

The people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.

And in the very beginning, at the birth of the People of God, the leaders, Moses and Joshua were not called kings, but their authority was very real:

All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death.  (Joshua 1:16-18)

The people of Israel said: “Wherever you send us we will go.”  ‘Wherever’ meant ‘wherever on the way to the Promised Land’, for that was what had been promised them, the Promised Land, their true homeland and ultimate resting place: wherever you command us to go as we journey towards that Promised Land we will go.

Today, however, there are so-called Christians who have no desire, let alone hunger, for the heavenly destiny offered to all who commit themselves, through faith in Jesus Christ, to the Father’s plan of salvation; they have lost their vision of a promised land because passing pleasures in the desert of this present world have distracted their minds and seduced their hearts.

In ancient Israel some tribes had entered the land Promised to their forebears and into their own personal inheritance before crossing the Jordan, but they were not allowed to rest on their territory -- with their families, cultivating their land, and gathering their crops. No, they had to cross over with all the rest of their brethren and fight with them until they too could enter into their inheritance promised by the Lord, the God of Israel.

Today, far too many nominal Catholics and Christians want to settle for what they have got now, they want to satiate themselves with the seemingly endless pleasures this world – or our privileged part of the world -- seems to offer them; or else they have weighed themselves down with cares that suffocate and blind them to all else.  Such disciples are not necessarily against the glory and the splendour of a King they can understand and rejoice in: one appreciated and praised by all for his goodness and wisdom, his humility and sympathy in his dealings with the underprivileged of his time; indeed, many of them would accept a King who, as heavenly Lord, is able to give them spiritual comfort and joy as they participate in the holy atmosphere and liturgical splendour of the Church.  What they cannot accept, however, is One Who has the authority whereby He might refuse to let them rest in the pleasures and plenty of earthly possessions and passions, just as the Israelites of old were not immediately allowed to rest on the other side of the Jordan; One Who will not allow them to succumb to whatever would stifle their aspirations towards the attainment of God’s promises, just as Israel had to constantly resist and struggle against her many enemies.

Joshua (another form of the name Jesus) had been told by the people, may the Lord be with you; only be strong and courageous; that is, given that the Lord our God is with you, and that you show yourself strong and courageous, we will follow you through whatever trials will bring us into the Promised Land.  Was Jesus strong and courageous in His life and in His death?  Was the Lord, His Father, with Him in His Resurrection?  Indeed Jesus was all that could be wanted of a leader of God’s People.  And yet, despite all that, for many today the obedience due to the authority of Christ is withheld and has become the litmus test for true discipleship.

 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.

When lifted up on the Cross Jesus will draw all those whom the Father gives Him to Himself (John 12:32).

The obedience of the Cross is indeed the criterion for distinguishing true disciples from those who are false; those whom the Father has called, from those who have come to Jesus, not out of obedience to the Father’s call, but out of other motives, worldly, selfish, and faithless motives.

People of God, Jesus Christ is King, our King; and we must give true obedience to His kingly authority over our lives if we want to share in the beauty and truth, the goodness  and glory, the splendour, majesty, and power of His Kingdom.  The promise has been made to us; the opportunity is here for us; and we are fully equipped for the journey; indeed, we already have a beginning of the fulfilment awaiting us, for today’s rejoicing in our King should give us some faint inkling and joyful foretaste of the glory and bliss that are to come. 

          Thy will be done that Thy Kingdom may come, Lord Jesus.

                                                                  

33rd Sunday of Year C 2013

33^rd. Sunday of Year (C)

(Malachi 3:19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19)

After forewarning His disciples of the trials and persecutions which lay in store for them and which would bring them to the same end as He Himself was soon to suffer, Jesus added: 

            That will be your opportunity to bear witness.  

That is, the whole wretched process of misunderstanding, rejection, hatred, persecution, and arrest etc., would not be simply the result of some blind chance, nor even, ultimately, the outcome of human perverseness or opposition … no, the dark threatening clouds would assemble over the heads of the disciples with God’s permission, indeed, as part of His plan for them: That will be your opportunity to bear witness.

Moreover, corresponding to the life or death atmosphere of the situation in which they find themselves will be the measure of God’s grace given to the disciples: as the waters of destruction -- the swelling tide of hatred and the threatening waves of violence -- appear on every hand and mount up against them, when, that is, the time for their witness, their opportunity, is at hand, they will be lifted up on the wings of God’s word and wisdom, for they will not be simply helped to defend the Good News of their proclamation, but Jesus Himself will both defend them and, through them, demonstrate the Gospel’s divine truth and power:

I Myself will give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.

Therefore the disciples must be able to forget themselves and trust completely in the Lord:

Keep this carefully in mind: You are not to prepare your defence.

They must commit themselves entirely to the Spirit of God in the Church Who will give them -- in a way entirely of His own choosing however, and one which may be imperceptible to they themselves at the time -- the necessary eloquence to utter His wisdom, despite their personal inadequacy and possible feelings of natural anxiety.

 

This belief and appreciation, that Christ is ever with His Church and, through His Spirit, guiding her unfailingly -- that His Spirit seeks to guide all living members of the Body of Christ and may, indeed, be guiding us personally, here and now, for God’s purposes -- that is an essential part of Christian self-awareness in Mother Church, but it is not something to be presumed, imitated, or ‘put on’.

In the realm of classical instrumental music, extemporisations on and development of a given theme can be of the highest inspiration and technical excellence; and for a classical singer it is also supremely desirable to be able to sing the author’s words and the composer’s music (not some personal version thereof) ‘from the heart’, that is, without the direct supervision of mental scrutiny.  Of course that ‘heart’ needs to have been previously formed in accordance with the requirements of careful attention to vocal technique, sensitivity of emotional expression, and a close observance of life; that is, it has to be a seriously and surely ‘disciplined’ heart.   For the concert performance, however, all that is best presumed, in order that the performance itself might be a ‘living event and experience’ thanks to the unmistakable, though intangible, beauty and truth of ‘artless’ (!) spontaneity.

Now, the witness of Christians to Christ is something of that nature.  It is not, ultimately, a matter of expressing -- emotionally and/or intellectually -- a merely human appreciation of, or response to, Jesus; it is a matter of bearing authentic and more-than-natural witness to Jesus the Christ, and to the Church’s proclamation of His Gospel.  And this calling, this invitation, to bear such witness, is not for anybody to snatch for themselves (so to speak, ‘out of the blue’), it is promised, in our Gospel reading, to those disciples only who have been with Jesus throughout His public ministry and who are prepared to suffer with Him, for Him.  That means for us today, that one can only hope to rely on, trust in, commit oneself to, the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, on the basis of a true and wholehearted conversion to Christ -- a life of faith not to be measured in years but in sincerity and commitment, lived with Him and under His discipline -- and at the call and instigation of circumstances not of our own choosing.

In the Old Testament we are told that the Lord had wanted Moses to go and speak to the People of Israel enslaved in Egypt and to Pharaoh himself, with a message from the Lord.

But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent.  I am slow of speech and of tongue.

Moses was painfully aware – obviously from previous experience – of his inability to express himself with ease and fluency, and was afraid, above all, that he might ‘make a fool of himself’ before the mighty ruler of ancient Egypt, prove to be an embarrassment for the People of Israel, and fail the Lord Himself most miserably.

Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now, therefore, go, and I will be your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.  (Exodus, 4:10ff.)

Likewise, in today’s Gospel reading we heard that only when the disciples’ situation became most desperate, betrayed by relatives and friends and arraigned as helpless captives before:

            Kings and governors, (and) hated by all men on account of My name,

were they to hope for and trust in the ‘Gift’ of God’s saving intervention and inspiring help.

In a similar fashion, only when we have experienced and humbly accepted our own measure of helplessness and personal nothingness, only when we are – as  best we know -- dead to self-glory and seeking but God’s will, can we humbly hope for and confidently trust in God’s supplying grace.

This personal awareness and acceptance of one’s own nothingness is not something to be acquired ‘a priori’, that is, from merely intellectual considerations; it has to be real and must normally be learnt from experience which, though found painful, has been humbly and gratefully accepted from God’s hand.  Moreover, and most obviously, we cannot hope that God’s grace -- His most Holy Spirit -- will be with us to support and guide us, if we seek to specify the time and choose the occasion for His intervention! 

Throughout the Christian life there is a most delicate balance between a God-graced mistrust of self and a like confidence in God … if either one developes without the other, unilaterally, there will result inevitable and deep distortion, dangerous error and disillusionment.

The true, exemplary, source of a life-sustaining-and-promoting balance is to be found in Christ, the God-man alone: He assumed our lowliness in order that He might bestow on us a share in His own divine prerogatives.  Let us ask Him therefore, as we proceed with this Mass, that in Him and together with Him we might come to share His death to the flesh and to participate in His risen life by the Spirit.  Let us receive the pledge of eternal life which He has left to us, His own most precious Body and Blood, with hearts truly humbled and contrite in the acknowledgement of our own sinfulness and poverty, and thereby sincerely opened up to, and ever more desirous of, the infusion of His most Holy Spirit into our lives, for His greater glory and our ever-greater proximity to, understanding of, and love for, the Father in Christ Jesus Our Lord.

33rd Sunday of Year C 2013

33^rd. Sunday (Year C)

(Malachi 3:19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19)

The prophet Malachi heard the Lord declare:

The day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch.  But for you who fear My name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Though terrible events be taking place all around them, the People of God will not be afraid, neither will they allow themselves to be disturbed in any way, because, ‘fearing the name of the Lord’ in spirit and in truth will lead them to fear naught else.

Malachi’s picture of a people thus set apart from all others agrees with St. Peter's description of the true disciples of Jesus:

You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, (the Lord’s) own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Catholics and Christians -- say the prophet Malachi and the Apostle Peter -- are indeed, as we hear in the canon of the Mass, ‘a chosen generation, a people set apart’.

In what respect are they set apart from others?  Surely, not because they are aloof from, or indifferent to, others, for charity is the essence of the great commandment that rules their way of life, while the Lord they worship and follow Himself gives the supreme teaching and example of fraternal love.  Nor are individual Christians to set themselves apart by flamboyance or exuberance; indeed, St. Paul told us that Christians ought to be quiet in their life-style:

We command and exhort (you) in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in a quiet fashion and eat (your) own bread. 

So we realize that Christians are to be "different" from others, above all, by their strength of character: fearing the name of the Lord, they will fear no other, naught else; always trying, in the power of the Spirit and by their moral discipline, to bear witness to the love of Christ in all circumstances and with, and before, all people.

If we now turn our attention to Jesus Himself we can see Him forming the character of His disciples along those lines:

As some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, (Jesus) said, “These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down." 

Here He would seem to be weaning them from such false supports as national pride, or a vain-glorious enthusiasm which could be sparked off by external stimulants such as the magnificent Temple recently built by King Herod in Jerusalem; for He then went on to give them yet more serious counsel for storms that would soon engulf and threaten to destroy them personally:

Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'   Do not go after them!

‘Take heed not to be deceived’ even though many others be misled; ‘do not go after’ the crowd, to join in the inebriation and excitement of communal emotion.  There Jesus is clearly seeking to form in His disciples a characteristic attitude that will distinguish them in the future: never fearing to be left alone with the Lord, always choosing to walk with Him rather than chase after the crowd.   

That was not to be all, however, for Jesus went on to warn of yet greater trials:

When you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.

Mature Christians must be able to stand resolute amidst widespread anxiety and contagious panic: having sufficient spiritual courage and moral discipline to wait for and confidently trust in the Lord though everything else -- be it the very heavens themselves -- might seem to be falling apart:

There will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. 

Fear is instilled above all by imminent and urgent threat to self: to one's life, one's reputation, one's family; and only the supernatural Christian fear of the Lord can overcome the effect that such natural and fundamental fears can easily trigger off.  Here we should appreciate, People of God, that Christian fear of the Lord is no ordinary gift from God, but such a sign of His blessing that, according to the prophet Isaiah ( 11:1-3), the Messiah Himself would take special delight in it:

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.  His delight is in the fear of the Lord. 

Fear of the Lord, therefore, is indeed a supernatural gift from God which we ourselves are called upon to co-operate with and develop as part of our character; but, much more than that, it is a supreme sign of God’s love and favour, meant to be our special delight and ultimate defence against anything this world can throw up against us or the devil devise to ensnare us.

And that is just the final situation which Jesus puts before His disciples now:

They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of My name.

Then, indeed, fear of the Lord and trust in His mercy and power must be seen to be the disciple’s great delight and sure shield.  Jesus insists they then look neither to men, nor rely on themselves; but, rather, turn to Him and: 

Settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. 

People of God, recognize what Jesus is looking for in His disciples, appreciate the sort of character He wishes us to have; and with these things in mind, recall the command Paul gave his Thessalonian converts when he was with them:

When we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 

Notice those words, “we used to give you”: this order – it was more than advice -- was not given, mentioned, just once or twice in passing, it was his usual and repeated teaching.   Moreover, we should not forget that Paul was the apostle who suffered most for Christ, one who was also supremely conformed to, one with, Christ in his mind and heart, as the following texts show:

From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. (Galatians 6:17)

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

In our modern Church many have an idea of holiness that is not only sugar-coated but also largely conformed to worldly standards, set up for worldly acceptance.  True holiness, however, is not worldly, but Christian and personal, being God’s gift, by the Spirit, to the committed disciple of Jesus. Therefore we should appreciate that Paul’s teaching, though it does indeed reflect his own character and his personal appreciation of Christ, nevertheless, since Paul was specifically chosen and endowed by God for his role as teacher of the nations, and was, moreover -- as we have remarked -- supremely one with Christ, we should in no way presume to suspect, let alone criticise, the intentions which inspired his mind and heart to write those words:

If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 

St. Paul was following the example and purpose of Jesus Himself by preparing and promoting in his converts, as best he could, that moral discipline and spiritual strength essential for disciples who would, inevitably, have to carry the Cross with their Lord for God's glory and mankind's salvation; and such strength is never acquired through indulgence, nor is mere encouragement or comforting exhortation usually sufficient to promote it.

It would seem that, in the original Christian community in Thessalonica, there were some who considered -- as many are inclined to think today -- that perhaps the Apostle was being too hard in this matter; and so, they had continued to indulge those Paul wished to cure.  Paul was disappointed to learn:

That some of you are (still) living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.

Had his original command been obeyed the matter might not have needed any further attention.  It did not turn out like that, however, because some of the community were spiritually weak and continued to indulge their own emotions and pander to those who were being led astray by idleness and curiosity.  Paul did not openly and directly reprove those mistakenly indulgent people -- after all it was weakness in them, not malice -- and so he just re-iterated what he had originally said but this time addressed it exclusively to those who were the greater sinners, those busybodies who were doing no work:

Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.

Today we find similar weaknesses, similar desires for quick, sugar-coated, easily seen and popularly appreciated, holiness still preventing the wholesome teaching of the Scriptures and Mother Church from finding practical acceptance: how many parents, for example, today, ‘don’t like’ to correct, let alone discipline, their children; with the result that the children suffer many and more serious difficulties and dangers resulting from their emotional indiscipline and moral weakness.  Likewise, how often are present disciplines and Scripture’s warnings of eternal punishment in the Gospel watered down for public approval rather than proclaimed with apostolic integrity.  The result is that, even among Catholics, discipline is gradually downgraded, while sin -- even depravity at times -- is passively passed-over or regularly excused for ‘medical, psychological’ reasons, all because it doesn’t ‘seem nice’ to speak of, people don’t like to hear of, God punishing sin; punishing it, above all, with eternal punishment: 

         

If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.  ….  Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. (1 John 5:16–17; Mark 9:43, 48.)

In today’s world, Jesus’ final words in the Gospel reading have special significance for those called to be witnesses to Him.  They are not soft words to coax, for He wants all who are called and aspire to become His disciples in truth, to be strong enough, in Him, to glorify the Father by the Spirit; and to this end He chooses to help us with clear words that give inspiration and offer strength: 

You will even be handed over by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and some of you will be put to death.   You will be hated by all for My name's sake, but not a hair on your head will be lost.  By your perseverance you will secure your lives.