Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ The King
I have heard this story many times, but it never ceases to touch me. So I would like to repeat it for you. On a cold day in December in New York, a little boy was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady who noticed him, approached him and asked him what he was looking at. “I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes.” The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. She took the little boy and removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel. By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes. She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said asked him to go along on his way. As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked “Are you God's wife?”
Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. There is nothing about today’s readings that make us associate God’s kingship with authority and power, especially in the way it is exercised in the political arena today. In fact, in the first reading God seems to be the anti-thesis of the kings of Israel. The passage just before the one we read for today’s first reading says: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves. Should not shepherds, rather pasture the sheep? You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured. You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.” (Ezek 34:11). God then says in today’s readings “I myself will look after and tend my sheep” (Ezek: 34:11). Even though God has great power and authority, God assumes the role of a compassionate shepherd.
God kept this promise. The King of kings Jesus came, not as heads of states come these days, but quietly in a manger. He reigned not in royal majesty but humble on a cross. Jesus tended the sheep, rescued them, pastured them, and gave them rest. Jesus sought the lost, brought back the strayed, bound up the injured, and healed the sick. Even the Roman Empire could not deny it - the plaque above the cross said, “King.”
Today’s gospel reading is most revealing about God as king. In this particular passage Christ judges people not by allegiance to him but by their compassion toward the poor, the hungry, the naked, and those in prison. If we take scripture as a whole we can find other necessary criteria as well. But today’s gospel tell us that the difference between the good and the evil on judgment day has much to with whether we, like God, like Jesus care for the poor, hungry, weak and in prison.
Let me offer three practical implications that emerge from today’s feast:
1)Who are the poor? In the presence of God we are all poor. It is important that we recognize our poverty and nakedness before God. In fact, that is the meaning of ‘poverty of spirit’ in the beatitudes – the kingdom of God belongs to those whose sole refuge is God and God alone. We must recognize that only God can save us. Only God can clothe us with dignity. Only God can free us from the bondage of sin. Only God can satisfy our hunger and cover the nakedness of sin. It is only the recognition of our own poverty that will open our eyes to those that are poor, hungry, and naked. When we recognize our own poverty and insufficiency, we then become more compassionate toward others.
2)I was at a meeting with all the priests of the deanery on Thursday. Reflecting upon the gospel passage a priest drew a comparison between the Eucharist and the poor. He said that it is difficult to recognize Christ both in the Eucharist and the poor because Christ is hidden in them. So, this priest suggested that the more we can recognize Jesus in the poor the most we can recognize him in the Eucharist and the more we can recognize him in the Eucharist, the more we easy it will be to recognize him in the poor. What this priest said, led me to another thought. It is very, very important that at every Eucharist in this parish we are welcoming to all people, but especially, the poor. Remember what I said in the first point - we are all poor. It is only the manner and degree in which we are poor that is different. Every Eucharist is a dress rehearsal for the final judgment. If we want to be in the kingdom, then, we must seek ways to make the Eucharist a place of welcome to all, especially the poor.
3)Today’s feast gives us a glimpse the Kingdom of God. First of all the Kingdom is where God’s presence is present in its fullness. The Kingdom is where people treat each other as God treats us. The Kingdom is where people, aware of their own poverty reach out to others who are poor, are naked, are hungry and are in bondage. The Kingdom is where God’s compassion reaches its climax. When Christ taught his disciples to pray, he said, “The Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” In other words, our Christian mission is not merely to enter the Kingdom of God but build it on earth as it is in heaven. To the extent that we strive to build God’s kingdom on earth to that extent we will ourselves be welcomed in to God’s Kingdom. So, this week and for the rest of our lives let us honor Christ the King as we try to build Christ’s Kingdom at home, at work and in the places where we have an influence. Take Christ to the world dear people of God; take God to the world. Then one day we will be welcomed into the Kingdom of God.