Corpus Christi Blog

Feast of Christ the King

11-22-2015HomiliesFr. Chad King

Today, the last Sunday of Ordinary Time is aptly called Christ the King Sunday, in which we celebrate Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, our King.  The word ‘king’ probably summons many images in our minds.  We might think of dictator over a kingdom.  We might define the king as the one who rules, the one who has all power and authority.  Maybe we think of a king who makes the rules that are for his own gain or serve his needs and desires, or makes rules to further his power and prestige and safeguard his authority; a king who forces the people to obey his rules, or else they are punished or die.  What such strong emotion that word can bring up, it’s no wonder in today’s society people don’t like to obey authority.  People don’t like being treated like serfs, slaving away just to serve the king, and really get nothing in return.

I am sure you’ve heard people describe themselves as “spiritual, but not religious”.  These people might believe in God, but they don’t want religion to tell them how to act or what to believe.  They want to make their own rules. They want to worship and love God in their own way, however they want.  They want to live according to their own standards and not have any limitations or parameters placed on their lifestyle or their faith.  They want to pick and choose what they believe in, pick which aspects of the faith they like, and disregard what does not serve their desires or needs.  Their lifestyle, or maybe even their own words say “what is true or good for me isn’t what is true or good for you”.  Or “I am just obeying my conscience, I am doing what I think is right, or at least what is right for me”.  Simply put, they want to be king of their own lives.  However, can you see though, that the people who live this way, keep their faith only on the surface because there is no foundation?  If there isn’t a deep-seated truth of God to anchor them then there is nothing for them to grab onto, there is nothing to help them go deeper and to grow to their full potential.  Conversely, in direct contradiction to this individualistic faith and lifestyle, today Christians declare Jesus Christ to be the King, the King of our lives.  Jesus says in our Gospel, that He was sent by the Father to “come into the world and testify to the truth.  And everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”.  Jesus makes it clear, there is a truth, there is a right and wrong way to act, and we don’t choose for ourselves what those are.   God has indeed set and communicated that standard to us.  God has given His Church the authority to interpret and safeguard this truth for all the people. God has set rules in place for us to obey in order to help live up to the standard he has placed for us.  And so to be Christian means we humbly and gladly submit to his kingship and authority.  We proudly strive to live up to his standard.  We seek to obey his rules, to follow his every desire and plan in every aspect of our lives.  Without hesitation we say, not my will, but your will be done!”  We gladly ask God, how may I serve you?

Well, if you are like me, and if we are honest with ourselves, we live somewhere in between making up our own rules and allowing him all authority over our lives.  We might fully believe in God, but we might not want to follow his every commandment or rule, or at least not all the time.  Some might think I can live the way I want, and still allow him to be God of my life.  So how do we more fully convert to his Lordship and authority over us?  How do we let his kingdom come and reign in our lives?  How do those who claim to be ‘spiritual but not religious’ become willing and wanting to follow God’s rules?

This past week, I saw just how that can happen first hand.  As some of you might know, my sister and her husband have adopted 3 children as babies, who are now 5, 3, and 2.  They have discerned that God has called them to serve more children. Therefore they welcomed into their home 2 of the 18,000 children in the Arizona foster system.   The siblings joining our family are 5 and 6 years old. The transition into my sister’s family began with a play date a few hours at a time and a few days a week, then it progressed to them staying the weekend with them, and now they are excited to officially move in and become full members of the family.  However, as you can imagine, these children are coming from a very different life style, they have been exposed to different challenges, and have had encountered many more struggles than your or her kids ever will.  In their previous foster home they had very different rules and standards, and these two children are learning to adapt to the expectations of my sister and her husband, and as you can imagine, change can be difficult.  They are in a new house, with new kids, and everything is different for them. And so for a while during the transition, the kids were complaining about all of my sister’s rules, like not being able to eat dinner on the couch watching TV. They are testing boundaries, pushing back, and trying to find how they are going to fit in this new family.  Last Sunday, I was over there and met these children for the first time.  I was very impressed with their behavior.   They washed their hands and sat down to eat when they were told, they ate everything on their plate as they were asked to do (with a little prompting from the adults).  And after dinner, I was playing hide and seek with all 5 kids- so fun- when the time came for them to go back to their foster home after the weekend, although they didn’t want to, they amazingly put on their shoes and gave hugs and blessings before leaving.  I am not saying that my sister is a perfect mom (although I don’t know of many better), or the kids, even her own, always obey without complaining. But what I can say without hesitation- is that the love that my sister and her husband have, the love that is evident in the 3 kids, and the love that no doubt these 2 children have experienced even in the short time, have caused them to be more open and more willing to obey the rules.  I am convinced that the children have learned that my sister and husband love them so completely, that they are learning to trust them, to trust they want what is best for them.  And because they are learning to love and trust my sister and her husband, they will be more willing to obey the rules.  But also, they see the other 3 kids, they see them obeying (for the most part), and they see the love and the joy of their lives, and these 2 want that too.  My brother in law and sister are living out the domestic church, they are reflecting the love of God.  Just as every parent out there is doing, each of you are striving to share the truth to your kids, so that they will know the joy of God in their lives.  This mirrors what God does for us!

My brothers and sisters, we do have a God who is the Creator of the universe, who is Lord of all.  And Jesus, His only begotten Son, in becoming human, as our 1st reading says, “has received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages shall serve him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed”.  And so, as I said, God is Lord, and King over all.  He has power to do whatever He wills, we are simply his creatures, we are to serve him and give him dominion over our lives.  We are to submit our lives to his kingship and let Him reign over us.  However, this God, our King, does not “call us slaves, but friends”.  The rules and commandments God has given us is not to wave his authority in our face.  The rules aren’t given to keep us in our low place, nor “add anything to his greatness” as Scripture teaches, but they are for our good.  God has made us for Himself, He has made us to share in His fullness, for everything that God does is for our good, for our profit and our salvation.  God hasn’t dictated his kingship over us, but he invites us, and as our 2nd reading says, “he has made us into a kingdom”.  It is God who, as our 2nd reading continues, loves us and freed us from our sins in his own blood”.  My brothers and sisters, really knowing who God is, really knowing God’s love for us makes all the difference.  If we really knew that God is love, that God loves us with all that He is, and that he does not know anything but love.  And like every good parent, even his punishments are for our good and because He loves us.  If we knew that everything that God has done and still does, and everything God has commanded us to do, if for our good; then we would be much more willing to follow him and obey his rules.  We would be more eager to seek his direction, his desires and plans for us.  We would more quickly confess our wayward hearts.  We would be more willing to give him our best and full attention every day in prayer.  If we knew God’s love for us, and that everything God does is for our good, we would be more willing to submit our lives to His Lordship, we would let him reign in our hearts. 

On this Christ the King Sunday, may we respond to his love for us and worship and love him with all our hearts, may we let Him reign in our hearts a little more.  And may we be the witness, the example, of what God’s love can do for us, may we happily obey his commands out of love, and respond with joy and invite others to share in God’s kingdom”.

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