Gospel: Lk 23:35-43
The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.” Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Homily
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Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. We anticipate our entry into that kingdom in which force is not the operating principle but love. A kingdom which belongs not to those who find their security in earthly power but which belongs to those who find their security in God and his message of love; a kingdom promised to the meek, not to those who impose their will on others; a kingdom promised to those willing to suffer for the cause of justice and righteousness not to those unable or unwilling to commit to the cause of justice for all in a very unjust world.
In the Gospel passage chosen by the church for this weekend we are presented with a Jesus who is the antithesis of everything which the world of his time considered royal and the antithesis of everything which our world considers successful leadership. Jesus is sneered at by the Jewish leaders; the soldiers jeered at him; a sarcastic inscription is written and placed on the cross above his head; “This is the King of the Jews.” In all of this Jesus maintains his composure and his dignity. There is no cursing of those who reviled him. There is no calling down of god’s wrath on them. There is no threat of vengeance. There is the total absence of any sign of hatred for those who had inflicted such pain and suffering on him. Indeed Jesus shows tremendous gratitude to the criminal who in an act of self abnegation defends him and pleads for his mercy. He promises paradise to this repentant criminal. “Today” he says to him, “you will be with me in Paradise.” As king Jesus rewards one who at the end of his life became a loyal servant. The King devoid of earthly power rewards the one whose only power was the ability to offer consolation to one who had been unjustly condemned. To the Jewish leaders this exchange between Jesus and the repentant criminal would have seemed to be the ravings of two men become mad because of their psychological and physical pain. Yet at the end of it all, these two men achieved greatness and are revered the world over. They are revered not because of earthly power or the ability to bend others to their will but because of a greater strength, the strength to love and to love even those who were doing the greatest harm that they could to them.
Such persons are of a different calibre. They belong to a different class. They live according to a different code; they are people of the Kingdom of which Jesus Christ is the King. The saints whom we venerate are of such calibre. The great martyrs of our church, saints like Stephen the first martyr, like Maria Goretti and Maximilian Kolbe are of this class. It is to this class that my father, perhaps unknowingly, was urging me. The call of every baptized and confirmed individual is to be counted among them.
In these days as we hear more and more of the code of gang members and terrorists it is now more and more necessary that we live by the code of citizens of the Kingdom.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, your son Jesus came to preach and inaugurate a Kingdom, not built on earthly power but the power of love to heal and transform. Help us your children to so imitate Jesus your son that our world will experience the transforming power of your love and so proclaim the arrival of a new dispensation in which men and women will live by the code of a new Kingdom in which there will be total harmony. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother and your Son Jesus. Amen
