November 20^th 2016. Feast of Christ the King

GOSPEL: Luke 23:35-43

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Luke 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.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the first reading we hear how David was acclaimed as king by the leaders of the people. In the Gospel, by contrast, Jesus is derided by the leaders for failing to act like a king, for his inability to even save himself. When we look closer, however, we see that the two notions of kingship are not so different. David was recognized as king because he shepherded his people and took care of them. Jesus is the ultimate King because he completely renounces himself in order to shepherd us and save us. Why do we have difficulty in recognizing this crucified man to be our King? Because maybe he is not really the kind of king that we are looking for. We would like a king that helps bring our projects to completion, who affirms our egos and brings us worldly success. If my priority is any of these things then I am not following Jesus but a different kind of king altogether. We are told that David led the people of Israel, but where does Jesus lead us? What kind of Kingdom is he establishing? Jesus leads us in the way of self-renouncing love. He teaches me that to be able to love is much greater than any rewards of mundane success. He shows me that the opening of my heart to love, the art of giving and sharing, the entering into communion with others, is so much to be preferred than the realisation  of any of my own projects. This is where Jesus leads us! Beyond the most profound of frontiers, the incompleteness of man, across the abyss that confronts all earthly kingdoms. In other words, Christ our King – and he alone - takes us to Paradise.

In the first reading we hear how the elders of the people acclaimed David as king . . .

On this feast of Christ the King, the first reading and the Gospel complement each other in a striking way. The reading from the book of Samuel tells of the coronation of David, the king par excellence of Israel. David will go on to become the supreme image of royalty in the rest of the Old Testament. The passage from Samuel states that David, even before he became king, was like a shepherd to the people of Israel. Here we are given an image of governance that resembles the action of a shepherd towards his flock. The overriding memory of David, however, was that of success. He was recognized as someone who had exercised the office of king in an exemplary manner.

In the Gospel, we hear how the elders of the people derided Jesus for his failure to be king. But the strange thing is that Jesus is being king in the truest sense of the word.

By contrast, in the Gospel, Jesus receives no such recognition. David is only a shadow of a reality that finds its fulfilment in Jesus, but it is sobering to note that no-one realizes that Our Lord is truly king. In the first reading, the elders of Israel acknowledge David’s right to reign, but here in the Gospel the leaders of the people pour scorn upon the Lord: “He was able to save others. If he is the Christ of God, then let him save himself!” Strangely, Jesus is the chosen one who does not save himself. This might seem to be inconsistent with the tradition of the kings of Israel, but it is actually in perfect continuity. David was recognized as the leader of Israel because he took care of the people. And what does Jesus do? He doesn’t look out for himself because he is totally focussed on saving us. He must make the same stark choice that is open to us in every single act of love, namely, behave in accordance with our own ego or decide to act for the other. We all have that choice of looking after our own concerns or permitting God to act through us for others. If I am a person of God then I will no longer shepherd myself, I shepherd whoever God gives me to love.

We have difficulty recognizing this crucified man as a king in the “sensible” sense of the word because it is WE who lack sense. We live on such a superficial level that we cannot recognize the greatness of this man who renounces himself for love of others. We would prefer a king who would advance our own projects, our own plans for success and greatness.

There is no real contradiction between the first reading and the Gospel. The discontinuity in the notion of kingships expressed in the first reading and in the Gospel originates in us. It is we who seek a king who is a projection of our own aspirations. We are not really looking for a king who will shepherd us and take care of us: we are looking for a king who will fulfil our model of the successful human being, a ruler who is perfect and imposes no restrictions on us. The problem is that we are not really oriented towards the love that is the mark of our true King. Love is something that requires a profound commitment on our part. Instead we live on a superficial level and are oriented towards worldly success and self-affirmation. The King that we encounter on this last Sunday of the year is shepherding us towards self-renouncing love. This King is leading us towards heaven, and in fact the text speaks explicitly of Paradise. He is not a ruler that helps us reach the top of the table of worldly success, but a King that takes us to heaven.

Our King is leading us somewhere, but where? I do not follow him in the hope of success, riches, or the affirmation of my projects. I follow him because he shows me that self-renouncing love is the fullest way of being human.

This sort of strange kingship is the theme of Sunday. The entire liturgical year culminates in this feast which attributes to Jesus a kingship over the entire universe. It is in contrast to human history that is fixated with power and force, violence and self-aggrandisement, all of which is mundane and illusory. Every worldly empire comes to an end. Ultimately all kingdoms founder on the reality of the poverty of the human being. Jesus is the only King who can take humanity beyond the most profound of frontiers, the incompleteness of man, and take us into Paradise. I do not follow Christ for hopes of worldly success, nor for earthly possessions. Neither do I follow him in the hope of tranquillity and the affirmation of my objectives. I follow Jesus because he teaches me that to love is much greater than any rewards of mundane success. He shows me that the opening of my heart to love, the art of giving and sharing, the entering into communion with others, is so much to be preferred than the following of my own projects. My projects are oriented towards my own comfort and well-being, but I have profound need to be led towards that happy discomfort of serving others.

My king leads me to fulfilment. What is fulfilment? Being affirmed? Self-realization? Being recognized by others? Strangely, it is in losing myself that I become fully human! It is only in following Jesus on the way of the cross, the way of self-denying love, that I can come to completion, that I can make it to Paradise.

If I do not know how to serve, if I do not know how to share, if I do not know how to lose myself for the love of others, then I am not a human being – what a curious thing! We are inclined to think that the human being has arrived when he possesses something, when he affirms himself, when his plans have been realized. But Christ teaches us that the human being is when he renounces himself in love. The human experience of falling in love is the fundamental basis for understanding the nature of true happiness. Falling in love is natural but at the same time extraordinary. It involves the forgetting of oneself, the capacity to forget one’s own aspirations, the ability to share everything one owns, to give oneself in love. Our true King is the one has been crucified, despised by everyone, but who responds in love, and who alone can lead us to the greatest objective. “Today” - this poor and rejected Lord Jesus says - “Today, you will be with me in Paradise”. This is what our King alone can give. He alone can shepherd his people to the ultimate of goals, the true destination of human existence.