November 20th 2022. 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 homily follows the Gospel

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

 

1. Everyone is insulting Christ because he does not save himself. But Christ does not think of himself expressly for the reason that he seeks to save us.

The Feast of Christ the King, final Sunday of the year. By means of this feast, the Church recapitulates the entire liturgical year and we bow before the only true king. Many kings surround us, many powers rule over us and seek to orient us towards things that are not compatible with the only true King. We are presented with Jesus crucified and we hear the many voices who insult him and tell him to save himself – the one thing that he does not do. A king, by definition, has power and ought to be able to do as he pleases. But here, on the cross, power is understood in a different way. If Jesus had concentrated on saving himself, then he would not have saved us. Here we recognize the generosity of the only Son who does not act for himself but gives his life for our benefit.

 

2. The thief recognizes his poverty and sees that Jesus truly has a Kingdom, one that is not of this world and goes beyond death. We too need to recognize our poverty and confess Jesus as our only Lord.

A king, in fact, can be distinguished by the gifts that he bestows. Jesus might appear like a failure on the cross, but he bestows the immense gift of paradise upon the thief hanging beside him. This criminal may have done bad things but he recognizes that Jesus has dominion, that he has a kingdom. How did this thief recognize in Jesus, rejected and insulted, the ruler of a kingdom that went beyond death? This is the point. In order to be saved, the crucial thing is not what we do but that we recognize that Jesus is Lord. It is not so much the good that we do but the fact that we recognize that he is the source of all good. The good thief recognizes his own poverty and that he deserves to die. He does not ask Christ to remove his suffering but to carry him to paradise. All of us are poor, all of us have made many mistakes and are in need of salvation. But he does not ask that his misery be taken away, only that he be taken to his ultimate goal, heaven. In this time of Advent, we turn our eyes to the ultimate end of everything.

 

3. The extreme misery of the cross might seem to manifest the impotence of Christ, but in fact it does the opposite. In this extreme situation, Jesus reveals himself as love, as humble obedience and submission to the Father. He reveals a Kingdom that is not of this world.

This Sunday we celebrate our King, the one who is generous and gives his life for us. We do not follow authorities who seek to dominate and manipulate us, but the One who has offered himself for us. On the cross we see the attitude of the Son of God, who empties himself for us even onto an ignominious death. The true nobility of the Son of God is manifested in the testing crucible of the cross, when all limits have been surpassed. It is in this extreme situation that the nature of the Son is revealed, the One who loves and who entrusts himself to the Father, consigning his spirit to God. Let us celebrate the only King who deserves our obedience, the only power before whom we should bow. Let us not bow to others who seek to exploit us. Let us bow to the one who loves us to the end, the only Lord who is capable of bestowing salvation.

 

Alternative homily

For the Feast of Christ the King, the Church presents us with the account of Jesus hanging on the cross. This prompts us to ask: what kind of king can this be, nailed to a piece of wood? The people in the Gospel scene are asking the same question in different ways! First of all the religious leaders demand that he save himself. Religion seeks a Messiah, seeks salvation, but the kind of salvation they are looking for here is an earthly kind of salvation: health, wellbeing, worldly success. Then the soldiers assail Jesus. They are looking for a king with political power. They want him to show his power by coming down off the cross. Then the “bad” thief begins to insult Jesus. He wants a Christ who will bring an end to his suffering. He represents all of suffering humanity who cannot understand the absence of God and cries out for assistance here and now. It is essential to note that Jesus does not reply to any of these. Finally the “good” thief turns to Jesus. He admits his guilt and acknowledges Jesus as a king, asking to be remembered when the Lord would come into his kingdom. Unlike all the others, he does not ask to be taken down off the cross! Now, finally, Jesus replies! “This day you will be with me in Paradise”. The good thief entered into a relationship with Jesus. So long as we are with Jesus we are in paradise. Now we see the power of Christ! Now we experience true salvation! We are saved when we enter into relationship with Jesus and remain with him. That is paradise.