Behold The Shepherd-King!

 (Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Year A)

          Existentially speaking, today we live in hard and distressing times. We are confronted everyday with the discomforting news of terror, power tussle, political protests, kid-napping, injustice and the global nascent plight of migrants etc. Be that as it may, these experiences create fear and distrust in us. As such, every reasonable and God fearing individual is in search of and praying for a world where peace and justice reign. And we can only find that world in our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the universe. Today we celebrate a King whose standard is love. The feast of Christ the King was introduced by Pope Pius XI in 1925, in order to confront the abuse of power by the nations and the surge of secularism among the nations and most importantly, to proclaim the primacy and supremacy of Christ over the kingdoms of the world. For as St. Paul would have it, “for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth; everything visible and everything invisible, thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers -- all things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16).

          The Solemnity of Christ the King concludes the liturgical year and paves way for the Advent Season, which marks the beginning of another liturgical year of the Church. In every liturgical year, the mystery of Christ is always at the centre of our contemplation and reflection. In the course of the liturgical year, the Church, with the Sunday liturgical celebrations, celebrate and relive the history of our salvation, which has as its centre and culminating point the mystery of Christ. Most importantly, today the church presents the figure of Christ in his kingly dignity. Christ is the King of the universe, and the readings went a long way in helping us grasp the true meaning of his Kingship. Christ is a “Shepherd-King”, prophetically announced by prophet Ezekiel in the first reading. The Gospel presents him as the King and Judge of all nations and of each and every one of us. In the second reading instead, Christ’s reign seems to be of limited duration, for he reigns “until he has put all his enemies under hid feet”. The King, whose victory over death (the last enemy to be destroyed) manifests that he reigns. Today therefore, we celebrate a King whose kingdom is totally different from the kingdoms of the world. The Preface of the Mass puts it thus: “a Kingdom of truth and life, kingdom of holiness and grace, a Kingdom of justice, love and peace”. Kings come and go, likewise their kingdoms, but the kingship and the kingdom of Christ is eternal. The only Being who died more than 2000 years ago without RIP attached to his name, for he reigns for ever (cf. Ap. 1:17b-18a). St. Luke says: “his kingdom will have no end” (Lk. 1:33). Thus, the three readings of today delineated properly and in concrete terms too, the three aspects of Christ’s regality:

          The first reading (Ez. 14:11-12.15-17) provides an image of God leading His people with the care of a shepherd. The context is that of the Babylonian exile, when the earthly kings failed in their responsibilities. As such, the King-shepherd foretold by prophet Ezekiel is to replace the evil kings, who abusively exploited the flock. As a result, God henceforth takes over the task of shepherding his people (v.15). In the context of the passage, it is God Himself who vows to take personal responsibility for tending His sheep. The Lord himself goes to search for the lost sheep. St. John takes up this imagery in his Gospel, where he presents Christ as the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11.14). Thus, the kingship of Christ is to be understood in terms of a disinterested service, attention and care to the flock and total self-giving even to the extreme of his self-emptying that culminated on the cross. In verse 17 of the fourteenth chapter of the prophecy of Ezekiel, we see a remark denoting judgment, for the Shepherd will distinguish between sheep and goats, thus serving as a bridge between the first reading and the Gospel.

           The passage of today’s Gospel (Mt. 25: 31-46) is often identified as the parable of the sheep and the goat or of the final universal Judgment. The passage presents Christ’s kingship as an act of judgment. Therein, Jesus appears as a supreme Judge of the universe, because the Father has given every power to Him. Frankly speaking, the scene of today’s Gospel can easily instil fear in us, because of Christ’s severity at Judgment. In this stupendous page on the final judgment, St. Mathew presents Jesus as King of the universe, and he was constituted as the supreme judge by God. In that final judgment, the yardstick for measuring our actions will be basically love, love of neighbour, exemplified in the exercise of corporal works of mercy: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming strangers, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and visiting the imprisoned. Jesus will judge us based on our treatment of him in our fellow human beings. For the standard of judgement on the last day is hidden in the following words: “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). At this point Jesus presents a sublime Christology in anthropological terms, for whatever is done to the least of the brothers is done to Christ. Jesus established a strong affiliation with the least in our midst, to the point of identifying himself with them.

          In identifying himself with the least of his brothers, to reward those that recognized him in the poor, Jesus said “Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry…, I was thirsty…, I was naked…” (Mt. 25:35-36). The list could still continue on and on: I was an unborn baby, and you welcomed me by allowing me to be born. I was an abandoned child, and you made me part of your family. I was an orphan, and you adopted me and raised me as one of your own children. As a matter of fact, this emblematic passage shows us not what will happen on the last day, but it reminds us of what we ought to do as we live. We will be judged on the basis of our love of neighbour, motivated by our love for God. In the words of St. John of the Cross, “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone”, not on devotion and religious attendance.

          Thus, the Gospel tells us what we need to do to be part of this Kingdom: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit those in prison. Those who are practicing these things are part of a kingdom that God himself has prepared “from the foundation of the world” (Mt 25:34). Drawing the point further, celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King implies that we have accepted Christ as the King of our life, and that we are ready to let him reign in our hearts, that we are ready to follow him in the humble service of our brothers, “the little ones”, that we are ready through our actions to expand the kingdom of Christ to all the corners of the earth. The parable teaches us that sin does not only consist in the bad things we do, but also in the good things we should have done, but we did not do, that is the sin of omission.

          In the second reading (1Cor.15:20-26.28) St. Paul reminded the Christians of Corinth of the fact of the resurrection from the dead, pointing succinctly to the death and resurrection of Christ. Through his resurrection Christ destroyed death and restored life. St. Paul affirms Christ’s regality and opines that Jesus Christ is our King, the King of the Universe, because he won victory over death and He is the Lord of life. In his words: “Christ has been raised from the dead as the first fruit of all who have fallen asleep” (v.20). His victory over death has made us participants to his kingly dignity and liberty. Be that as it may, those who belong to Christ will form part of his Kingdom. In this Kingdom all will be subject to Christ the King. St. Paul presents the reign of Christ as the absolute reign, to which every other must give way, “For he is to be king until he has made his enemies his footstool, and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death” (vv.25-26). However, He has overcome death because he has deprived it of its meaning as the total destruction of man, he transformed it into a new birth leading to eternal life. Above all, as we have earlier opined, Christ’s reign seems to be of limited duration. How? For he reigns “until…” (1Cor. 15:25). But that is not all, the fascinating thing is that it is to be replaced by the Kingdom of God (Father) himself when Christ delivers the kingdom to the Father (cf. 1Cor.15: 24). Jesus says: “The Father and I are one” (Jn. 10:30), so there is going to be the continuation of the same Kingdom. Though, it has to be clarified that the word “until” does not signify termination in toto, but that of his mediatory kingdom on earth (cf. Ps.110:1), for according to O. Cullmann “the kingly rule of Christ and the church completely coincide”.

          The kingship of Christ is completely different from that of the world. He responds categorically to Pilate, “Yes, I am a King” (Jn.18:37), but he already affirmed: “my kingdom is not of this world” (Jn.18:36), that is why his Kingdom is universal, inclusive and eternal. Therefore, his kingdom does not consist in the dominion of peoples, nor in the possession of territories etc. Instead, the kingdom of Christ, as we proclaimed in the preface of the Mass: “is a kingdom of truth, and life, kingdom of holiness and grace, of justice, of love and of peace”, these are the characteristics of God’s kingdom.

           Beloved in Christ, this kingdom comports an existential implication for us, because we do not only celebrate the King of the Universe, but also our membership in this kingdom. For this St. Peter called us “kingly people” (1Pt. 2:9). In the words of St. Paul “It is he who has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves” (Col. 1:13), ours is a gratuitous transfer to this Kingdom, but do we really belong to this Kingdom? Today, the hot button questions we have to ask ourselves are: Is Christ really our or my King?  What or who is ruling in my life? Christ is our King when his words and examples have become norms for our actions (cf. Ps. 128:1; Jn.4:34). Today’s feast should not only end with mere and empty proclamations and gyrations, we have to allow the Truth to lead us. We belong to his kingdom when we live according to his words (cf. Jm. 1:21-23). His is a kingdom of truth and love. Do we bear witness to his truth and to his love? We belong to his kingdom when we live in truth, grace, holiness, Justice, love and peace. Which kingdom do you belong?

          Let us march out to tell the whole world that we have a King, who is also our shepherd. Let us proclaim and acclaim him King, let us confess and profess that He ALONE is our King. We are therefore challenged to allow Him to be the Ultimate King in our lives. It is not untrue that most of us have various kings and kingdoms that are ruling and occupying our lives. We need to stop a while and ask ourselves who is actually ruling in my life? Child of God allow Jesus to reign in your life.  Let us in one chorus put our voices together to that of the Psalmist in declaring the smooth entrance of this King: “Lift high your heads, o ye gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! Let him enter the King of glory”. Who is the king of glory? The Lord of Host, He is the King of glory” (Ps. 24: 9-10). Lift those things in your life that may block His entrance, lift those things that may obstacle his entrance into your family, lift those ancient ways of living, those ancient gods. Let us open up for him too. Let us open our lives, our families, our societies, our educational system, our political system, our work place, our dreams and aspirations, so that He can enter and take control. For wherever he enters, witnesses a change. Welcome Him today, so that he may recognize you as sheep and not as goat on the day of reckoning. Let Him enter the King of Glory (cf. Ps. 24:10), Our Peculiar King, for no one is like you (cf. Ex. 15:11), God made King, for royal dignity has been yours from birth (cf. Ps. 110:3; Jn. 18:37), King with divine mandate (cf. Dn. 7:14a), King of Kings (cf. Rev. 17:14; 19:16), King of the whole world (cf. Zech. 14:9), King of peace (cf. Is. 9:6), The highest King (cf. Rev. 1:5), Everlasting King (cf. Jer. 10:10; Lk. 1:33). Have a wonderful celebration of Christ the King, not just today but every moment of your life. May Jesus come to reign in our hearts and turn our hearts to His Throne! Amen!!!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)