THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
THE KING
Thirty-Fourth or Last Sunday in
Ordinary Time
(only
text, to print)
We
finish, today, the liturgical year. Next Sunday will be the First Sunday of
Advent. I have often said to you that Jesus can be seen under many aspects, and
today we are going to see Him as King and Lord.
We are
already accustomed to see Jesus as King.
The evangelists often present Jesus to us as a
King:
The
magi from the East, look for Jesus as the King of the Jews. (Mt 2:2)
Jesus,
before Pilate, declares himself to be King (Mt 27:11)
The
inscription put on the cross says: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
(Mt 27:37)
The good
thief asks Jesus to remember him in His kingdom. (Lk 23:42-43)
Jesus
promises His kingdom to his Apostles. (Lk 22:29)
When
the angel appears to Mary, he says to her that the fruit of her womb will be
the Son of the Most High and that His kingdom will have no end. (Lk 1:33)
JESUS
IS KING, BECAUSE HE IS THE SON OF GOD
We
understand the word King, as meaning Lord of all
things.
The psalmist says: You are my
son; today I am your father. Only ask it of me, and I will make your
inheritance the nations, your possession the ends of the earth. (Ps 2:7-8)
In the
letter to the Hebrews it is written that God has constituted Jesus heir of all
things: Whom he made heir of all things. (He 1:2)
Jesus, as
the Son of God, comes from the Father, who is Lord of the whole Universe.
JESUS
IS KING BECAUSE HE HAS REDEEMED US
Jesus
is King because he has redeemed us, and has rescued us from the power of
darkness.
Saint
Peter tells us that we have not been rescued with silver or gold, but with the
blood of Jesus Christ. He also writes: Entry
into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ will be richly
provided for you. (2Pe 1,11)
JESUS WILL COME AT THE END OF TIME AS KING
This King, Jesus Christ, will come at the end of time to judge the
living and the dead with great solemnity. The evangelist says: When
the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit
upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And
he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from
the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. (Mt 25:31-33)
We will
all be there, in this separation. On what side will we be?
On the
evening of the Final Judgment, or definitive separation, the tribe will not count,
neither the race, nor the institution, nor to be rich or poor, but the personal
answer of each one to the divine-human law inscribed at heart of our
conscience.
The day of the Final Judgment will be like a
day of examination. The student does not know what the professor will ask him. However, we know
it indeed. Jesus says: For I was hungry
and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you
welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and
you visited me. … Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least
brothers of mine, you did for me. (Mt
25,35-40)
Jesus recognizes
as his own those who have recognized him in his brothers: the poor, the humble,
the needy. Notice that he says "these least brothers of mine". When I
help a poor man, materially or spiritually, I do it as if I helped Jesus Christ
himself.
Saint
John of the Cross says: In the evening of our life, God will judge us on
love.
Before
finishing, allow me to make a translation, a concretion of the words of the
Lord Jesus, adapted to our present time.
We have
to apply the word of God to our life.
Jesus
says: Come, you who are blessed by my
Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Mt 25:34)
What
could Jesus say to us today: Come, you blessed by my Father, because my country
was in war and you did not ignore our tragedy, and you helped us; I was a gypsy
and you did not reject me; I was a drug addict and you accepted me; it was jobless
and you helped me to find work or you created a job for me; I came out of
prison and you received me; I was physically disabled and you helped me, or was
old and you understood my peculiarities and solitude.
Let us pray
to the Lord with faith, that His kingdom come, as we say in the Our Father.
We go to Communion
to find Jesus. Let us ask ourselves if we also know to find Him in His brothers,
that is, in everyone of us.
May you
have a good feast day of Christ, the King.