BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 52)
Christ the King – November 23, 2003
BIBLE READINGS
A few weeks ago I saw the powerfully evocative movie, “The Fourth Wise Man”, which depicts the magi Atabar’s yearning and long search for the King of the Jews, the one who would give meaning to his life and joy to his soul. His compassionate act for a sick traveler detained him in the desert. Hence, he was not able to catch up with the caravan led by the three other magi – Melchor, Gaspar and Balthasar – on their journey to Bethlehem to pay homage to the newborn King. Atabar, accompanied by his slave, Orantes, followed in pursuit of the infant King to Bethlehem and to Egypt, but to no avail. His odyssey led him to a leper colony in Israel that greatly needed his healing ministry. He spent his lifetime in service of the wretched poor, becoming one of them. The precious gifts that he had intended to present to the King were given away, one by one, in the process of saving the lives of the distressed and afflicted. At the end of his life, the aged and infirm Atabar finally saw the King from a distance, during his passion as the Suffering Servant and his crucifixion outside the walls of Jerusalem. On Easter morning, the King whom he had longed for and served unknowingly in the poor and outcast revealed himself to the dying Atabar in his glorified form as the Risen Lord and welcomed him into his kingdom.
The Gospel of today (Jn 18:33b-37) presents us with the true meaning of Christ’s kingship. The form of kingship that Jesus assumed is that of servitude and fidelity to truth. The King of the Jews is the beloved Servant of Yahweh who brought to fulfillment the Father’s saving plan to save the poor and the sinners. Indeed, Jesus is a King, but not of earthly origin. His kingdom is not of this world (cf. Jn 18:36), but of the spiritual order. His exercise of kingship consisted in bearing witness to the truth (cf. Jn 18: 37). He is the Messiah sent from heaven to reveal the truth about God’s love. Hence, the kingdom that Jesus inaugurated in his entire life of service and self-giving is a “kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace” (cf. Preface of the Feast of Christ the King).
The Kingdom of God is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching. The phrase “Kingdom of God” occurs 122 times in the Gospels, 90 of which are on the lips of Jesus. According to the biblical scholar, Eugene Maly: “The truth is that Kingdom of God is meant to conjure up the dynamic notion of God powerfully ruling over his creation, over his people, and over the history of both … The Kingdom of God is a total, global, and structural transfiguration and revolution of the reality of human beings; it means the cosmos purified of all evils and full of the reality of God.”
Our Redeemer Lord, Jesus Christ – “the faithful witness, the first born from the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth” – has made us into a kingdom, priests for God the Father (cf. Rev 1:5-6). Today’s solemnity of Christ the King helps us to focus not only on the greatness of his kingdom, but also on the royal dignity and responsibility he has given to his people, who are part of that kingdom. According to the authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 7: “He has entrusted his Church and each one of his disciples, according to each one’s vocation, with the mission of proclaiming the Gospel throughout the whole world by using the same means he himself used: testimony even to death, if necessary. The Church and every Christian community must be, according to their possibilities, an image of his kingdom where, in order to become great, one joyfully becomes the servant of all, beginning with the weakest, the most destitute, the lowliest.”
At the end of the liturgical year, which is a celebration of the saving mystery of Christ in time and a spiritual itinerary whose goal is “christification”, let us submit ourselves anew to the dominion of the Shepherd-King who came to seek the lost, unite all peoples of the earth and integrate the whole of creation. Let us heed the exhortation of the Benedictine abbot, Alban Boultwood to follow the ways of sacrificial kingship of Christ in this life, sharing his acceptance of the conditions of this world, its suffering and mortality, and transforming these by that self-giving which is filled with grace. He reminds us: “All his followers in the royal priesthood must always form a serving, suffering, loving Church. We inherit the kingship of Jesus by fulfilling the mystery of his blessed Passion, death and resurrection in the witness of our own personal life … Christ’s kingship truly continues on earth in us; this is both the wonderful dignity and the tremendous responsibility of our Christian vocation.”
Do we submit ourselves to Christ the King who invites us to follow him in the ways of sacrificial kingship?
Do we put the kingship of Christ at the core of our private and public life, our individual and social life, our economic and political life?
Do we truly recognize the wonderful dignity and tremendous responsibility of our vocation as priestly royalty in Christ the King – Shepherd and Servant of Yahweh?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(From the Liturgy of the Hours: Lauds – Feast of Christ the King)
Leader: Let us pray to Christ the King. He is the firstborn of all creation; all things exist in him.
(R.) MAY YOUR KINGDOM COME, O LORD!
Christ, you are our savior and our God, our shepherd and our king. Lead your people to life-giving pastures. (R.)
Good Shepherd, you laid down your life for your sheep. Rule over us, and in your care we shall want for nothing. (R.)
Christ, our redeemer, you have been made king over all the earth. Restore all creation in yourself. (R.)
King of all creation, you came into the world to bear witness to the truth. May all men and women come to acknowledge your primacy in all things. (R.)
Christ, our model and master, you have brought us into your kingdom. Grant that we may be holy and blameless before you this day. (R.)
Leader: Almighty and merciful God, you break the power of evil and make all things new in your son Jesus Christ, the King of the universe. May all in heaven and earth proclaim your glory and never cease to praise you. We ask this through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reign with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“My kingdom does not belong to this world … For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (Jn 18:36- 37)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: In this last Sunday of the liturgical year, make a list of all the benefits you have received from Christ the King and pray to him in gratitude for welcoming you into his kingdom of love, justice and peace. If it is possible, participate in any public religious ceremony in honor of Christ the King, e.g. eucharistic procession, Bible service, etc.
ACTION PLAN: Pray for civil rulers that they may be imbued with the spirit of service of Christ the King. Pray that in their decisions, they may always make options for the poor.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM