Last Sunday of the Church Year - Christ the King
Q - When was it 1st celebrated? You would think Middle Ages? -
1925
Time of Pius XI – old royal kingdoms were crumbling –
instead of kings and queens, now they had the growth of:
Nazism – a dictator who argued for the superiority of his
race.
Socialism – common sharing of property – without God
Communism – totalitarian, no God, no individual rights
Pope feared they would be worse than many kings of old
& they were – tens of millions of lives lost.
Pope wanted to remind all people – ultimate loyalty is
due to God – there is only one King!
If you think about it – Jesus is a strange sort of king –
-
sign
- Latin - INRI - Jesus of
Nazareth, King of the Jews
-
no regal clothing
-
crown of thorns
But kings and queens can learn much from this king.
1) Jesus is told: if you are the Son of God, get down
from the cross! But because He is Son of God – stays on the cross -
true power is in obedience to His Father. Many people felt Kennedy could not be
elected because he was Catholic – JFK had his famous meeting with Baptist
Ministers – would not take orders from Rome – faith is about my private life
only. Argument made today – Freedom of Worship vs Freedom of Religion – even affected
Chick Fil A.
St. Thomas More would have disagreed – when King Henry
VIII asked Thomas to agree that he was the head of the Church of England –
Thomas refused - right before Henry had
him put to death – his last words were:
“I am the good King’s servant, but God’s first.” True King is obedient to God.
2) Other thief told him to be quiet – we deserve this,
but this man has done nothing wrong. Famous words: Jesus, remember me when you
come into your kingdom.
King Frederick the Great was visiting the jails of
Potsdam – each inmate proclaims innocence -
only one said – “I am guilty and I am receiving the punishment I
deserve” king ordered him released – I
don’t want this man to corrupt all the innocent people in here. Jesus told the
thief – this day, you will be with me in Paradise. True King is about mercy!
# There is a power to the Cross – every Catholic Church
is expected to have a Crucifix visible for all to see – one can learn so much
praying before the Cross of our King!
Bishop of Paris once was preaching in the Great Notre
Dame in Paris.
He said - Once a young man came in here – who had fallen
away from God - confessions going on – he thought: I will go in and try to fool
the priest and make things up - the
priest wasn’t fooled - told him – every
confession requires a penance – so go into the church - look up at the crucifix – look into the face of
Jesus and say “All this you did for me
and I don’t give a ….” Well, the young
man tried. He stood there, looked into the face of Jesus and said - all this you did for me - tried to complete
the sentence but could not - Bishop
leaned over – that young man was me. True
King brings us back to God!
The obedience of God – the Mercy of God - The miracle of
the cross --- Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews – he is! - Jesus Christ, King
of the Universe.
