Feast of Christ the King – 26 November 2023
Monarch – King’s Rule has been done with in many countries! Our own India was once a compilation of many royal princely states! The Kings and Queens have become a thing of a bygone era and where they do exist even today, they are just honorary titles without any real power and authority! So, when in a world, the concept of ‘king’ and ‘kingdom’ bear no more relevance, how do we understand the Feast of Christ the King today?
It was because the then royals of the nations and states were abusing their power that Pope Pius XI introduced this feast in 1925. So, this is only a recent feast in the Church, and abuse of power in the hands of heads of nations is what led to its introduction. Christ as our King stands in direct contradiction to the worldly exercise of power and authority! Christ’s Kingdome is of Love and service.
We adorn our walls in our homes with a beautiful picture of Christ as King with the crown of gold, golden sceptre, and enrobed in royal vestments. This adornment of Christ as King is from the human experiences of kings and kingdoms of the world.
While the images of Christ as King could be an artistic representation modelling on how a king in the world looks like, Christ is not the King like a King in this world and His Kingdom is not territorial but Universal! This understanding is very important to meaningfully celebrate this Feast today!
That Christ will come in all His Glory with all the angels and sit on his glorious throne, as described in the opening lines of the Gospel is our faith. We have no hesitation in believing Christ our Lord as King and He is. I deeply believe that Christ as my Lord and Saviour possesses supreme authority over my life. Christ is the final authority in the world. I have no hesitation to believe in this! But to present Jesus as my Saviour merely in earthly terms of Kingship will always be inadequate – Not a full picture!
Glory, Honour, Splendour, and Majesty belong to a King! No doubt!
But Christ did not have them when he was born in a manger, walked here on this earth with nowhere to lay his head, was condemned to die an innocent death, and was crucified on the Cross! Though what we celebrate today refers to the Second Coming of Christ as the King with all His glory and majesty, Jesus was King too in his first coming – King with a difference – Not a King of Power wileding authority but a King of Love reaching out to those in need.
This very same King became a mortal subject and a slave as we read in the letter of St. Paul to the Philippines, “Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God something to be grasped at but he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness”. It is in the humanness of Jesus we see how he was a King with a difference and Love mattered the most and not power and authority. It is how Jesus exercised his Divine power on the earth, among the people, that sets him as a King with a difference!
It is my faith that more than from Jesus the King who is to come in all His Glory, Majesty and Splendour, it is from Jesus the King who came in all his poverty, I learn what His Kingdom is like! Therefore, the meaningful celebration of the Feast of Christ the King lies not just in my imagination of how glorious Christ the King is but also in knowing who he was here on this earth walking among us – as a poor crucified Christ.
The first reading in fact uses the imagery of a shepherd for this Kingly Feast. The shepherd does not certainly have a crown of gold but surely an ordinary towel to cover his head protecting it from the heat. Certainly not a golden sceptre but surely an ordinary wooden stick! Certainly not a golden vestment but an ordinary cheap garment! This is the King without any pomp! It is this King that Christ was on this earth even though he was never addressed as one! He himself looked after and tended the sheep, did not delegate to his servants for he had no servants, in fact, he was one himself. He went after the scattered sheep risking those with him for, he wanted no one to be lost! He cared for the strayed, the injured and the sick. This is Jesus our Lord – the King of Love!
The Gospel once again does not glorify Christ as the pompous King! In the words of Jesus himself, Christ as King seated on the glorious throne, as described in the Gospel, identifies himself with the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and imprisoned! See the contradiction – the King sitting on the throne does not display His Power and Authority, on the other hand, he identifies himself with the Least. This is the King with a difference!
The Feast of Christ as King calls us to be members of His Kingdom which is with a difference! In this Christ’s kingdom, power, authority, glory, and splendor do not matter at all but to be persons of love selflessly loving the other is what matters! This feast of Christ the King becomes relevant and meaningful only when Jesus’ Kingdom values become mine.
If I seek power, if I lord my authority over the other, if I pride in myself, If I am selfish, If I am self-sufficient, If I ignore the need of the other, If I am after name and fame, then, celebrating this feast is a meaningless exercise! I am denying the authority of Jesus over me – Christ is not my King!
If Jesus is our Spiritual King, wherever we are is His Kingdom and Wherever we are and whatever we do, we are to reflect the values of His Kingdom – Our family is therefore supposed to be Jesus’ Kingdom and each one of us is supposed to ensure that His Kingdom is safe and protected! The enemies we need to battle against to protect this Kingdom – our own un-gospel tendencies! It is Jesus our Lord who has brought us together to live in one family and so He alone can be the King of our families! We have not chosen one another but Christ did!
Jesus as the King of our families should actually say to us now– For I needed understanding, you were not rude to me! For I needed mercy, you were not irritated with me! For I needed acceptance, you did not ignore me! For I needed love, you were not indifferent! For I needed help, you did not refuse! For I needed support, you did not let me down! In reply let us not ask – Lord when did you need understanding, mercy, acceptance, love, help and support? For we know well – whatever we do for one of the family members, your spouse, child, relative, friend, near and dear one that God has given us, we do it for Christ!
Jesus as King and His Kingdom are not just heavenly realities disconnected from our earthly life. Right here, Right now, we are to experience Christ as our King and build His Kingdom – living out the values of the Gospel that Jesus our Lord preached! It is not merely an image/painting that depicts Christ as King but how we live our life as Christians and love our own family members and with one another that depicts that Christ is really the King of our lives!
johnsekarofm 