Dear Parish Family,
With today’s celebration of Christ the King we come to the end of the Liturgical Year. What does the celebration of Christ the King mean? It means everything. It means that there is a solution to the problems of the world. The feast calls us to be part of the solution. It warns us that if we are not part of the solution to the world’s deepest needs, we will be part of the world’s problems. The central teaching of the feast is made explicit in today’s second reading, from the fifteenth chapter of St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. The resurrection of Jesus has restored the life that was lost by mankind. All who belong to Christ will be handed over to God the Father at the end of time.
The Solemnity of Christ the King is about us, here and now. If we do not have God in our lives, then our lives are futile, meaningless and dead. Without God we go through the motions secretly asking ourselves, “Why bother? Why bother with raising children? Why bother with caring for others? Why bother with being good? Why bother with anything?” If we do not have God in our lives, we will easily overlook His Presence reaching out to us in the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked and all those Jesus mentions in the Gospel reading. If we do not have God in our lives, we are part of the problem of the world.
The Presence of God protects us from going through the motions of life. The Presence of God gives us to ability to live each moment as an opportunity to grow closer to Him. The Presence of God within each of us leads us to be the solution to the world’s needs. The holidays are upon us. Without God, Thanksgiving was just a day for a big meal. Without God, Christmas will be nothing more than a celebration of materialism. Decorations will be taken out of their storage boxes and the proper sentiments will be mustered up, but without God, Christmas will merely be a day of empty sentiments. But with God in our lives, Christmas becomes an opportunity for us to draw into a deeper union with the Presence that gives value to all life.
St. Paul writes that those who belong to Christ will be formed into a kingdom that will be handed over to our God and Father. Every sovereignty, every authority and every power in the world will be destroyed. There will be no presidents nor prime ministers, not ayatollahs nor any form of prince. The only King who is eternal is Jesus Christ. The only kingdom that will remain is that of God the Father. And we are members of that Kingdom. Or, are we? That is the question put before us in the teaching on the sheep and the goats. The people represented by sheep did not need to be told what to do. They cared for others. They did what the deep presence of the Lord within them led them to do: they reached out to those who needed them. They cared for Christ. The people represented by the goats could not be concerned with anyone but themselves. They ignored the plight of others and missed the Presence of God.
If we are serious about our Christianity, if we are committed to the Kingdom of God, then we will be living lives of sacrificial love, the love of Jesus Christ. Out of love for Christ, we will have no choice but to reach out to the suffering of the world. In this way, we will recognize the Presence of God in those who might not even recognize His Presence in themselves. But if we are wrapped up in selfishness, if our lives are about “taking care of number one,” then we will miss our opportunity to serve God in others. We are either part of the solution, or we are part of the problem. The true members of the Kingdom live their Christianity in a way that restores the world to the Lord. Those who are wrapped up in themselves, not only miss the opportunity to care for others, but they live their lives in a way that adds to the plight of the suffering.
Fr. Tom Kunnel C.O.