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| Stained glass window from St. Joseph's Church, Toomyvara, Ireland, Wikimedia |
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
November 24, 2019
2 Samuel 5:1-3
Psalm 122:1-5
Colossians 1:12-20
Luke 23:35-43
Today is the solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. There is something about this image of Jesus Christ as a King that is difficult for our contemporary American minds to grasp. Perhaps, it is because our identity as a nation was established on the rejection of a king’s sovereignty in favor of self-governance? Perhaps, it is because in our contemporary times we have strictly identified self-governance with the willful imposition of our own autonomy upon the world in which we live? Nonetheless, the question that goes through my mind when I hear that today is the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe is “Why does that affect me?” Our minds are more attuned to the secular holiday of Thanksgiving. The social and commercial media has moved from distracting us with the Amazon Synod to distracting us with Amazon Prime. Today is the Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King of the Universe.
Throughout the First Book of Samuel, we read of the Israelites asking the Lord, through Samuel, for a king. God replies, “I am your king.” They respond, “Yes, we know! You are our King. Yet, can we also have a king like the Gentiles have a king? But, Lord, You are our king.” The Lord responds, “I am your King.” The Israelites repeat the discourse through Samuel until God relents and grants them Saul as their king. Things do not go well because just as the Lord had spoken, the Israelites soon become more and more like the Gentiles in that their king becomes more like a god than like a king. Saul causes more trouble and Israel loses its way. Yet, God does not abandon them.
Saul gives way to David, the anointed of the Lord who saves Israel from conquest by the Philistines. God redeems the kingship requested by Israel by making it a means to Israel’s salvation and ultimately through David’s lineage — the salvation of all people. Jesus is born of David’s lineage. God saves His people through the full humanity of Jesus given through the “yes” of the Blessed Virgin Mary — and in a lesser but still necessary way — through the “yes” of Saint Joseph who serves as the husband of Mary and as the guardian and apparent father of Jesus. Jesus is born of David’s lineage through Joseph.
Our Gospel today is taken from Luke’s Gospel with its clear and strong emphasis on the Incarnation that God becomes fully human in Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe. God chooses to save us through the humanity of Jesus. The throne of King Jesus is the cross. Throughout this story Jesus is asked by those observers around the cross to “save Himself.” Isn’t that what a king does? Doesn’t the sovereign will place self-preservation before all things? Show me your kingship through your power! The observers seem to be saying that sovereignty is domination.
Yet, the good thief, known to us through tradition as Saint Dismas, doesn’t call on Jesus to save Himself. The thief is not an observer of the crucifixion, he is a participant — quite literally a participant in the crucifixion — who in asking Jesus for mercy becomes a follower of Jesus and a sharer in Christ’s kingship in the present. Jesus replies to him, “Today, you will be with me in paradise,” the Kingdom of Jesus.
The good thief addresses Jesus not by any honorific title as the Gentiles addressed their kings. There is no use of the titles, “Lord,” “Your Majesty,” or even “Oh Mighty King.” He addresses Him by His name, “Jesus — God saves.” The kingship of Israel is redeemed by the humanity of Christ, by the loving obedience to the Father’s will, and by the sacrificial love for human beings, brothers and sisters all. The good thief seeks and receives a share in the kingship of Christ. The share in the kingship of Christ is obedience to the will of God known as the truth and received and offered as the sacrificial love for our neighbor.
Christ offers us a share in His Kingdom at every celebration and offering of the Eucharist, the meaning of which is “thanksgiving.” The Eucharist makes us more truly human by presenting us with the source and summit of humanity in worshiping God sacrificially, as He desires to be worshipped, and in loving our neighbor sacrificially as Jesus continues to do. The redeemed gift of our full humanity is not simply a title or honorific form of address. The redeemed gift of our full humanity is not simply a matter of etiquette or protocol. The redeemed gift of our full humanity is our entrance into Christ’s Kingdom through our share in the cross by following Jesus and not simply by observing Him. The share in the redeemed gift of our humanity begins today, this day, in the sacrifice of the Eucharist that Jesus Himself offers and in which He invites us to share and not simply to observe, to follow and not simply to admire, to receive and not simply to grasp. Today, this day, is the solemnity of Jesus Christ our King. Happy Thanksgiving.
