THE MODELS OF THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

Rev. Fr. Peter Onyekachi Ezekoka

Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17        1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28        Matthew 25:31-46

Christ is King! This is what we are celebrating today. In the face of the massive changes wrought in society via the rise of Communism, coincident with the rise of secularism during and after the First World War, the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to combat ways of living which reduce God to the perception of a grumpy old man on a cloud, mock Him as a ‘sky fairy’ or dismiss Him as non-existent. In 1970 the Solemnity was moved to the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, to take pride of place at the culmination of the Church’s liturgical year. The readings resonate with the majesty of the Kingship of Christ, with what the implication of His Kingship are, and with how His Kingship manifests both in the present moment and at the end of time. These readings present three models of the Kingship of Christ:

Christ the Shepherd King 

I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded… I shall be a true shepherd to them (cf. First Reading; Ezek 34:16). In response to the failure of the leaders of Israel to be true shepherds to His people, God steps in as the perfect Shepherd of His flock. God will take over the care of His flock, look after each one of His sheep, seek out those that have got lost, settle them on good pasture, bandage the wounded and nurture the weak ones. In the Parable of the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:1-21) we find the statement that we are like lost sheep, sick and injured, and must be found. The Shepherd King goes in search of His sheep, rather than leaving the sheep to seek Him out. As the true Shepherd, Christ seeks us out. He does not shepherd from a distance. He is ever-present and although He is Risen & Ascended, He is always with us (Mt 28:20). He brings us to good pasture and he guides us along the right path (cf. Ps 23). The true Shepherd will also judge us on our performance as sheep! Do we follow Him or do we not? It is our personal choice as to whether or not we follow the Shepherd King to heaven.  

Christ the victorious King

For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet… (cf. Second Reading; 1 Cor 15:25). St. Paul provides us with the assurance that at the end of time, after the defeat of death, God will be all in all. There will be total triumph of goodness over evil. This triumph, however, can only be achieved in and through Christ the King. Contrary to the assertions of the Prince of Lies, the Kingship of Christ has already annihilated the kingdom of darkness – the kingdom of evil - and in due course Christ’s reign will bring about the ultimate reign of God the Father (v.28). Satan has already been defeated through the victory of the Cross. By the power of the Cross, Christ the King is already victorious even over death itself. Following His victory, we know for certain that death is not the end and that eternal life awaits us, either in heaven, or in purgatory in hope of heaven, or in hell. We have been given the gift of free will, and it is our choice as to whether or not we become followers of Christ the King and share in His victory.

Christ the just Judge

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, escorted by all the angels, then He will take His seat on his throne of glory. (cf. the Gospel; Mt 25:31). The pronouncement manifests gloriously the ultimate sovereignty of the Son of Man (as Jesus described Himself) ‘and His angels with him’ (cf. Zech 14:5) as God! In it, Jesus speaks of the end of time and of the final judgement by Himself as the eternal Judge. The consequences of our not listening to Christ the just Judge will be revealed at the time of our particular judgement immediately upon our death (cf. Heb 9:27) and at our final judgement at the end of time (Mt 25:31f, 46). Christ’s judgement will depend upon whether or not we are sons and daughters of God (Mt 12:49) with inheritance rights, and whether we loved Him enough to minister to Him primarily in our fellow believers, and by extension to our neighbour in our mutual relatedness to Adam and Eve created in the image of God (Gen 1:27).

The final judgement in the pronouncement of Christ the King is illustrated by the separation out of the sheep and the goats and the least of these brothers of mine as the followers of Christ, because they have done the will of God by following Him. These three groups of believers are homeless in this world (Lk 9:58) and are living the life to which Christ the King has called them. They know His voice and they follow Him (Jn 10:27f). The King rewards them with their inheritance of the Kingdom of heaven. They achieve this by conjoining their faith and their prayers with active service, loving and serving God by loving and serving Him in people He sends across their path. The ultimate sovereignty of the Son of Man, God (Mt 25:31) as the universal Judge brings the virtuous into His royal Kingdom. Good deeds must accompany faith. We love and serve God through loving and serving Him in each other and in the needy. The Church is far more than an adjunct to the social services. We can minister to Christ in the needy (cf. Lk 10:25-37) through the Corporal Works of Mercy, including giving food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, welcoming a stranger, consoling the sick, and visiting the prisoner. We undertake these works because we are sons and daughters of Christ, and it is Him whom we love and serve.

Those who choose to ignore Jesus and who, as a consequence, fail to love Him and serve Him in those who suffer (and everyone suffers in one way or another) are punished with eternal damnation. They are the ones who are separated permanently from God and thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:10) which represents a state of regret and anguish with no hope of relief.

On this Solemnity, then, as we declare to the world and to heaven that Christ the Lord is the Universal King, our Shepherd King and our just and victorious King, we pray that He will keep on searching for us throughout the course of our earthly lives, even if we stray into the darkest valley. Amen. God bless you.