18-Nov-07
Dear Friend,
Is it meaningful to celebrate the feast of the Kingship of Christ when kings
and royalty are out of date? Strangely, though people do not hold royalty as an
exalted position in society today, yet deep down there is a need to look up to
some human beings as models of inspiration for our lives. We may not find such
people easily but there are such persons who are alive or have existed in the
history of mankind. One such person is Jesus Christ. May His word and life
inspire us to the nobility of service. Have an inspirational weekend! Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: Thirty-fourth Sunday of the Year -Christ is our king…..
25-11-07
Readings: Samuel 5: 1-3; Collossians 1: 12-20; 23:
35-43;
The first reading from Samuel reminds us that while Saul was King during his
life only of the tribes of the north, David had been proclaimed king by all the
people of Israel. The anointing of David as king of Judah and Israel was an
external sign that David was God’s representative ruling over all the people of
Israel. David was now the ‘anointed one’, a term that would be used for all the
future kings of Israel, ultimately leading to Jesus Christ the anointed one.
The people expected from David and his successors a type of kingship that would
reflect God’s kingship over Israel. David’s successors did not live up to that
hope and so the people were waiting for the Messiah King who would liberate
Israel and be a true shepherd. This hope would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Nothing more to give
Some years ago, divers located a 400-year-old sunken ship off the coast of
Northern Ireland. Among the treasures they found on the ship was a man’s
wedding ring, on which was engraved a hand holding a heart with an inscription:
“I have nothing more to give you.” Of all the treasures found on the sunken
ship, none moved the divers more that that ring and its beautiful inscription.
The engraving on that ring and its inscription could have been placed on the
cross of Christ, for he gave us everything he had when he died on it. Jesus as
King is not out to dominate, but to love, not out to rule but to serve, not out
to order but to seek out the lost ones such as the repentant thief on the
cross. Hence, like the tribes-people who gathered at Hebron of old to acclaim
David as their king, so we too can now ask Jesus to be our Lord and king of our
lives.
Vima Dasan in ‘His Word resound’
The second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians contains one of the
most ancient Christological hymns spelling out the faith of the believers in
Christ. It first touches on Christ’s role at creation, He is the beginning and
in him all things were made. It then speaks of his salvific role; He is the
source of unity and he brings reconciliation to all mankind. Thirdly, it is
through his spirit that we are recreated and renewed. Paul puts Christ in the
center of all creation and affirms that Christ is not merely a human being but
God dwelling and present in our midst.
All from Him
Some years ago the film Amadeus was quite popular. For months people lined up
in front of the movie theaters all over the country to see this film, whose
theme is a theological issue. The film is about a confession. Salieri, a
contemporary of Mozart and also a composer, confesses that he is probably the
cause of Mozart’s death. He wanted to murder him because there was something he
never had understood: how was it possible that Mozart, according to Salieri a
vulgar and superficial person, was able to write such beautiful music so
effortlessly? All Mozart had to do was sit down and the most magnificent of
melodies flowed from his pen. And he, Salieri, a serious man who had dedicated
his whole life to God and lived an almost ascetic life, had such difficulty in
getting music on paper. -The issue is about the total gratuitousness of God’s
gifts given to us in and through Christ. We never acquire anything by our
efforts. All we can do comes from God. All
is given, everything is gratuitous. Where does the poet get his words, the
painter his colours, the architect his shapes, the sculptor his forms, the
doctor his healing powers, the mechanic his skill, the computer programmer his
creativity, and the author his inspiration, if not from God?
Joseph Donders in “Hearts on Fire”
In today’s Gospel Christ is proclaimed king in the most unlikely of all places
by the most unlikely of all people -at the cross. It would hardly be a fitting
place to proclaim his kingship. At the cross Jesus appears almost powerless.
The leaders jeered at him and mocked him challenging him to show his power. “He
saved others” they said, “let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the
anointed one.” The soldiers mocked him too and said, “If you are the king of
the Jews save yourself!” But Jesus refused to reveal his power for he had come
into the world not to dominate but to do the will of his Father, and so he
chose to be obedient unto death. At the same moment when he was dying on the
cross two criminals were nailed on each side of him. While one abused him the
other was repentant and pleaded with Jesus: “Remember me when you come into
your kingdom.” Jesus was moved by the prayer of the criminal and responded:
“Indeed I
promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke represents Jesus on
the cross as one exercising or continuing to offer forgiveness. He asks the
Father to forgive them, for they do not know what they do; he forgives the
repentant thief and promises him a place in his kingdom. For Luke therefore,
Christ is king on the cross, from which he offers salvation to others. His
throne is his cross. His kingdom is not one of power but one of service and
love.
"Service, not domination, is the great norm of the kingdom announced by the
Lord. It is betrayed when we use whatever power we may have received in order
to impose our ideas and to preserve our privileges, for example, when as church
people we take advantage of our situation in society to turn a deaf ear to the
rights of people who do not share our faith. An attitude of service presupposes
sensitivity to listen to others. That testimony alone will open hearts and
minds to the proclamation of the kingdom of Christ. The attitude of Jesus who
never used power to his own advantage, broke the hardness of one of the
criminals with whom he was crucified. The Lord’s testimony made him understand
of what kingdom Jesus was king: of a kingdom which, from now on, in this world
and society, must change our way of perceiving things and relating with others.
It must inspire us to incarnate the great values of the reign of God in our
history. In fact, we must not
forget that the one in whom the Lord has made the “fullness of God” dwells in
the son of David, a man of our history and, as Luke reminds us a Galilean – a
member therefore, of a despised people. From that situation, the Lord is
calling us to a kingdom of solidarity; he is calling us to be with him.
Gustavo Gutierrez in ‘Sharing the Word through the Liturgical Year’
Charisma
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Even though he
was president for less than three years, Kennedy captured the nation’s
imagination with his charisma, eloquence, decisiveness and wit. The mystique
surrounding his memory is summed up in a Time magazine essay written by Hugh
Sidey in 1983. He writes: “ John F. Kennedy was the greatest actor of our time,
dimming those more celluloid performers like Ronald Reagan. He was on a stage
as wide as the world and in a drama of the centuries. He commanded with
Marlborough and debated with Churchill, he dined with Jefferson and rode with
Sherman to the sea.” Sidey goes on to call Kennedy a practical romantic who
sought the company of the great, both in his fantasies and in real life.
Kennedy urged his fellow Americans to follow this youthful adventure of mind
and body with him. In conclusion Sidey says: “That is why John F. Kennedy lives
among us today. In death he found a place
in the caravan of history’s great, whose thoughts and words he used, whose
actions he revered. Today we honor another great leader whose bright trajectory
in history ended in midpassage-Jesus Christ our King! In the Holy Year of 1983
we commemorated the 1950th anniversary of his death on the cross. Just as
Kennedy did, Jesus too captured the imagination of his nation. He did it with
the Sermon on the Mount, his miracles of healing, his outspoken criticism of
the Pharisees and his sense of destiny. Christ’s charisma was compelling. Also
like Kennedy, Jesus too died a violent, shocking death at the peak of his
career. His death on the cross in the midst of two thieves is the scene of
today’s gospel. But unlike Kennedy, Christ’s life did not end at the tomb.
Christ the King rose from the dead to fulfill some of his own words on the
cross:” I promise you: today you will be with me in paradise.”
Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word resounds’
If only I knew it was you!
Nelson Mandela was still a young man when he became leader of the banned
African National Congress. At a certain stage of the struggle he was forced to
go underground. He used many disguises and in general remained as unkempt as
possible, so that he would not be easily recognized. Once he was to attend a
meeting in a distant part of Johannesburg. A priest had arranged with friends
of his to put him up for the night. However, when Mandela arrived at the house,
the elderly woman who answered the doorbell took one look at him and exclaimed,
“We don’t want your kind here!” And she shut the door in his face. Later when
she found out who it was she had turned away she was horrified and said to him,
“If only I knew it was you, I’d have given you the best room in the house.”
Mandela did not let incidents like this deter him.
Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’
May we be loyal and faithful to Jesus our king!
Fr. Jude Botelho
www.netforlife.net
PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been
collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and
from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever
possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you
could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in
these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site
www.netforlife.net Thank you.
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