18-Nov-2013 Dear Friend, Kings seem out of place in democratic societies today. If a king is understood as one who rules with absolute power, this image runs counter to what we consider the ideal government. Jesus Christ claimed to be a king but a different kind of king. Far from being a despot who rules with absolute power, Christ exercised no power at all, He refused to exercise authority and power over others. He claimed kingship in a moment of powerlessness. He served others rather than expect service from others. We can only be loyal to Him if we, like him, live our lives in service of others! This weekend, let's renew our loyalty by being first in serving others! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: 34th Sunday "Be loyal and faithful till the end, to Jesus Christ our King! He will come!" 24-Nov-2013 2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23:23 35-43; In today's reading we see the elders anointing David as king over Israel. David was chosen to be a king who would act as a shepherd of the people, to protect and care for the flock, assuring their life and safety. David's kingship was not about personal power but about guaranteeing that the people of Israel would live and proclaim the power of God. The King was supposed to be God's representative on earth. He is to govern his people with justice, and defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the poor. Though rarely realized in practice, this mandate was part of the continuing hope for a messianic, royal figure of the Davidic line. The song of a Captive King A king was taken captive by the invading armies of a great Emperor. He was put in chains and marched through the streets of his capital. He walked with dignity and stately grace. He had ruled wisely and well; and in his heart was love and compassion for all. As the king moved on, a poor man came to him and said, "Oh King I am hungry. Give me something to eat!" The king searched his pockets and found he had only a meager sum of fifty rupees. He parted with all he had saying, "It is not worthy of a king to give less than fifty rupees!" The King had nothing left; but his heart was happy, for he had given happiness to the poor man. And out of his joy-filled heart, the king sang a moving song: 'Give not your heart to the world: Its palaces and power are fickle and faithless. Give your heart to God, and be a servant of the poor and the broken ones!' J.P. Vaswani in '101 Stories for You and Me' The gospel scene that proclaims the kingship of Jesus is, surprisingly, the crucifixion. Only on the cross is Jesus proclaimed king. This is neither a scene of power for himself nor glory from a human perspective, it is in utter helplessness that Jesus is recognized as king, and in this moment Jesus thinks not of himself but of another. Jesus is condemned to death for claiming he is a king. Jesus' status as king of the Jews is found in the inscription on the upper part of the cross. It is in stark contrast with the physical situation of the man nailed to the cross. The people who had been listening to Jesus' preaching are looking at the crucified one in bewilderment and perhaps consternation. The officials who had been challenged by his teaching are scoffing at him now; they are enjoying their victory. The one who had presented himself as the Saviour is not able to save himself. But they had once again misunderstood Jesus. Jesus is not a king like this world's kings who dominate and mistreat those who are under them. Jesus does not use his power for his own benefit and this is precisely why he does not save himself. The Lord has come to teach us that all power is at the service of the oppressed and the destitute. Service and not domination is the great norm of the kingdom announced by the Lord. An attitude of service presupposes sensitivity to listen to others. The attitude of Jesus, who never used his power to his own advantage, broke the hardness of one of the criminals with whom he was crucified. Dismas House The salvation of the 'good thief', later named Dismas in Christian thought, reminds me of those heroic people who have tried to bring hope and saving concern to criminals in our society. I remember especially Fr. Jack Hickey OP, a dynamic and charismatic chaplain at Vanderbelt University. Despite reservations from many quarters, but with help from dedicated lay partners, he founded "Dismas House". Unlike the setup of other Dismas houses, recent parolees lived and worked with college students in the hope that mutual understanding and healing would take place. In the last years of his life, Jack fought virulent cancer and exercised his 'royal priesthood' from his personal cross. Since his all-too-early death from cancer in January 1987, the movement has blossomed into ten such houses. John Donahue in 'Hearing the Word of God' The Compassionate King In one of his homilies Fr. William Bausch gives us the following insight. Jesus did not have a scepter but he did have a towel. He did not have people bowing backwards from His presence but He himself bowed instead and washed their feet. He had no army but He did have disciples. He sat on no throne but rather on a donkey's back. He wore no crown of gold but one of thorns. He did not take life but gave it. He did not set boundaries but spoke sympathetically of widow's mites, prodigal sons, good Samaritans and poor farmers. He did not wield the sword but mercy. He said, "Today, you will be with me in paradise." - The word 'paradise' is a Persian word meaning a 'walled garden'. The Persians were well-known for their beautiful gardens. When a Persian king wanted to single out a subject for special recognition and honour, the king would invite the subject to walk in the garden. Jesus promised the criminal a place of honour and privilege in heaven as his special companion. Even at the height of humiliation, Jesus understands His nature as heaven's king and the Lord of life. This is the King we worship. Unwittingly, the Romans acknowledged his kingship by writing, "The King of the Jews", and the repentant criminal experienced forgiveness. John Pichappilly in 'The Table of the Lord' The King of Kings is here! The old Cardinal Hugh Latimer, often used to preach before King Henry VIII. It was customary for the Court preacher to present the king with something on his birthday, and Cardinal Latimer presented Henry VIII with a pocket handkerchief with this text in the corner -'Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge'; a very suitable text for King Henry. Then he preached very forcefully on the sins of lust, and did not forget the personal application to the King. And the King said that the next time -next Sunday, when the Cardinal preached he must apologize. The next Sunday, when the Cardinal stood in the pulpit, he thought to himself, "Latimer, be careful about what you say, the King of England is here." At the same time a voice in his heart said, "Latimer, Latimer, be careful about what you say, the King of Kings is here." Strengthened by this, he preached what God wanted him to preach. -Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. We must enthrone Jesus as our King in our hearts and in our homes. John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' The real king? This happened a number of years ago when the late King Baudouin was reigning in Belgium. As the constitutional monarch, one of his duties was to "rubber stamp" all the bills passed by parliament with his signature, thereby officially promulgating them as law. In 1990, the Belgian parliament passed a reprehensible bill that basically removed all legal sanctions against abortions. As a practicing and conscientious Catholic, King Baudouin objected to abortion vehemently, and so he could not and would not endorse the measure. But according to the constitution, he did not have a choice - as figurehead monarch, he had to ratify the bill, so by refusing to sign the bill into law, he was, in effect, attempting to veto the parliament, and putting his throne on the line! The parliament simply dethroned him for one day, promulgated the law on that day when there was no reigning monarch in Belgium, and then re-instated him on the next day. Granted - earthly monarchs need constitutional limitations to prevent the abuse of power. But, that's not true for the Heavenly monarch, the all-good, all-loving God, for anytime we attempt to impede Christ's reign in our lives, we're just erecting an obstacle to the good that He could be in our lives. Clearly then, there's false comfort and perilous perdition in that illusion of ultimate self-determination: if someone on the street swears at you and says, "Go to Hell!" sure, it's easy to invoke your autonomy then and shrug it off with the slur, "I'm free - I don't have to go anywhere I don't want to go!" Yet the people who declare self-determination their highest law and have thus pretended to enthrone themselves as the sovereign moral authority by dethroning in their hearts Christ the King, when HE solemnly speaks those same words as the judgment of eternal damnation, such people will discover the absolute limits of personal freedom, limits constituted by the True and Almighty King of all creation. John Ruscheinsky in 'Daily Online Reflections' Heaven's Point system If we follow in the footsteps of Christ, following Him even to the Cross, and depend on His divine mercy, we too will receive a place in Christ's kingdom. - A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates and says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it to heaven. You tell me all the good works you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each of them, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points you get in." "Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart." "That's wonderful," says the saint, "that's worth three points!" "Three points? He says. "Well I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service." "Terrific!" says Peter, "that's certainly worth a point." "One point? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked a shelter for the homeless veterans." "Fantastic, that's good for two points," says Peter. "TWO POINTS!" the man cries, at this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace and mercy of God!" "Come right in! says Peter smiling. Tomi Thomas in "Spice up your homilies" May we be masters of ourselves so that we can be of service to others! Fr. Jude Botelho [email protected]
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.
