HOMILY FOR THE 34TH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME YEAR C (OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE 20TH NOVEMBER 2022)

Homily for the 34th Sunday in the Ordinary Time, Year C. 

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. 

2 Samuel 5:1-3; Psalm 122:1-2,4-5; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43.

Today, being the 34th Sunday in the ordinary time of the liturgical calendar of the church is in the same vein, the last Sunday of the ordinary time of year C. Today, the Holy Mother Church celebrates the solemnity of Christ the king of the universe. 

Today's liturgy in the first reading commenced by alluding to the earthly kingdom of Israel, where it recalled the anointing of David as King of Israel. God has chosen Israel as his own and sent not only prophets but even kings to govern it when the people insisted on having an earthly ruler or king. Accordingly, of all the kings who sat on the throne and ruled Israel, David was the greatest of them all. 

It is in this light that the liturgy of today speaking of the kingdom of Israel guides us to recall that Jesus of Nazareth was of the Davidic lineage and that the royalty proper to Christ is of a different kind. 

The words which Mary heard at the Annunciation are significant: "The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end" (Luke 1:32-33). This kingdom, then, is not the earthly kingdom of David, which came to an end. It is the kingdom of Christ that will never end.

The preface of today sheds light on the celebration of today when it says: "God anointed Jesus Christ...as the eternal priest and universal king. As a priest, he offered his life on the altar of the cross and redeemed the human race through this one perfect sacrifice of peace. As king he claims dominion over all creation, that he may present to you, his almighty Father, an eternal and universal kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace".

Beloved in Christ, it is fitting to acknowledge that the kingship of Jesus is our kingship, and the kingdom of Jesus is our kingdom. This is simply because the kingdom of Jesus accommodates and professes the rewards of the beatitudes which we believe in: the poor in spirit shall inherit the kingdom, the meek and humble shall inherit the earth, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be satisfied, those who suffer and are persecuted for righteousness sake (Mt 5:3-10). 

This is evident in the good thief in today's Gospel who believed in the kingdom of the crucified Christ. He said to Jesus: "Remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Lk 23:42. And Jesus replied: "Truly, I tell you, today you shall be with me in paradise" (Lk 23:43). Of which the paradise is the kingdom. 

Friends in Christ, it is good to note that it was not flesh and blood that revealed this truth to the good thief, but God, the Father who freed us in the words of St. Paul in the Second Reading, "from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col.1:13).

Friends in Christ, all that is needed of us is to live these values of the beatitude and be converted to Christ's vision of the kingdom.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Gospel of today further gives us a situation to reflect upon. The situation of how differently the two criminals crucified with Jesus acted towards Jesus. One of them, we are told, "kept deriding him and saying, 'Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us! But the other rebuked him saying 'Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong" (Lk 23:39-41). 

Here we can see that each of the two criminals was acting according to their free choices in response to Jesus. Beloved in Christ, God respects our human freedom. He incessantly offers us the gift of reconciliation but never forces us to accept it. We have the freedom to accept or reject it. Accordingly, as we celebrate the kingship of Jesus today, we must, dear friends in Christ, choose if we are to belong to the kingdom of God or not.

In the second reading from St. Paul's letter to the Colossians, we are told that "God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col 1:13-14). By implication, St. Paul reminds us that we have been in the dominion of darkness but God redeemed us. 

Indeed, in a certain sense, the good thief became the prophet of the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. One enters this kingdom through the forgiveness of sins. The good thief was the first to experience the fact that Christ is King because he is the redeemer. 

It reminds us that "Christ is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that he might come to have the first place in everything" (Col 1:18). In other words, the crucified and risen Christ is the king of the new humanity. 

St Paul tells us: "For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross" (Col.1:19-20). Jesus possesses the fullness of power and has put all things under his feet (Eph 1:20-23).

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the kingdom of Christ Jesus is different from the political kingdoms we have in our world today, both in ideology and structure. It is not a worldly kingdom. It does not serve the same laws as the kingdoms of this world. It does not have a constitution, written or unwritten. Rather, the supreme law in that kingdom is Love, the love of God above all things and the love of one's neighbor as oneself. The relationship of that kingdom is characterized by the service of Love. The kingdom of Jesus proceeds firstly from the heart and is translated into service of love to God and humanity. It is a kingdom guided by the Holy Spirit.

Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, guided by the spirit of God, today we march in procession and jubilation to confidently evangelize our vicinities and societies of the place of Jesus as king of the universe. This we must do firstly by acknowledging that Jesus is the king of our hearts, lives, home, and families.

Living in a politically charged society, we cease this as an opportunity to announce to the whole wide world that Jesus is the king of kings, and of which every other king is called to submit to the tenets of Jesus the king of the universe. Political leaders who find themselves in the corridor of governance are called to promote the laws and principles of the kingdom of God in our areas of governance. This will help bring the peace, love, and justice of God to us and our world 

Friends in Christ, as we consecrate our hearts and minds to God, it is our prayer on this day that Jesus will continue to reign as King over us and our world. May his kingship reign down peace, justice, equity, and victory for the ailing world. 

Happy feast day to you all 

Fr Remi osj