Homily for November 25

Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King
Scriptures for today's Mass

Audio



We Americans are a people whose nation was born
in response to, and as a rejection of, not only a particular king
but of monarchy in general as a way of governing people.

We are citizens of our country, not subjects of its leaders.
Ours is a government understood to be
of the people, by the people and for the people.

So this political stance poses a curious question for American Christians
who celebrate today the feast of Christ - the King.

The gospel today gives us Jesus declaring that his kingdom isn’t here
- it’s somewhere else -
and yet he claims to have dominion over all the rulers and peoples
of all the nations of the world.
How are we to understand and celebrate this in our culture?

Certainly what the scriptures tell us about the Lord is at least as true
as what we believe about our nation and its government.
Are the two powers in conflict?  Many times, they are.
Can the two live together, subsist in the same people?
Can I call myself a faithful Christian and a faithful American
without contradicting myself?
I hope and pray and believe I can.

Does that require careful reflection and discernment on my part?
You bet it does.
The conflicts I experience between faith and nation
between God’s law and the law of the land,
remind me that the tension between the two
is always a delicate balance to strike
and nowhere more so than within my own mind and heart.

At the risk of phrasing this too simply
(as often happens with this topic)
the question posed by for us by today’s liturgy
is less a matter of monarchy vs. democracy
and more a question of first loyalty:
to whom do I pledge my first and deepest allegiance?

If I strive to be faithful to my God and loyal to my country,
how do I resolve the situation
when those two realities are in conflict?

And might my resolution of such conflict sometimes reveal
that my greatest loyalty is to neither the church nor the state
but rather to my own ideas, persuasions, opinions - and needs?

Am I sometimes the monarch in the universe of my own life,
consulting with church and government as my advisors
but independently issuing rulings and decrees
based on allegiance to my own perceived wisdom?

Who is the source of truth in my life?

Who the arbiter whose wisdom is keener than my own?

Whom do I acknowledge as knowing and understanding
more than I could ever grasp
and thus deserving of the allegiance which my mind, heart and soul,
which my words and deeds, are free to give?

Do I sometimes make a god of myself?

Certainly some make a god of the state.  And that is idol worship.
But others make a god of the church and that too is idolatry
because the church is not God.
God is greater than the church.  The church exists to serve God.

Yet the church is the Body of Christ, who is our – King.
But he does not treat us as subjects;
rather, he considers us as members of his very body
and he calls us his brothers and sisters.
We are, if you will, members of the royal family.
We are close kin of this King
who claims dominion over the kingdom of our hearts and souls
which, as he reminds us, are in this world
but don’t belong to this world.

We American Christians have a kind of dual citizenship:
We are the people of the United States but our hearts belong to Christ
who claims our first allegiance and our deepest loyalty.
When church and state are in conflict
it’s my serious and solemn responsibility to understand the conflict
and the differences and import of its terms.

• As a member of the republic, I have a responsibility
to participate fully and knowledgeably in our government.

• As a Catholic Christian I have a responsibility to know and understand
what the Lord, through the Church, teaches
and to integrate that teaching, that wisdom
as honestly and fully as possible in my life.

But in all of this, I will fail in allegiance and loyalty to Christ the King
if I don’t seek, earnestly, to grow in my relationship with him.

• He calls us to be his brothers and sisters, not his subjects.

• He is not hidden behind palace walls but rather lives in our hearts.

• He did not inherit his royalty but rather he earned it,
being crowned with the thorns of his suffering
and nailed to the throne of his Cross:
all of this testimony to the truth of his love for us.

• This morning we’re invited to dine at the King’s Table.
Here he invites us to share in his life, the life he offers us
in the Bread of Angels and the Cup of Salvation.
He comes to us today, not on the clouds of heaven
but in the simplicity of this meal which is the sacrifice of his life.

He comes to claim dominion over us
by laying down his life in service of us
and calling us, members of the royal family,
to do the same for one another.

Pray that we open our hearts to enthrone our King
who gives us here a taste and a sip of that royal feast
which he has prepared for us in his kingdom
where his truth is forever and his peace is everlasting.

 
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