Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe (Year C )

‘If’ can be one of the most debilitating words in the English language.

We use it to express regrets ‘ if I had only known this would happen I would have done things differently’; we use it to lay blame for being dis-satisfied; ‘if I just buy that bigger screen or if I can get the latest fashion, then my life will be better”. We use it as an excuse to ‘not’ do something – ‘what if it doesn’t work or what if they don’t like me’.

“If’ becomes a means of doubt as well; we hear it all the time, particularly when tragedy or disaster strikes; ‘if God is good, why does He allow suffering’; or, ‘if God exists why doesn’t He just make everyone nice and fix everything that gets broken in our world’?

We might cling to that ‘if’ and use it to challenge God, much the way an adolescent uses the word in a relationship to get what they want; ‘if you really loved me, you would do what I want’.  That’s not love. That’s manipulation, and it emphasizes immaturity and self-absorption by an individual. 

We hear that word, ‘if’ prominently in today’s Gospel from St. Luke.  It may seem strange to celebrate a feast that proclaims Jesus Christ as the King of all creation by reading part of the crucifixion narrative.

We hear how the leaders mocked Christ the King, on the cross;”let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, His chosen one.”

The soldiers join in; “if you are the King of the Jews, save yourself”

Even one of the criminals hanging on a cross beside Him demands the same ‘save yourself and us’ if you are the Christ…..if, if, if.

It is only the other thief, crucified on His other side, who recognizes in this moment, the lowest possible point in his own life, his own brokenness; and it is in this brokenness that he simply says, “Jesus , remember me when you come into your kingdom’. 

It is the one with nothing left to lose, who recognizes that he is completely powerless to change anything around him, who admits his total helplessness, simply speaks in total humility, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’

It is in this absolute low point, this suffering and humiliation that Jesus shows His regal bearing, His Kingship, and His ability to show victory in the face of apparent defeat.

In a response of absolute compassion Jesus tells the man, ‘today you will be with me in paradise.’  Jesus shows the depth of his love for those who come to him in humility by ministering with words of comfort for a repentant heart, even in the midst of his own tremendous agony and suffering.

Like the repentant thief, Jesus waits for each one of us with compassion and love when we come to him in true humility – that is after all, how we would approach a King; with reverence and humility; and because of the victory of His resurrection He invites us into that kingdom to rule with Him, a kingdom which begins here and now.

When Jesus welcomes the thief into His kingdom, He does so to each one of us; He doesn’t say keep to your old ways and we’ll work something out; He welcomes one who has, in that moment, recognized that his old ways drew him further away from God, and that he regrets and repents of those ways – he desires to be with Jesus.  Jesus doesn’t say you will come into my kingdom despite your lifestyle – He says, ‘you will come into My kingdom because you recognized the error of that lifestyle and desire only to be with Me.’

This exchange with the thief encapsulates all of Jesus teaching on how to treat each other; we are to care for and protect and provide for each other, because whenever we do it to anyone, we do it to Jesus.  We see Jesus reflected in the poor, and (hopefully) others see Jesus reflected in us.  In hoping to reflect Christ our King, perhaps we can ask ourselves ‘if’ in a more positive way;

If I share a little more of myself, could I improve someone’s life?

If I use what little influence I have on others to work for justice and peace, could I make the world a better place?

If I recognize my own brokenness, can I expect a response when I humbly ask Jesus to simply remember me when He comes into His kingdom?

The answer to these questions of course, is ‘Yes’, with the help of Christ the King.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time ( Year C)

As long as there have been people on the face of the earth, there has been a morbid fascination with the end of time.  Every generation has in some way, considered themselves the absolute focal point, the pinnacle of human existence and history, somehow thinking that everything about nature, history, arts and sciences and the entire fate of the human race is centered on their generation.

We see it reflected in recent movies, books and television series; and there are many out there who think, “well, this is it. This is the beginning of the end!”

Throughout history there have been examples, time and time again of people pointing to their generation, trying some way to twist and warp events to ‘match up’ with Sacred Scripture to point to a timetable of actual events – so much so that in their ‘wisdom’ they have pointed to exact dates and times when God would finally say, “enough is enough’ and bring the existence of the world to an end.

The passage we have read today from St. Luke’s Gospel is one of those parts of scripture that is often used as a kind of literary sign post for those who presume to ‘know’ when the world will end.  In this particular passage, Jesus is quite clear in his advice to anyone who would rush after those who claim to have such knowledge or to take them seriously,

“…many will come in my name and say, “ I am he’ and, ‘The Time is near!’ Do not go after them”

For those who somehow ‘need to know’ when the end will come, we need to ask,

“Why?”

‘What purpose would that serve at all?”

‘Would it somehow enable us to avoid the end of all things?  Would it give us a timetable to accumulate more wealth or possessions; to build up our own little empires? – what good would that do if all things end anyway?’

“ Would this knowledge somehow give us a timetable to live our lives one way, then provide ourselves with enough time to sort of ‘move over’ towards God at the last minute to somehow get closer to Him ‘just in time’?  Perhaps give us some means of bending God’s will in our favour?”

Jesus tells his disciples that the Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed: the destruction of that Temple, the place where for the Jews the glory of God dwelt, would have been absolutely unthinkable.  But it did happen – in 70 A.D., about 40 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Surely to those living in Jerusalem at the time, this would have felt like the end of the world.

He tells them that there will be wars and natural disasters; that they will be persecuted and attacked for witnessing to their faith in Him.  He warns them that the world will reject them, even become violent towards them because of their faithfulness to Him.  But even in this, Jesus, who is God, does not give them a specific timetable to follow like a calendar or day planner. His message is not just for the apostles in that specific time.  It’s for all people of all times.

His point in all of this discourse is to tell them and us, that He will be with us at all times… ‘not a hair of your head will perish.  By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

He’s reminding His disciples that despite trial, tragedy, loss, persecution – in all manner of difficulties, He will be with those who follow Him.  He says explicitly, when we are tried, ‘not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” He will not abandon His own; but He wants the disciples, and us, to understand clearly – a reality check if you will:

That part of the human condition is the struggle and grief and sorrow that are part and parcel of our fallen nature.  There are no ‘quick fixes’ to the sufferings and trials that are part of our existence.

And it’s not as if He doesn’t know what He’s talking about or preaching to us from some removed, distant, unreal place:

He entered into our humanity; He experienced losses and disappointments, struggles and rejection, and He most certainly experienced pain, torment and suffering.

But throughout the ages, He has been with us; calling to us and reminding us that He has always been with us and present to us. That we don’t need to know when the ‘end’ will come, because it is not just at the ‘end’ that we will meet Him.

He is present to us now, in the poor and the lonely and the marginalized.  He is present to us when we gather as a people of prayer and praise.  He is definitely present to us in His Sacraments, particularly in the Holy Eucharist.

And because of this, we don’t need to think He is going to surprise us, showing up ‘someday soon’ when we’re not ready:  He is already here; He is always with us; He is always among us.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.