Christ the king-34 sunday

34^th Sunday-B

Good morning every one, I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we celebrate Christ the king of kings and the Lord of all, we celebrate His unconditional love and forgiveness and every time we come to church we celebrate the kingdom of Christ where we all be one in Christ celebrating life everlasting.

Once a priest preached about the danger of drinking alcohol and showed the congregation a clear glass with a piece of liver inside and poured some alcohol inside and let the people watch what would happen to their liver if they drink, then a man got up and said, “Father, I promise I will never eat liver again”.

Once there were a Baptist minister, an Anglican pastor and a catholic priest. One day the Baptist minister went to get a hair cut, after the barber cut his hair, he wanted to pay him, but the barber said, “oh no, I will not accept money from a man of God” so the next day when the barber opened his shop he saw a loaf of bread with a thank you note. Then to the Anglican pastor too, the barber after cutting his hair said, “I will not accept money from a man of God” then the next day, when he opened his shop he was a bottle of wine with a thank you note. Then the catholic priest went for his haircut, again the barber said, “oh, no I will not accept money from a man of God”. Then the next day, when he opened his shop he found ten more priests standing with a thank you note.

Today the Catholic Church celebrates the solemn feast of Christ the king. This celebration of Christ the king concludes of Liturgical year and thus next weekend we begin a new liturgical year with Advent. This feast invites us to meditate upon the kingship of Christ the Lord.

Once there was a king who was so famous for his judgment. He was filled with wisdom and knowledge. He feared god and according to the will of God, he did everything for his people. Every one wanted to live in his kingdom and then one day, a man was brought before the king for justice. The man was accused of stealing from others and destroying people’s property and murdering them. The king listened to all the complaints well and then he asked what the man wanted to say, since the man did not say a word but just looked at the king, the king then granted justice saying, “this man was found guilty and I order him to be executed. There was a deep silence because that was the first time a man was ever executed in his kingdom. Then the unexpected and extra ordinary thing happened. The king got up from his throne and took off his king’s robe and garment and said to the people, “As your just king, I granted you all justice but now as the father of this man, I will take his place”

The king said, ‘I will take his place and die”. Dear friends this is called the summary of Christianity. Jesus who is the king of kings and the Lord of all accepted to die for humanity on the cross. He gave up His life to save us all. When Pilate asked Christ, “Are you the king of Jews?’ Christ the Lord said, “You say that I am and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”.

1. Christ the king said, “I am your servant and I came to serve you and not to be served”. In the time of Jesus, servants were not treated well. The owner of the house used to call every one by name and he would call his dog with proper name but not his servant. Servants were slaves and they did not have names. They were rejected ones and Christ the king accepted to be a servant and thus he washed the feet of the apostles. As He lowered Himself God exalted Him above all. Jesus says, those who humble themselves in the presence of God and others will be highly exalted and they belong to the kingdom of God. As we serve others, we will be exalted in the kingdom of Christ our Lord.
2. Christ the king said, ‘I am the good shepherd and lead my sheep to life everlasting. He calls us all by names and feed us with unconditional love and forgiveness.
3. Christ the king said to the repentant thief, ‘this very day you will be with me in paradise with me” yes His kingdom is heaven and today we are called to prepared ourselves to enter into that kingdom where we see Him face to face and celebrate unending life.

Conclusion:

Let us celebrate Christ the king and prepare ourselves to welcome into our hearts, and help others to know His kingdom, a kingdom of love and kindness, a kingdom of justice and peace and a kingdom of life and happiness. Amen.