The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the systems of leadership in society in comparison to the Way of Christ the King.
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| Two paths of leadership |
The reading from the Second Book of Samuel is the preamble to David anointed as King of all Israel.
In Psalm 122, a song of praise and prayer for Jerusalem, the singer anticipates joining the procession into Jerusalem.
* [Psalm 122] A song of Zion, sung by pilgrims obeying the law to visit Jerusalem three times on a journey. The singer anticipates joining the procession into the city (Ps 122:1–3). Jerusalem is a place of encounter, where the people praise God (Ps 122:4) and hear the divine justice mediated by the king (Ps 122:5). The very buildings bespeak God’s power (cf. Ps 48:13–15). May the grace of this place transform the people’s lives (Ps 122:6–9)!1
The passage from the Letter to the Colossians contains a hymn selected to proclaim the supremacy of Christ.
* [1:15–20] As the poetic arrangement indicates, these lines are probably an early Christian hymn, known to the Colossians and taken up into the letter from liturgical use (cf. Phil 2:6–11; 1 Tm 3:16). They present Christ as the mediator of creation (Col 1:15–18a) and of redemption (Col 1:18b–20). There is a parallelism between firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15) and firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18). While many of the phrases were at home in Greek philosophical use and even in gnosticism, the basic ideas also reflect Old Testament themes about Wisdom found in Prv 8:22–31; Wis 7:22–8:1; and Sir 1:4. See also notes on what is possibly a hymn in Jn 1:1–18.2
The episode from the Gospel of Luke, recounted only in this gospel, shows the compassion and mercy of the Good Shepherd.
* [23:39–43] This episode is recounted only in this gospel. The penitent sinner receives salvation through the crucified Jesus. Jesus’ words to the penitent thief reveal Luke’s understanding that the destiny of the Christian is “to be with Jesus.”3
Eileen Burke-Sullivan shares that we are invited to ponder one of the most poignant gospel passages – to enter deeply into the mystery of salvation and to recognize that Jesus’ Lordship or authority in our lives must first of all arise from gratitude.
To recognize and honor the Kingship of Christ is to know our humanity in all humility and gratitude. It is to receive the gift of salvation from one like us in all things but sin, and it is to be drawn so close to Christ’s suffering in our lives that we can ask through suffering to be re- membered – placed with Christ in the Reign of perfect mercy and everlasting joy.4
Don Schwager quotes “My kingdom is not of the world,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Listen, everyone, Jews and Gentiles, circumcised and uncircumcised. Listen, all kings of the earth. I am no hindrance to your rule in this world, for 'my kingdom is not of this world.' Banish the groundless fear that filled Herod the Great on hearing that Christ was born. More cruel in his fear than in his anger, he put many children to death (Matthew 2:3,16), so that Christ would also die. But 'my kingdom is not of this world,' says Christ. What further reassurance do you seek? Come to the kingdom that is not of this world. Do not be enraged by fear, but come by faith. In a prophecy Christ also said, 'He,' that is, God the Father, 'has made me king on Zion his holy mountain' (Psalm 2:6). But that Zion and that mountain are not of this world. "What in fact is Christ's kingdom? It is simply those who believe in him, those to whom he said, 'You are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.' He willed, nevertheless, that they should be in the world, which is why he prayed to the Father, 'I ask you not to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one' (John 17:15-16). So here also he did not say, 'My kingdom is not' in this world but 'is not of this world.' And when he went on to prove this by declaring, 'If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought to save me from being handed over to the Jews,' he concluded by saying not 'my kingdom is not here' but 'my kingdom is not from here.' "Indeed, his kingdom is here until the end of time, and until the harvest it will contain weeds. The harvest is the end of the world, when the reapers, who are the angels, will come and gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin (Matthew 13:48-41). And this could not happen if his kingdom were not here. But even so, it is not from here, for it is in exile in the world. Christ says to his kingdom, 'You are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world' (John 15:19). They were indeed of the world when they belonged to the prince of this world, before they became his kingdom. Though created by the true God, everyone born of the corrupt and accursed stock of Adam is of the world. [But] everyone who is reborn in Christ becomes the kingdom that is no longer of the world. For God has snatched us from the powers of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). This is that kingdom of which he said, 'My kingdom is not of this world; my kingly power does not come from here." (excerpt from TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 115.2)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 23:35-43 explains that when Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925, he was responding to a culture he felt was rejecting Jesus and his ways. At a time when Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin were rising to power, Pius XI wanted to draw the world’s attention back to Jesus, the only One who could bring lasting peace. It was not the “peace” of a totalitarian ruler exercising power to eliminate opposition. It was the peace of a king who chose not to save himself but instead offered himself for our sake to reconcile us to God. This is the peace that he won for us as he poured out his very life’s blood on Calvary (Colossians 1:20).
That’s why our Gospel today presents Jesus as a king who reigns from the cross. He freely emptied himself even though, as our second reading reminds us, “in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19). He refused to come down from the cross because his mission was to save us, not to conquer us. He did not rise to the bait of the soldiers who goaded him to save himself (Luke 23:37). He chose instead to focus his attention on the thief crucified beside him who pleaded for mercy (23:43).
Jesus turns our concept of kingship on its head. Power made strong by humility and self-emptying. Influence and authority exercised through self-sacrifice and mercy. Leadership displayed in service. Let’s embrace Jesus and his kingdom today. Let’s pray that it be more fully established in us and through us in our world.6
Friar Jude Winkler connects the King of Israel to the concept of shepherd leading his flock for the Israelites. The Greeks in Colossae, understood Divine Wisdom and many mediators between people and God. Friar Jude reminds us of the realized eschatology of Luke shown in the Gospel today.
Brian Purfield, member of the Mount Street Jesuit Centre team, comments that when the Gospel is preached to the Colossians they are told that Jesus is their mediator before God – but they already had many mediators before God and life seemed to work very well. They therefore asked the question: ‘where does Jesus fit into our system?’ In other words, they were trying to take the Gospel and super-impose it upon their already-existing worldview.
In the letter to the Colossians, Paul in effect tells them that their first mistake is that they are trying to fit Jesus into a system. Jesus does not fit into a system; Jesus is the system… Paul says: ‘he is the image of the unseen God.’ The Greek word here is eikon. An icon is a likeness, a reflection. Paul is saying that Jesus Christ, in his humanity, is a reflection of the unseen God. Paul does not make any judgement on whether or not the thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties and powers that have been the subject of some of the teachings to the Colossians, exist. What Paul is saying to the Colossians is: if they exist, the only reason why they exist is for the sake of Jesus Christ. No one, no being, no thing has come into this world, except that which has been made by God our Father in relationship to Jesus Christ.7
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, suggests that the capitalist system of exchange seems reasonable to almost everybody today. And if we’re honest, it makes sense to us, too. It just seems fair. The only trouble is, Jesus doesn’t believe it at all, and he’s supposed to be our spiritual teacher. This might just be at the heart of what we mean by real conversion to the Gospel worldview, although few seem to have recognized this… if we call ourselves Christians, we have to deal with the actual Gospel. Now the only way we can do the great turnaround and understand this is if we’ve lived through at least one experience of being given to without earning. It’s called forgiveness, unconditional love, and mercy. If we’ve never experienced unearned, undeserved love, we will stay in the capitalist worldview.
Brothers and sisters, you and I don’t “deserve” anything, anything. It’s all a gift. But until we begin to live in the kingdom of God instead of the kingdoms of this world, we think, as most Christians do, exactly like the world. We like the world of seemingly logical equations. Basically, to understand the Gospel in its purity and in its transformative power, we have to stop counting, measuring, and weighing. We have to stop saying “I deserve” and deciding who does not deserve. None of us “deserve”! Can we do that? It’s pretty hard . . . unless we’ve experienced infinite mercy and realize that it’s all a gift.8
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe is an opportunity to reflect on the conditions and roadblocks we create in our systems of relating to others. How can we move to act more like residents of Jesus Kingdom?
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