Kakaibang Kaharian

Christ the King 2008
Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17; Psalm 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6
1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28; Matthew 25:31-46
November 21-22, 2008

A Unique Kingdom

With the feast of Christ the King, we come to the end of the Calendar of the Church or the culmination of the Liturgical Year. Next week is the first of week of advent Season, the beginning of our four-week preparation for Christmas.

As the Church concludes today its liturgical year with the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King, the Gospel call us to mind the concluding moment of human history: Judgment Day. At the end of the day, Jesus Christ, our universal King, will be our universal judge who will judge us according to our good deeds on earth as the Gospel illustrates, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Judgment Day is not something to be scared rather it should be something we must look forward to because it assures us that injustice and evil will not have the last word. It is Goodness and not Evil that will prevail. Therefore, the reality of Judgment Day is a constant reminder for us to live in holiness, justice and peace so that we shall not be condemned, but rather receive salvation, and we can be those to whom Christ will say: Come, you who are blessed by Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you.


Universal Hope
Jesus Christ the King, who is our final Judge, is also our universal hope. One of the greatest challenges we face each day is hopelessness. Many people suffer hopelessness on their present situation or to their future. Our hope against hope often times leads us to depressions. We face dreadful uncertainties and hopelessness in life to name a few we worry about our own individual struggles and fears, in addition there are growing threats around us such as violence, climate change, global financial recession, and so on.

Only in Jesus Christ the King we can find hope for the salvation of our fallen and sinful humanity. Pope Benedict XVI said in his book Spes Salvi, The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life. We Christians are people of hope. We cannot be touch by any forms of depression when we hope. We cannot be deaden loneliness when there is at least a spark of hope in our hearts.

Our hope lies on the Kingdom of God. His Kingdom is not about royal castles, knights in golden armor, and grand military battles. God's Kingdom concerns not the glory, power and popularity that only enslave people and bring false hope. God's Kingdom is Kingdom of hope that doesn’t enslave people but sets them free. Jesus liberates us from sin and sets us free to be the person God intends us to be. Jesus gives us the truth about our life, about ourselves, about our future. This is the Kingdom we celebrate today.

My Kingdom does not belong to this world, says Jesus to Pilate. Its power is not from the world, but from the grace and life of the Risen Christ. Every Sacrament we celebrate points us to this Kingdom. We become royal member of God's Kingdom through Baptism. We are made faithful soldiers of His Kingdom through our Confirmation, Penance and Holy Communion. And we serve God's Kingdom through our vocation as married couple, single people, and priests or religious.

The fulfillment of God's Kingdom is where our hope rests. We end today the Church Calendar filled with hope that as we begin a new Season, we become a better person, more worthy to share God's Kingdom. As we begin very soon Advent, let us take this our fresh start to begin and to unite ourselves more deeply with Jesus our King. Let the power and peace of Christ the King remain with us, stay with us and guide us. May we all hear clearly our Lord's shepherdly love for us, so that like His good sheep, we may "hear His voice and follow Him" (Jn 10:27) until the end. Amen.



photo: Sr Beth & Sr Maria walking back to their convent in St Augustine, Baliuag, Bulacan.