Ordinary Time Last Sunday C

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Reading 1  2 Sm 5:1-3
Responsorial Psalm  Ps 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5
Reading 2  Col 1:12-20
Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel  Lk 23:35-43

In one week, we will celebrate the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the liturgical year when we prepare for the coming of Christ into humanity, into our hearts, and at the end of time. As a last preparation before that, today, we celebrate the feast of Christ, the King. Like with the three comings of Christ that we prepare for during Advent, there are a number of different models for how we can view this kingship. Interestingly, the reading from the second book of Samuel, the reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians, and the Gospel of Luke that were read today each present a unique model of kingship that can help us to understand how Christ is truly our king and what we have to do about it.
 
            The first model we are given, in the second book of Samuel, is a king who is a political leader, chosen by God and the people of Israel, and anointed, representing a special role within the people of God. The roles to be fulfilled by David, the newly anointed king, are specified as: shepherding the people of Israel, and being commander of Israel. Although this image of a king is a kind of political leader, it is a servant-leader who looks out for the common good of the people, and leads them in their defense. This is not a Machiavellian-style prince who would be willing to use immoral means towards the ends of power and glory. Instead, he is anointed to be a good king: leading the people into a virtuous life. This looks forward to Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, the son of David, and the son of God.
 
            The second model of kingship is given in the letter of St. Paul to the Colossians. This is a bit more complicated model of kingship: Christ is the king of the Church, the new Israel founded on the Cross. St. Paul tells us that God “delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Through baptism, in which we participate in Christ’s death and resurrection, we receive Christ’s grace and become part of his body. As members of the body of Christ, we are subject to the head of the Church, Christ, who is thereby our king. As our king, he takes up our sins on the cross. Furthermore, because he is not just a ruler of the group of people that is the Church, but also God, through whom all things were made, he truly grants us forgiveness through the sacraments, by which we participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. So, this model of kingship is characterized by the mercy Christ has for us, and is located within the kingdom of the Church, the new People of God.
 
            The third model of kingship is presented in today’s Gospel. Christ is taunted by the rulers that if he is the Christ, the anointed one, the king of the Jews, he ought to save Himself. Eventually, one of the two criminals crucified with him joins in. However, the other tells Jesus, “remember me when you come into your Kingdom,” to which Jesus replies, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” The kingdom that Jesus is presented as the king of here is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of the world to come, for which we were all created, but to which we can only arrive by accepting Jesus Christ’s invitation by cooperating with His grace and conforming our will to His. This kingdom is characterized by fear of God, or keeping God’s presence always before us: what the penitent thief says the impenitent thief is missing.

 
            So, we have three types of kingdoms, and therefore three kingships, all of which reach their fullness in Jesus Christ: one characterized by the fear of God, one characterized by God’s mercy given to us through the sacraments, and one characterized by a good shepherd who teaches us how to live and act virtuously. Each of these kingdoms point to a key effect that Christ’s kingship has on us. Since Christ is the true good shepherd, the king who David points to, he gives us a model of a virtuous life that we must imitate and guides us in living that virtuous life through grace that we must accept. Since Christ is the King of the Church, who died so that we could be forgiven, we must conform ourselves to his death and resurrection, participating in the sacramental life of the Church in order to receive his grace. Since Christ is the king of heaven, ascended to his throne at God’s right hand 40 days after his resurrection, we must conform our entire being to Him, in particular through contemplative prayer, keeping God always on our minds. This is what it means to have fear of God.
           
            Nevertheless, these are not independent. How can we live a virtuous life and participate in God’s kingdom on Earth? Through the grace given to us by the sacraments, by participating in God’s kingdom the Church and conforming ourselves to his will by keeping him always on our minds. How do we fully participate in God’s kingdom, the Church? By conforming ourselves wholly to his will, being given by Him the kingdom of heaven and by living virtuous lives here on Earth. And conformity to Christ represented by fear of God cannot be had independent of the virtuous life to which he has called us or the participation in his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins. In short, in spite of seeming to present three different kingdoms and three different models of kingship, all are united in Christ’s single kingdom, and Christ’s single kingship. Christ’s kingdom is truly present on Earth, in heaven and in our hearts, insofar as Christ himself is present in them. As we move towards Advent, let us pray for the grace of Christ, that His kingdom may be fully present in all of us, on a transfigured Earth, and that we may be fully conformed to enter it in heaven.