A DIFFERENT KIND OF KING I FOLLOW

“The rulers sneered at Jesus and said,
‘He saved others, let him save himself
if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.’
Even the soldiers jeered at him.
As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
‘If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.’
Above him there was an inscription that read,
‘This is the King of the Jews.’

“Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
‘Are you not the Christ?
Save yourself and us.’
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
‘Have you no fear of God,
for you are subject to the same condemnation?
And indeed, we have been condemned justly,
for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes,
but this man has done nothing criminal.’

Then he said,
‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’
He replied to him,
‘Amen, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise.’” Luke 23:35-43

This seems to be an odd Gospel reading for the feast celebrating someone as a king, unless this king, Jesus Christ, Son of God, is a different kind of king than some of us may want a king to be. Jesus came to earth for just one reason: to help us see that we can choose God and that, once we do that, we have stepped into the world of this glorious and different kind of King.

WHAT KIND OF KING IS JESUS?

The Gospels proclaim that He is the Son of God. This God, our God is not just a God who loves. This is the God who is Love.

Swiss theologian and Catholic priest Hans Urs von Balthazar (1905-1988), in his book Love Alone is Credible affirms this and goes on to say that we can radiate God’s love:  “The synoptic Gospels bear clear witness to the fact that, from the beginning, as Jesus revealed God’s love, he trained men in the Spirit of divine love — leading them (including us) beyond our own criteria and certainties in ‘faith.’”

So, Jesus became one of us (1) to reveal God’s love of us and (2) to school each of us in the Spirit of Divine Love.

We do that, not by being or following the rulers and the solders of today who deride Jesus, not by killing him by crucifixion and adding sneers and jeers, doing so publically to make sure the gathered crowds know that our own, not His, “criteria” and “certainties” – our way of seeing reality – will continue. Are we choosing our myopic “criteria” and “certainties” over his (which is that we become persons “trained in the Spirit of divine love”)?

The good thief’s pre-crucifixion life, like many of ours, was guided by his own criteria and certainties, but then, on his own cross, he saw who Jesus is. He humbled himself and asked for help. He saw the true King and surrendered.

ENDING OUR LITURGICAL YEAR: RE-FOCUSING

Perhaps this is the reason the Church makes the Last Sunday of the Liturgical Year the Feast of Christ the King – so that we have a chance to reflect on this:

Just who or what really rules me?
Is there a difference between what rules me and what I think is ruling me?
And, if there is a difference, what am I going to do about it?

The Church is a wise Mother. Were it not for these reminders, would we remember God?

WHO OR WHAT IS RULING ME?

How the media and advertising distract us from paying attention to the people and things that bring true peace and joy! Instead, they often draw us into a kingdom of fleeting, momentary pleasures. When we follow them, we become mere robots responding to their pre-programed stimuli. We are captured by their “criteria” and the “certainties” which belong to them. Are they the false rulers and soldiers of today? Am I being trained by them or by the true Jesus whom I see and follow?

Who is the king and ruler of me? Is it God, who, by the way, is here now? (Can that be? Why would that be? Do I believe it?) Who or what is ruling me? If it is not God, should I be letting this non-God person or thing have such control over me?

In the Liturgical Year that we are about to begin, may we let Jesus be our King. May we let Christ reveal God’s love for us. May we let Christ school us, and, through us, school each other, in the Spirit of Divine Love.

Sister Loretta

Three more quotations from von Balthasar’s Love Alone is Credible:

. . . . “Only nonfaith and nonlove can imprison us Christians in our past; the Spirit has set us free to enter into every age and every future; indeed, we move forward, fashioning and transforming the world in everything we do in the light of the abundant “image” that arises before us, not subjectively (i.e., influenced by personal feelings, tastes or opinions) but objectively (i.e., not influenced by personal feelings, tastes or opinions), at every moment.”

“The Church and the world live historically in relation to this ‘image’ which is an image of the ‘Christ who comes again.’

And, in the meantime, we unite our everyday lives with that of Jesus so that, even today and tomorrow:

“. . . God’s love from below sighs for God’s love from above, until the miracle of love brings about their perfect nuptial union (Rev 21:5f).”