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A REFLECTION ON THE READINGS
Today, we are celebrating the kingship of Christ. Christ is the king of the universe, in him all things hold their being. In a special way, this solemnity of Christ the King draws to mind the tripartite connotations of Christ’s kingship for us – the Christological, Ecclesiological and Eschatological connotations.
For the Christological connotation, Christ is presented to us as the icon of an ideal leadership. In the first reading we see Christ really involved as the shepherd of his flock, leading them himself, caring and providing for them, looking for the lost one, bringing back the straying, bandaging the wounded and making the weak strong. Perhaps Christ the king is after you today. He does not want you to get lost. You may be the lost sheep he is looking for. What is keeping you away from him, can you allow him to find you? It is only sin that can keep you away from him. As a king, he has the power to grant you amnesty over your sins and give you a share in his kingdom. Do we really trust the kingship of Christ over our problems, disappointments and sorrows? Do we report our problems to him? As the king, he waits patiently in the tabernacle for us to pay him a courtesy call and relate our problems to him. God is ever present for us in the tabernacle. We must be connected to our king in prayer and never forget him in our difficult moments.
For the ecclesiological connotation, let us consider the Church as the earthly kingdom where Christ exercises his kingship and where we share in it both as kings and as followers. How do we exercise our leadership over those under us? Is our leadership a good example for others? Our leadership should be Ecclesiologically-Christocentric. It should be a leadership to love and serve and not to be loved and serve. We are required to imitate Christ’s humility, patience, love and selfless sacrifice in our service to others. We should show good examples before others especially the young and the ignorant. As followers still, how do we respond to the leadership of the Church through constituted ecclesiastical authorities? Do we support and obey the church leaders as instruments of Christ’s kingship.
For the eschatological implication, we reflect on Christ as the King who will judge the living and the dead on the last day. How prepared are you to face his judgement. The gospel says he will separate the sheep from the goat. While the just will rejoice, the wicked will suffer and perish. To escape the wrath of God, Christ tells us what do in the gospel reading - to give food to the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit the prisoners and to do other spiritual and temporal works of mercy. He did not ask how much theology we know or how pious we claim to be but how we have translated all our knowledge of God in dealing with others. He assures us that whatever we do for the least of the brethren has been done unto him.
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