Called to Fidelity to Christ, Our King

HOMILY:  Solemnity of Christ the King

John 18: 33-37

21 November 2021

Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez, AA

What is it to have a king? For all of us, here, we have only come to know a President as head of state.  Although we were technically under the Spanish crown for 333 years, it was the Governor General who acted as the Chief Executive of our country. Unlike our neighbouring Southeast Asian nations like Brunei, Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia we don’t know what it is like to be subjects of a king. There are almost 200 countries in the world and only 44 are monarchies.  

To a certain extent, stories we are told as kids created in us a fascination for royalty. My nephews and nieces grew up charmed by stories of Disney princesses, kings and queens clad in jewels and luxurious robes, who were benevolent rulers of their kingdoms. In the 80’s, the life of Britain and Monaco’s royals drew attention to their exploits — both their scandals and their wasteful extravagance. It certainly made for interesting TV hence the success of the award-winning series The Crown on Netflix.  (Silang mga walang kasing yaman, na nababalitang alibugho at napapariwara. Subalit minamahal, pinahahalagahan at nirerespeto.) My former parishioner in London who died recently (God bless her soul!) respected and honored the royals a great deal that she would offer masses and prayers for them. In Thailand, you can’t even speak ill of the King or you face severe punishment. 

Today, is the Solemnity of Christ the King. This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI, through the encyclical “Quas primas” as a response to the rise in nationalism and secularism observed in societies in the aftermath of World War I.  Perhaps for us, it is an image of Jesus that is the most difficult to identify with. We are drawn to the image of the Christ child at Christmas that led to our devotion to the Sto. Niño. It reflects how we see ourselves as children, dependent on God the Father. We are drawn to the image of a suffering Jesus, in the Nazareno, and the crucified Christ.  These images reflect our own sufferings and pain due to troubles in life. It is more difficult to relate to Jesus in a crown and kingly robes when we cannot yet perceive His kingdom and we can barely feel His exercise of authority and leadership in the world we live in. 

In today’s gospel, Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world.”  (John 18:36) Fans of Game of Thrones will understand that kingdoms of this world are constantly riddled with strife — internally or among one another, where ambition and a lust for power leads to treachery and death. Jesus’ kingdom, on the other hand, as the Bible tells us, is a realm of life where truth, justice and peace reign for eternity. Clearly, it is unlike any kingdom that has ever existed in the world to date. And it is something, no person on earth has yet experienced. Moreover, when we look at all the suffering in the world brought about by poverty, disease, violence, selfishness and greed, we can’t help but wonder why Jesus, the King of the universe, rules with such restraint and allows all these awful things to happen to His subjects. We find it hard to identify with Jesus Christ as King because we live in a world where Jesus does not openly wield His power to vanquish the evils that plague His people. 

In the Book of Revelation, we are told that the Kingship of Jesus comes into fullness at the end of time. It is when He returns that He shall present Himself in His true glory to exercise His Kingship, conquer the final battle and save His people. It is something we look forward to in faith. As his subjects, we devote our lives to preparing ourselves for His return, by striving to be good Christians. By our endeavours and interactions with others, we also prepare the world for His second coming in the same way Isaiah prepared the world for His incarnation — we prepare the way for the Lord making straight the paths, filling in the valleys, levelling the mountains. 

In today’s gospel passage, Jesus speaks of His Kingship as one that is purposeful — “for this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (John 18:37). In obedience to God the Father, His priority is to build up God’s Kingdom in the hearts and minds of the people by His ministry and the integrity of His life.  He does not boast of His might, His heavenly armies or the riches He possesses. He is a King faithful to His mission to bare the truth even at the cost of His own life. His Kingship is one that sacrifices for the love of His subjects. He submitted Himself to “being handed over to suffering and death” for our sake.  

If Jesus Christ is our King, we, as His subjects are also called to fidelity to the truth of His words and teachings. We are called upon to live it out with compelling conviction in the choices we make and how we live our lives. Like Pilate there are occasions by which we find ourselves caught between a rock and a hard place wherein we are made to choose between what someone else wants us to do and what we know in our conscience is the right thing to do.  (Kumbaga, naiipit tayo sa nag-u-umpugang bato.) One daughter working for the family business was instructed by her father not to declare the correct taxes to save the company some money. May nakaka-relate ba? We may think the choice to be simple but it is not easy for her to disappoint her family. At present, teens succumb to peer pressure to do things contrary to their Catholic conviction to avoid being ostracised, bullied or cancelled on social media.  Many of us, Catholics these days are hesitant to openly express our beliefs for fear of being bashed, or harassed online. It is no surprise then that there is great temptation for some people to compromise the truth because of these external pressures. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said “The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.” 

When we celebrate “Christ, the King”, we give Him honour by consciously choosing to live by His example. We are called to be faithful witnesses to God’s truth in our world today. Let us make Christ as the norm of our daily living for in this way we ally ourselves with the King of kings and Lord of lords. We assume our duty as His subjects to prepare the world for His glorious return.