THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE KING
Thirty-Fourth or Last Sunday in Ordinary Time
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We celebrate, today, the feast of Christ, the King. The Church, on finishing this liturgical year, wants us to recall Jesus as king.

Our reflection will turn on three points:

1r. Who is our king.

2n. How  is his kingdom.

3r. How must we, his followers, be like.

According to our way of being and thinking, Jesus would have had to allow himself being proclaimed king, after the multiplication of the bread and fish, as the Jews wanted, or when he entered Jerusalem solemnly, or after the great miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus.

The thoughts of men, are not the thoughts of God.

Jesus proclaims himself to be king, before Pilate, when Pilate asks him, if He really is king. He clearly answers that for this purpose he has come into the world, to be king; but he adds that kingdom is not of this world. Pilate said to him: "Then you are king?" Jesus answered: "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” (Jhn 18.37)

”My kingdom does not belong to this world.” (Jhn 18.36)

The magi were looking for the king of the Jews. When they arrived in Jerusalem they asked: "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." (Mt 2:1-2)

On the cross of Jesus, there was a label indicating the cause of his death, which Pilate had asked to be written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, so that everybody could understand it, and had it placed on the cross: Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews. (Jhn 19:19)

In these moments of sadness and pain for Jesus, the Jewish authorities made fun of him, and the Roman soldiers said to him that, if he was the king of the Jews, he should come down from. ***The bad thief also said to him that, if was the Messiah, he should save himself and those who were nailed on the cross with Him. Jesus, the king, does not pay attention to them, but he heard the plea of the good thief, who asks him to remember him when he is in his kingdom. Jesus answered to him that that same day he would be with Him in Paradise. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". Jesus said to him: "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Lk 23:42-43)

In a commentary I read yesterday, it said that Dimas, the good thief, was an expert thief until the end, because in the last moments of his life, he had robbed paradise from Jesus.

The only person canonized by Jesus is the good thief, who recognizes him as king.

My brothers and sisters, Jesus is truly king. Jesus is king because he is the Son of God, and because by his death he has gained for us the eternal inheritance that sin had caused us to lose. As priest, he has been immolated as a perfect and pacifying victim on the cross.

What is the kingdom of Jesus like?

The preface of today’s Mass tells us that the kingdom of Jesus is a kingdom of truth and of life, sanctity and grace, justice, love and peace.

In the Beatitudes we find the summary of the preaching of Jesus.

Blessed are the poor, the humble, the merciful, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the compassionate, the pure of heart, the peace makers, those who suffer because of justice.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 5:3)

How must we, his followers, be like?

We must be like Jesus, our King.

Most of us have a king in our heart. This king is pride, to want to be first, to dominate others. Our King asks of us just the opposite: that we give our life for our brothers and sisters, as a proof of our love, without expecting any compensation.

The only weapon that our king, Jesus, uses and wants us to use, is love.

The force of the gospel is in love.

We must apply the word of God to our lives, and put into practice the mandate that Jesus has given to us: Love one another as I have loved to you (Jhn 13:34), so that one day we may hear these words from Jesus: Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Mt 25:34)

The day of the final judgment, to enter the kingdom, the examination will be on whether or not we have put into practice the works of mercy. Among them, I want to stress these words of Jesus: You saw me naked and you clothed me. (Mt 25:36)

Before finishing, it pleases me to recall the anecdote of saint Martin of Tours. It is said of saint Martin, who was preparing to receive baptism, since he was still a catechumen, that on a rainy and windy day he saw a poor man, half naked, who was asking for alms. As he did not have anything to give him, he cut his coat into two parts and gave a part to that poor man. At night, Jesus appeared to him with half of his coat in his hands and he said to him that He was that poor man.

May Jesus Christ be the king of our heart. This is the intention of the Church, on finishing this liturgical year.

May my simple words penetrate into your hearts. I would be very happy if my words help to increase your love for Jesus Christ as king.

Let us end up by saying: May Jesus really be our king, the king of our family and also the king of our society.

Finally, I will say to you that, if you want to find Jesus, you will find him in the arms of Mary, his mother and ours, who is queen of Heaven. Regina coeli, laetare. Alleluia.

May you have a good Sunday in this feast of Christ, the King.