Homily by Father Emmanuel Schwab

Christ King of the Universe – Year A

1st reading: Ezekiel 34, 11-12.15-17

Psalm: 22 (23), 1-2ab, 2c-3, 4, 5, 6

2rd reading: 1 Corinthians 15, 20-26.28

Gospel: Matthew 25, 31-46

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I don't know what influence Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus had on Pope Pius in a year and a half, and it is also the year of the canonization of Saint Thérèse. The pope wanted to honor this royalty of Christ which is not only a spiritual royalty, but which must also mark our life as men and the life of our societies. This celebration was established in 1925 on the last Sunday before All Saints' Day. The liturgical reform of the 1925s brought it to the last Sunday of the liturgical year: next Sunday, in fact, we will enter a new year celebrating the first Sunday of Advent.

Thérèse lived her entire childhood contemplating her father, Louis, as her king; the admiration of the little girl in front of her dad... And Louis didn't play on that, he welcomed it. Thérèse developed within herself a parallel love for her beloved king who was her father, but also for Christ the King. His devotion to Saint Joan of Arc has a very close connection with this. She explains it about the end of her life to Abbot Bellière in a letter she writes to him and says this:

When I began to learn the history of France, the story of the exploits of Joan of Arc delighted me, I felt in my heart the desire and the courage to imitate her, it seemed to me that the Lord also destined me for great things. I was not mistaken, but instead of the voice of Heaven inviting me to fight, I heard in the depths of my soul a sweeter, even stronger voice, that of the Bridegroom of virgins who called me to other exploits, to more glorious conquests, and in the solitude of Carmel I understood that my mission was not to have a mortal king crowned but to make the King of Heaven loved, to submit the kingdom of hearts to him

Let's see this parallel between Joan of Arc and Thérèse: Joan will want to put the King of France in his place and Thérèse wants to put the King of Heaven in his place. And where is his place? Its place is to reign in the hearts of men: “ I stand at the door and I knock, says the Lord in the book of Revelation (3,20), if someone hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him; I will have my meal with him, and he with me.” And the Lord places on our lips, in the prayer of the Our Father, this supplication to God our Father: Let your kingdom come!

The reign of God does not exist anywhere other than where we let him reign. Christ does not exercise his Kingship anywhere other than where he is allowed to reign. But where Christ does not reign, it is not the Kingdom of God. I don't know if you noticed the subtlety of the Gospel we just heard. On the one hand there is: the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, and then there is eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Eternal fire is not prepared for us, it is prepared for the devil. What is prepared for us is the Kingdom; but do we desire to enter this Kingdom? Do we want to experience the grace of this Kingdom? Do we actively want Christ to rule over us in our lives? That is to say, ultimately, who do we obey? Is the Word of Jesus a constant reference in our life? In our choices, does the Word of the Lord have importance, I would even say primary? Because wanting Christ to reign in our lives is wanting to do what he says. Thérèse will use another expression: what she wants is please Jesus. That is to say, his relationship with the Lord is a relationship of love, a loving relationship.

When in France there was a king, the king's subjects did not have a romantic relationship with the king, they were his subjects and it was a matter of obeying the laws. Just as today there are laws which are passed in Parliament and for us it is a question of obeying, not necessarily of loving them. With Christ, it is different: it is a question of loving the Lord in such a way that his word is no longer a law; it becomes something much stronger: it is the word of the loved one addressing the one he loves and calling on him to do good in order to move forward on a path of life. How could we not love what the Lord asks of us? And how could we not experience within ourselves the joy of doing what the Lord asks?

But what is this Royalty? In a very important text of the pontificate of Saint John Paul II, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Lay Faithful of Christ, at number 14, the Pope dwells on the triple priestly, prophetic and royal office of Christ, which is shared by the faithful of Christ. About this royal office, he writes this:

By their belonging to Christ, Lord and King of the Universe, the lay faithful participate in his royal office, and are called by him to the service of the Kingdom of God and to its dissemination in history. They experience Christian royalty first of all through the spiritual combat they wage to destroy the reign of sin within themselves (cf. Rm 6,12) and then by the gift of themselves to serve, in charity and justice, Jesus Himself, present in all his brothers, especially in the least (cf. Mt 25,40).

This is an explicit reference to the Gospel that we have heard. The royal office which is ours as baptized people is therefore to lead the spiritual battle so that Christ reigns in us and not sin, and it is to make ourselves servants of the least among our brothers because that the Lord Jesus wanted to identify with them: “What you did to the least of my brothers, you did to me.”

We are therefore faced with a double paradox with the Lord. It is because he is the king who makes himself the smallest, the poorest, but also the servant - let us remember the washing of the feet. He is the Good Shepherd, as the first reading mentioned, but who at the same time becomes a lamb and the Paschal Lamb who gives up his life. We ourselves must enter into this attitude, which is to welcome the extraordinary dignity received by baptism where we become children of God, sharing the filiation of the only Son, Jesus; and at the same time, we have to enter the path of humility of Christ to learn to give our life to the end of love, as Jesus himself gave his life.

We heard in the first reading everything that God wants to do for the sheep of the flock. If we are united with Jesus and if we are disciples of Jesus, we must work with him in his work. It is interesting to reread this passage from the book of Ezekiel, the first reading we heard, to ask ourselves how we can help Jesus do his work.

He wants watch over the sheep, on his sheep. How do I help Jesus watch like this? How do I participate in this watch over the sheep?

He wants deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and dark clouds. How do I work with Jesus to deliver those who are in the bonds of sin, in the bonds of addiction, who are in the bonds of darkness?

The lost sheep I will seek. How do I care for the lost sheep, for the baptized who have lost the path of faith, the path of sacramental life?

The lost, I will bring her back. How do I help the Lord bring back the lost sheep?

The one who is injured, I will bandage her. How do I help Jesus to heal, to care for those who are wounded in life?

She who is sick, I will give her strength. How do I help Jesus transmit this strength that comes from him?

The one that is fat and vigorous, I will keep it, I will pasture it according to the law. How, here too, do I help the Lord to be able to keep the sheep vigorous, to continue to feed them, to strengthen them so that they do not waste away?

The Kingship of Christ is to take care of everyone.

The Kingship of Christ is to serve every man to lead him to the Kingdom. By celebrating Christ today, king of the universe, we could perhaps, in the silence of our heart, renew our decision to work with Jesus so that his kingdom grows, to work with Jesus so that the Gospel resounds in our world, not first by our speech, but first by our life, first by our charity, nourished by our faith and our hope.

Let us ask for this grace by celebrating the Eucharist and let us offer ourselves generously, through Jesus, with Him and in Him.

Amen