Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Fr Dominic’s Homily

Today is youth Sunday. We are reminded of how precious young people are in the eyes of God. We have a duty and a responsibility to lead them to the truth. How we speak and relate to them affects them for the rest of their lives.

Next Sunday is the first week of Advent and today is the feast of Christ the King reminding us that Jesus is the king of the universe.

Now when we think of a king we think of a castle, a throne, a crown, soldiers who go into battle for gold and possessions.

Jesus, however, had no castle, crown, gold or possessions. He arrived in poverty as a tiny baby in a simple way. Yet he is a real King. He is the ultimate King.

Maybe we can’t see him clearly in our day to day lives but that doesn’t mean he isn’t there. He can reach us in ways we don’t expect.

There is the story of a thief who breaks into a house one night. As he sneaks into the kitchen and starts searching for valuables he hears a voice in the darkness: “Careful – Jesus is watching you!”

This startles him and he turns around and with his torch he sees a parrot in a cage staring back at him. Relieved he carries on looking around. Again from the darkness the parrot says: “Careful Jesus is now right behind you!”

So the thief asks the Parrot “What makes you so sure? And what is your name anyway?” The Parrot replies “Moses”.

The thief returns to his pilfering muttering under his breath “What kind of person calls his parrot Moses? “And the parrot responds from the darkness “The same kind of person who calls his Rottweiler Jesus…”

Sometimes we don’t see Jesus in our lives even when he is closest to us.

When Jesus came into the world people didn’t recognise who he was and especially not as a King.

He was tortured and killed by the authorities around him. By the time he died all he owned were the clothes on his back. In the eyes of the world Jesus was a failure.

He was diametrically opposite morally, culturally and spiritually to Kings like Herod who was greedy, paranoid and selfish.

Yet God allowed these two kings to exist for a moment in time side by side in history to show how God’s power is even stronger when channelled through the apparently weak in this world. It has a lasting value rather than a fleeting earthly value.

Jesus renounced any kind of worldly status and sacrificed himself completely for us. His name and teaching now affects billions of people today whereas Herod’s name you can find in history books if you search hard enough.

As King of the entire universe Jesus is the only one who is able to draw all people towards eternal life. He is the King who conquers our hearts because this is where the true battleground exists.

But his kingdom will only be fully realised when our world fully accepts God.

Ghandi was once famously asked why Christianity was not more successful in the world. He replied because it has never been properly tried yet. The terrible happenings of our world of today remind us of this.

If Christ is not our king then we can easily become consumed by all that is around us. We become thrown around by the storms of this life. Our King wants to give us true freedom. The only way we can achieve this is through him.

The world that we live in tells us that the more options we have and the less rules we can have then the freer we become. But true freedom is not found in ‘freedom from’ rules but a ‘freedom to’ being closer to God. The closer we are to Jesus the freer we become.

So Jesus is a true king in that he is the only one who really, finally, does what we always dimly hope for from every kind of leader. He rescues us from our most threatening enemies, sin and death, and he brings us into true communion with the Father and with one another.

So we should ask who or what rules our life today and takes us away from Jesus? To whom are we giving our allegiance? Do we want Christ as our king?

Let us pray that we can become faithful subjects of his kingdom.