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Reflections
for Sunday, November 24, 2013
You will be with me today in Paradise! That is what the solemnity is
celebrating: Jesus Christ is the king of my life and the king of the
universe. If I allow Jesus Christ truly to be king, then He invites me to
be with him now in His Kingdom. And at the time of my death I will be with
Him in Paradise.
The reading from the Second Book of Samuel is clear that earthly kings come
and go, even David, the greatest of the Kings of Israel. There is no
earthly ruler who is perfect or who can always be faithful. There are
kings in history who were canonized and accepted as saints. Even those had
their defects. Only God is a perfect ruler and it is His Kingdom that we
await.
The Letter to the Colossians thus describes the Son: in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the true image of the Father
and all things are created in Him.
Kingship, in this understanding, is about service to all of creation and
seeking only the good of all that is. Human rulers never seem to be able
to do that. This is why we are given the image of the King as the
suffering servant, the one who takes all that is bad in our lives upon
Himself in order that we may have true life in abundance.
If we celebrate Christ as King today, it is because He truly looks for the
good of each one of us and unites us with God the Father in the Holy
Spirit. In Him we have complete life. The challenge is to begin to live
that life here on earth when there are so many other things that demand our
attention or attract our interest.
If we think seriously that the purpose of all life is to live in God, then
we can begin to make good decisions about how to live in this life. It is
not so that somehow we will never make mistakes. Rather, it is about
wanting to love God and all of His creation with all the strength of our
being. Even in eternity we can grow deeper in this love, but we want to
begin to love now.
Our invitation today is to allow God Himself to draw us into the Kingdom,
to allow God to open our whole being to His love and mercy and compassion,
and to walk with others in this same path. This is the Kingdom and the
more we walk together and work together in the Kingdom, the more love we
will find on this earth. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Readings of the day:
First Reading: 2 Samuel 5.1-3
Second Reading: Colossians 1.12-20
Gospel: Luke 23.35-43
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