To share the same joy of eternity

Father Andrzej Wyrostek
Homily from the Televised Mass, NewsCenter1
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, November 20, 2022

Long life to the king. God save the King. We have heard, perhaps not too long ago, the events unfolding in Great Britain. The passing of a Queen, Elizabeth, and a new king being named as the new leader and the ruler of the commonwealth. 

And then we come to the realization and to the solemnity that the church invites us to celebrate today, telling us we celebrate today the solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. And then we perhaps ask ourselves a question, very quickly, that’s very nice and perhaps it might work for the people of Great Britain and commonwealth, but to us, we are free people. We live in a democracy. We choose our president and our leaders. So how can we reconcile, now, the idea that the church tells us that Christ is the king of the universe. More than that, he is king of our lives, not only here on the earth but into eternity as well. 

One might look at the purpose of a leader. Be it the king or a president, the one who is chosen for the good of the people. The one who is to look after the well-being of the people. The one who is to bring a sense of peace and leadership into the people’s lives. After all, that’s why David was chosen as a king, because the people of Israel, they looked for a leader that can tell them what is right, what is wrong, what is good, how to journey on towards life with God. 

But then looking at the leaders in our history, we might say well that is nice. We have both good leaders and the leaders who have led humanity into almost destruction. So, what can we say that Christ will be a different leader? A king that is worthy of our attention, only for the time being but being passionate about being his citizens. We can look at once to a  special attribute that Christ the king brings to our life. He is the one who is not afraid, not only to talk and preach about what the leadership is about, but now he is a willing to be born into this world as an infant, as an innocent human being, looking for protection, looking for safety, looking for a family, our family to welcome him and to help him to grow up into this world. More than that, when a time comes and his mission is about to be fulfilled, Jesus not only talks about it, but he is ready to go as far as to the cross to tell us how much he longs for our dignity to be restored — how much God longs for us to be redeemed and welcomed into the heavenly kingdom. 

Not only that, the very Eucharist we celebrate today is only a foretaste of the heavenly banquet that God is preparing for us. Where Christ will be ready to welcome us and to sit with us at the same table. To share the same joy of eternity. That what makes our Christ, what makes him our king of the universe, set aside from the leaders of this world.

As much as there are some good ones and bad ones, Christ has proven himself as a king. As our king. Inviting us to be his citizens by his very sacrifice of his life. By giving us not just the words and rules, but his very heart to rejoice in his peace.