Serve Him

Serve Him

November 25, 2012

The Solemnity of Christ the King

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.  Daniel 7:13-14a

Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him.  All the peoples of the earth will lament him.  Yes. Amen.  "I am the Alpha and the Omega, " says the Lord God, "the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty."  Revelation 1:7-8

So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a 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.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."  John 18:37

Piety

Our piety is how we recognize the Kingship of Christ. The Gospel of John has the questioning of Christ about his kingship. Christ says his Kingship belongs to Heaven where all the kings of the world will worship him. What most people do not recognize when they have a problem with the kingship of Christ is that his throne is the Cross. He is a glorious king to follow because his kingship comes from his suffering for us.  Our fame in heaven will come from the share of the Cross we managed  on earth. Heaven belongs to our willingness to share the life of Christ by taking to ourselves his way of bringing the good news of his Father to all of us. His Cross challenges us to accept the truth that our difficulties in life that make up our crosses are how we become his disciples. He says it clearly. If you would be my   disciple, take up your cross and come follow me.

Study

The book of Revelation teaches us how to look at Christ.  He deserves to be our icing “He is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.  To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever.  Amen.”  How much we look at Christ and think of him is seen by our piety.  Our imitation of Christ flows out of our exposure to him by  prayers and study of the Scriptures.  He is the most fascinating person to have lived in the history of the Human Race because by his life he reveals the power and the mercy of God.  Christ is the perfection of any man who has ever lived.  We are all created in the image and the likeness of Christ.  To find out who we are meant to be is the search of life.  When we finally find ourselves in Christ, we will have discovered the real “me” of who we are meant to be.  Christ is the way the truth and the light of our lives.

Action

All the actions of our lives have their ultimate meaning in Christ.  Every person we love in life is part of our love of Christ.  We let Christ bring us to the Father by the way we let our happiness of life flow out of our relationship to Christ.  We make Christ our model of life by our prayer. Our study of the Scriptures gives us insight into how Christ can be a greater force in our lives.  Our respect for each other opens our hearts to love of God.  How can we love the God we do not see, if we do not love the neighbors we do see.  Our challenge of life is met in our efforts to love one another even as Christ has loved us.