Christ the King Sunday/OT 34 [C] (Nov 23) 8-minute homily in 1 page. L-25
Central theme: The thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ends the Church’s liturgical year, so the readings describe the enthronement of the victorious Christ as King in Heaven in Glory. This year, marks the one-hundredth anniversary of Pope Pius XI’s 1925 institution of today’s Feast of Christ the King with the proclamation, “Pax Christi in regno Christi” (the peace of Christ in the reign of Christ). This means that we live in the peace of Christ when we surrender our lives to him every day, accept him as our God, Savior and King and allow him to rule our lives.
The Biblical basis of the feast: A) Old Testament texts: The title “Christ the King” has its roots both in Scripture and in the whole theology of the Kingdom of God. In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, Christ the Messiah is represented as a King. B) New Testament texts: 1) In the Annunciation, recorded in Lk 13:2-33, we read: “The Lord God will make him a King, as his ancestor David was, and He will be the King of the descendants of Jacob forever and His Kingdom will never end.” In fact, the Kingdom of God is the center of Jesus’ teaching and the phrase “Kingdom of God” occurs in the Gospels 122 times, of which 90 instances are uses by Jesus. 2) The Magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: (Mt. 2:2) “Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews? We saw his star… and we have come to worship him.” 3) During the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday, the Jews shouted: (Lk 19:38) “God bless the King, who comes in the name of the Lord.” 4) During the trial of Jesus described in today’s Gospel, Pilate asked the question: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied: “You say that I am a king. I was born and came into this world for this one purpose, to bear witness to the Truth.” (Jn 18:37): 5) Today’s Gospel tells us that the board hung over Jesus’ head on the cross read: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” (Lk 23:38; see also, Mt 27:37; Mk 15:26; Jn 19:19-20), and that, to the repentant thief on the cross who made the request: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom,” Jesus promised Paradise with him that very day. (Lk 23:39-43). 6) Before his Ascension into Heaven, Jesus declared, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth” (Mt 28:18). 7) Finally, in Mt 25:31-46, we read that The Son of man will come in glory to judge us on the Day of the Last Judgment.
Life Messages: 1) We need to accept Christ the King as our Lord, King and Savior and surrender our lives to him. We surrender our lives to Jesus every day when we give priority to his teaching in our daily choices, especially in moral decisions. We should not exclude Christ our King from any area of our personal or family lives. In other words, Christ must be in full charge of our lives, and we must give him sovereign power over our bodies, our thoughts, our heart, and our free will.2) We need to be serving disciples of a Servant King. Jesus declared that he came not to be served but to serve and showed us the spirit of service by washing of the feet of his disciples. We become Jesus’ followers when we recognize his presence in everyone, especially the poor, the sick, the outcast, and the marginalized in the society and render humble and loving service to Jesus in each of them. 3) We need to accept Jesus Christ as the King of love. Jesus came to proclaim to all of us the Good News of God’s love and salvation, gave us his new commandment of love: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12), and demonstrated that love by dying for us sinners. We accept Jesus as our King of love when we love others as Jesus loved.
CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY/OT 34 [C] (Nov 23, 2025) (2 Sm 5:1-3; Col 1:12-20; Lk 23:35-43)
Homily starter anecdotes: #1: Christ has conquered, Christ now rules: In the middle of St Peter’s square in Rome, there stands a great obelisk. It about four and half thousand years old, and it originally stood in the temple of the sun in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis. But it was bought to Rome by the dreadful Emperor Caligula, and it was set right in the middle of Circus of Nero, equally dreadful, that was on Vatican hill. It was in that Circus that St. Peter was martyred, and the obelisk may well have been the last thing on this Earth that Peter saw. On top of the obelisk there now stands a cross. In ancient times there was a gold ball representing, of course, the sun. Now there is a cross however, the cross of Christ, and on the pedestal of the obelisk there are two inscriptions. The first of them is in Latin, “Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat”, which translated means, “Christ has conquered, Christ now rules, Christ now reigns supreme.” The other inscription reads, “The Lion of Judah has conquered.” So here we have the language of victory. Christianity has triumphed by the power of the cross and triumphed even over even the greatest power that the ancient world had known, the Roman Empire, and here in the middle of St Peter’s square stands the obelisk bearing those triumphant inscriptions. (Mark Coleridge Archbishop of Brisbane). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
#2: “Long live Christ the King!” In the 1920s, a totalitarian regime gained control of Mexico and tried to suppress the Church. To resist the regime, many Christians took up the cry, “Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long live Christ the King!”) They called themselves “Cristeros.” The most famous associate of the Cristeros was a young Jesuit priest named Padre Miguel Pro. Using various disguises, Padre Pro ministered to the people of Mexico City. Finally, the government arrested him and sentenced him to public execution on November 23, 1927. The president of Mexico (Plutarco Calles) thought that Padre Pro would beg for mercy, so he invited the press to the execution. Padre Pro did not plead for his life, but instead knelt holding a crucifix. When he finished his prayer, he kissed the crucifix and stood up. Holding the crucifix in his right hand, he extended his arms and shouted, “Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long live Christ the King!”) At that moment the soldiers fired. The journalists took pictures; if you look up “Padre Pro” or “Saint Miguel Pro” on the Internet, you can see that picture. (Fr. Phil Bloom). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
#3: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” St. Thomas More is the patron saint of lawyers and politicians, among others. He was a brilliant lawyer and diplomat in 16th century England. His patriotism and loyalty to the throne attracted the attention of King Henry VIII who made him Lord Chancellor of England. What Henry VIII did not know was that Thomas More’s first loyalty was to Christ, the King of kings. When Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, marry Anne Boleyn and make himself head of the Church of England, Thomas More knew this was not right. Rather than approve what he believed to be against the Divine will, he resigned from his prestigious, wealthy position as Lord Chancellor and lived a life of poverty. Since he would not give his support to the king, Thomas More was arrested, convicted of treason, imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1534, and beheaded in July of the following year. On his way to public execution, More encouraged the people to remain steadfast in the Faith. His last recorded words were: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” — For More, it was not simply enough to confess Christ privately in the safety of his heart and home; he believed one must also confess Christ in one’s business and professional life, as well as in the laws and policies that govern society. (Fr. Munacci). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
# 4: On His Majesty’s Service: Polycarp, the second century bishop of Smyrna, was brought before the Roman authorities and told to curse Christ and he would be released. He replied, “Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my King, Jesus Christ, who saved me?” The Roman officer replied, “Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt.” But Polycarp said, “You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish.” https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
# 5: A king with a big difference: Charles Colson, former legal counsel to Richard Nixon and later founder of the Christian Prison Fellowship, says it like this: “All the kings and queens I have known in history sent their people out to die for them. I only know one King who decided to die for his people.” https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
Introduction: In the Church’s calendar, Christ the King is the parallel of the Super Bowl trophy or the Final Four in college basketball or the last game of the World Series. The Church’s liturgical year concludes with this feast of Christ the King, instituted (one hundred years ago this year), by Pope Pius XI in 1925, in order to to celebrate the Jubilee Year and the 16th centenary of the Council of Nicaea. Instituting this feast, Pope Pius XI proclaimed: “Pax Christi in regno Christi” (“The peace of Christ in the reign of Christ”). This feast was established and proclaimed by the Pope to reassert the sovereignty of Christ and the Church over all forms of government, and to remind Christians of the personal fidelity and loyalty they owed to Christ, who by his Incarnation and sacrificial death on the cross had made them both adopted children of God and future citizens and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Feast was also a reminder to the totalitarian governments of Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin that Jesus Christ is the only Sovereign King. Christ is our spiritual King and Ruler who rules by truth and love. We declare our loyalty to him by the quality of our Christian commitment, expressed in our humble service of others with sacrificial and forgiving love, and by our solidarity with the poor. Although emperors and kings with real ruling power exist today only in history books, we nevertheless honor Christ as the King of the Universe and the King of our hearts by allowing him to take control of our lives. In thousands of human hearts all over the world, Jesus still reigns as King. The Cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount, his rule of law. His citizens need obey only one major law: “Love God with all your being, and love others as I have loved you.” His love is selfless, compassionate, forgiving, and unconditional. He is a King with a saving and liberating mission: to free us from all types of bondage, enabling us to live peacefully and happily on earth, and promising us an inheritance in the eternal life of heaven.
Today’s scripture summarized: The first reading (II Samuel 5: 1-3) describes all the tribes of Israel making their choice of Israel’s the great David as the second king of the nation, their “shepherd” and “commander.” David’s successful 40-year reign became the model for the hoped-for Messiah (or Christ the anointed one), in later Judaism. In the second reading (Col 1:12-20), Paul, quoting an early Christian hymn, assures the Colossian Christians of: (1) the primacy of Christ over and above all angels and cosmic powers; (2) the value and necessity of the cross; and (3) the cosmic effects of salvation. Today’s Gospel (Lk 23:35-43), referring to the sign board written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, hung by the order of Pilate on the cross of Jesus, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” (Jn 19:19), presents this charge as an imperial admission of the kingship of Christ, although it was intended to serve as a three-fold mockery. It prompted the Jewish leaders to call out, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the messiah of God” and the soldiers to shout at Jesus, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself,” and the thief on the left side to challenge Jesus, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Then save yourself and us” (Lk 23:36-43.) Pilate probably had his own reasons for writing the triple inscription on the board. Perhaps it was to protect himself from being charged with bowing to the pressure of the mob; perhaps to mock Jesus and thereby to appease the Jewish leaders; or to forewarn other would-be revolutionaries that their rebellion against the empire would be similarly extinguished. But Pilate was unknowingly accepting the person and mission of Jesus as King and Savior. The repentant thief accepts Jesus as his Savior, calling Jesus Jeshuah, or Jesus, meaning “the Lord saves!” Jesus assured the thief that he would share that very day in Jesus’ everlasting reign.
First reading: II Sm 5:1-3, explained: This reading recalls the story of David’s anointing as King of Israel. David was seen in the Old Testament as a type, a representation, of the future Messianic King (2 Sm 7:16, Is 9:6-7, Jer 23:5). Jesus is often identified as the Son of David, as the Messiah and as the Shepherd of God’s people. King David’s successful 40-year reign became the model for the hoped-for Messiah (that is, the Anointed One, or the Christ), in later Judaism. Saul, the first King of Israel, learned from the Lord God through the prophet Samuel that the kingship would not remain in his family because he had disobeyed the laws of God. David was chosen by God to replace Saul and was anointed secretly by Samuel in Bethlehem. Having had to flee from Saul, David settled in Hebron. Accepted by the tribe of Judah, he reigned there as King of Judah for seven years. The first reading tells us how, on the death of Saul, the northern tribes came to David in Hebron and anointed him King over all of Israel. David’s reign lasted a mere forty years, but Christ’s reign is eternal. David was a mere man, sinful but repentant. Christ was True God and True Man, sinless and All-perfect. Christ died on the cross to free all men from their sins.
Second reading: Col 1:12-20, explained: Among the early Christians at Colossae, there were people promoting a detailed belief in angels and their mediating role in our relationship with God. Paul, neither affirming nor denying the existence of these “Thrones, Dominations, Principalities or Powers,” simply states that Christ is superior to the whole lot. St. Paul tells the Colossians how grateful they should be to God for having made them Christians and citizens of Christ’s kingdom. The Apostle then describes Who and What their new Sovereign is: true God and true Man, the true Image of the invisible God and, at the same time, the perfect exemplar of true humanity. As God’s beloved Son, our King has direct and immediate access to God. As the Image of the invisible God, Jesus, our King, is the embodiment of Divine Sovereignty. As the firstborn of creation, He is the promise of all the good things that will follow. As risen Lord, He is the Head of the Church and the promise of our own resurrection. This portion of St. Paul’s Epistle is aptly chosen for this great Feast of the Kingship of Christ, for it reminds us of how blessed, how fortunate we are to be Christians, citizens of His Kingdom on earth, with a promise of perpetual citizenship in His Heavenly Kingdom if we remain faithful to Him, because “in Him all things hold together.”
Gospel explained: Today’s Gospel presents Christ the King as reigning, not from a throne, but from the gibbet of the cross. Like the “suffering servant” of Isaiah (53:3), He is despised and rejected, as the bystanders ridicule the crucified King, challenging Him to prove His Kingship by coming down from the cross. The Gospel also tells of the criminal crucified beside Jesus who recognized Him as a Savior King and asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus entered His kingdom. Jesus promised the good thief that he would be with Him that day in Paradise. Tradition remembers the criminal on Jesus’ right side as “the good thief” who repented of his sins at the last moment, though Mark and Matthew call him a “revolutionary.” Although the Romans intended the inscription on the cross, “This is the King of the Jews,” to be ironic, it reflected the popular Jewish speculations about Jesus’ possible identity as the Messiah of Israel. For Luke and other early Christians that title was correct, since the Kingship of Jesus was made manifest most perfectly in his suffering and death on the cross, followed by His Resurrection on the third day, as He had foretold.
The Biblical basis of the feast: A) Old Testament texts: The title “Christ the King” has its roots both in Scripture and in the whole theology of the Kingdom of God. In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, Christ the Messiah is represented as a King. B) New Testament texts: 1) In the Annunciation, we read: “The Lord God will make him a King, as his ancestor David was, and He will be the King of the descendants of Jacob forever and His Kingdom will never end” (Lk 13:2-33). In fact, the Kingdom of God is the center of Jesus’ teaching and the phrase “Kingdom of God” occurs in the Gospels 122 times, of which 90 instances are uses by Jesus. 2) The Magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: “Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews? We saw his star… and we have come to worship him” (Mt. 2:2). 3) During the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday, the Jews shouted: “God bless the King, who comes in the name of the Lord” (Lk 19:38). 4) During the trial of Jesus described in today’s Gospel, Pilate asked the question: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied: “You say that I am a king. I was born and came into this world for this one purpose, to bear witness to the Truth” (Jn 18:33). 5) Today’s Gospel tells us that the board hung over Jesus’ head on the cross read: “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews,” (Lk 23:37); see also, Mt 27:37; Mk 15:26; John 19:19-20), and that, to the repentant thief on the cross who made the request, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom,” Jesus promised Paradise with Him that very day. (Lk 19:39-43). 6) Before his Ascension into Heaven, Jesus delared, “I have been given all authority in Heaven and on earth” (Mt 28:18). 7) Finally, Jesus declared, “The Son of Man will come in glory“to judge us on the Day of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46).
What is the Kingdom of God? What is the Kingdom of Christ the King? Here is a beautiful explanation given by Gerald Darring (St. Louis University: Center for Liturgy): The Kingdom of God is a space. It exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It exists in every region and country that cares for its weak and vulnerable. It exists in every parish that reaches out to the needy. The Kingdom of God is a time. It happens whenever someone feeds a hungry person, or shelters a homeless person, or shows care to a neglected person. It happens whenever we overturn an unjust law, or correct an injustice, or avert a war. It happens whenever people join in the struggle to overcome poverty, to erase ignorance, to pass on the Faith. The Kingdom of God is in the past (in the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth); it is in the present (in the work of the Church and in the efforts of many others to create a world of goodness and justice); it is in the future (reaching its completion in the age to come). The Kingdom of God is a condition. Its symptoms are love, justice, and peace. Jesus Christ is king! We pray today that God may free all the world to rejoice in his peace, to glory in his justice, to live in his love.
Life Messages: 1) We need to assess our commitment to Christ the King today. As we celebrate the Kingship of Christ today, let us remember the truth that Jesus is not our King if we do not listen to him, love him, serve him, and follow him. We belong to his Kingdom only when we try to walk with him, when we try to live our lives fully in the spirit of the Gospel and when that Gospel spirit penetrates every facet of our living. If Christ is really King of my life, he must be King of every part of my life, and I must let him reign in all parts of my life. We become Christ the King’s subjects when we sincerely respond to his loving invitation: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart“ (Mt 11:29). By cultivating in our lives the gentle and humble mind of Christ, we show others that Jesus Christ is in indeed our King and that he is in charge of our lives.
2) We need to give Jesus control over our lives. Today’s Feast of Christ the King reminds us of the great truth that Christ must be in charge of our lives, that we must give him sovereign power over our bodies, our thoughts, our heart and our will. In every moral decision we face, there’s a choice between Christ the King and Barabbas; the one who seeks to live in Christ’s Kingdom is the one who says, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Let us ask ourselves the question, “What does Jesus, my King, want me to do or say in this situation?” Are we praying each day that our King will give us the right words to say to the people we meet that day, words that will make us true ambassadors of Jesus? Does our home life as well as the way we conduct ourselves with our friends come under the Kingship of Jesus? Or do we try to please ourselves rather than him?
3) We need to follow Christ the King’s lesson of loving, humble service to the truth. Christ has come to serve and to be of service to others. Hence, we are called to his service — service to the Truth. In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus saying that the reason for his coming – the reason that he was born – was to “bear witness” to the truth. The Truth to which Jesus bears witness by His Life and which he teaches us is that God, his Father, is also our loving and forgiving Father, so we are all His children, forming one body. Hence, whatever we do for His children, and our sisters and brothers, we do for Him. So, we are called to be a people who reach out to embrace the enemy and the stranger, a people who are called to glory in diversity, a people who will endlessly forgive, a people who will reach out in compassion to the poor and to the marginalized of our society, a people who will support one another in prayer, a people who will realize that we are called not to be served, but to serve. In other words, servant-leadership is the model that Christ the King has given us. “For the Christian, ‘to reign is to serve him,’ particularly when serving ‘the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder’” (CCC #786).
4) We need to obey the law of love of Christ the King. Citizens of Christ’s kingdom are expected to observe only one major law–the law of love. “Love God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself.” “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Jesus expects a higher degree of love from His followers: “Love one another as I have loved you.” On this great Feast of Christ, the King, let us resolve to give him the central place in our lives and promise to obey his commandment of love by sharing what we have with all his needy children.
JOKES OF THE WEEK
#1: Christ is in charge: Susan C. Kimber, in a book called Christian Woman, shares a funny piece of advice she received from her little son: “Tired of struggling with my strong-willed little son, Thomas, I looked him in the eye and asked a question I felt sure would bring him in line: ‘Thomas, who is in charge here?’ Not missing a beat, he replied, ‘Jesus is, not you mom.’ “
#2: Co-pilot Christ the King: Many people love bumper sticker theology. Bumper stickers may not always have the soundest theological statements, but they generally at least have the ability to make you think. One such, “God is my Co-pilot,” has also been found on Church signs, where the theology is just as much fun and sometimes sounder. In this case, the Church sign says, “If Christ the King is your Co-Pilot, change seats.”
# 3: “Right near the end!” Once a priest was giving a homily and as he went on, he became more animated. He made a sweeping gesture – and accidentally knocked his papers from the pulpit. He scrambled to pick them up, then asked, “Now, where was I?” A voice from the congregation responded, “Right near the end!” — Well, we are at the end – not of the homily, but of the liturgical year
# 4: The most famous man who ever lived: One day a kindergarten teacher nun said to the class of 5-year-olds, “I’ll give $2 to the child who can tell me who was the most famous man who ever lived.” An Irish boy put his hand up and said, “It was St. Patrick.” The teacher said, “Sorry Sean, that’s not correct.” Then a Scottish boy put his hand up and said, “It was St. Andrew.” The teacher replied, “I’m sorry, Hamish, that’s not right either.” Finally, a Jewish boy raised his hand and said, “It was Jesus Christ.” The teacher said, “That’s absolutely right, Marvin, come up here and I’ll give you the $2.” As the teacher was giving Marvin his money, she said, “You know Marvin, you being Jewish, I was very surprised you said Jesus Christ.” Marvin replied, “Yeah. In my heart I knew it was Moses, but business is business…”
USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK:
2) Fr. Geoffrey Plant’s beautiful & scholarly video classes & texts on Sunday gospel, Bible & RCIA topics: https://sundayhomilies.au/homilies
3) Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://sundayprep.org/featured-homilies/ (Copy it on the Address bar and press the Enter button)
ADDITIONAL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
1) The Catholic Liturgical Library: http://www.catholicliturgy.com/
2) Liturgical Calendar: http://www.themass.org/c-1109.htm
3) Intercession for priests: http://www.intercessionforpriests.org/
4) Preach the word:
http://www.preachtheword.com/topical.html
5) Fr. Geoffrey Plant’s video lesson: https://youtu.be/vmSvf-TN4ew (based on Cycle B)
33- Additional anecdotes
1) A Man for All Seasons: There is a great scene in Robert Bolt’s 1960 stage-play, A Man for All Seasons, that fits very well with today’s Feast of Christ the King. You might remember that the play was about the determination of St. Thomas More to stand for the Faith against the persuasion and eventually the persecution of Henry VIII of England. In the scene I’m referring to, Henry VIII is trying to coax his second-in-charge, Thomas More, to agree with him that it is proper for him, the King, to divorce his wife Catherine on the grounds that she was also his sister-in-law but really because she had not given birth to a male heir to the Kingdom. After the King made all his arguments, Thomas More said that he himself was unfit to meddle in this argument and the King should take it to Rome. Henry VIII retorted that he didn’t need a Pope to tell him what he could or couldn’t do. Then we come to the center point. Thomas More asked the King, “Why do you need my support?” Henry VIII replied with words we would all love to hear said about each of us, “Because, Thomas, you are honest. And what is more to the point, you are known to be honest. There are plenty in the Kingdom who support me, but some do so only out of fear and others only out of what they can get for their support. But you are different. And people know it. That is why I need your support.” In the presence of integrity, Henry VIII knew who was King and who was subject. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) “I am the greatest.” Jesus is not a king like the ancient Egyptian king, Ramses, whose arrogant motto was inscribed on temples still standing, “I am the greatest.” Jesus is not a king like the king of China, a savage tyrant who used millions of slaves to build the Great Wall of China, a wall so huge that it can be seen from the moon. He is not a king like Louis XIV of France, who lived in excessive luxury in his Versailles palace of 1000 rooms. Jesus is different in that he was not born of a reigning King, though He is of the royal House of David, but as the Scripture tells, Jesus is the One Whom God “will choose as king….” There is no other king like King Jesus, for Jesus is a Divine King, none other than the very Son of God, the Messiah. Jeremiah calls Him, “the Lord of our Salvation.” (v. 6) St. Paul sees this in Jesus who is “the image of the invisible God” and in whom dwells “all the fullness of God” (Jn 14:8-11). Jesus himself knows who he is, for he says, “The Father and I are one … he who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9) https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) Desperate deaths of autocratic kings and dictators: The death of Josef Stalin (1879-1953) the Communist dictator was described by his daughter as difficult and terrible. Silenced by a stroke shortly before he died, Stalin’s “last words” were more visible than audible. Newsweek magazine quoted Svetlana Stalin who said, “At what seemed the very last moment, he cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane, angry and full of fear of death. With one final menacing gesture, he lifted his left hand as if he were bringing down a curse on us all.” Philip III of Spain (1578-1621), who proved himself to be an unfit king, indifferent to the plight of his people, breathed his last wishing, “Would to God that I had never reigned. What does all my glory profit but that I have so much the more torment in my death?” Charles IX of France (1550-1574, reigned 1560-1574), who in 1572 had ordered the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of the Huguenots throughout France met death with despair, “What blood! What murders! I am lost forever. I know it.” When she lay dying, Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) was reported to have said she would give, “All my possessions for a moment of time.” — Today’s Gospel challenges us to compare with these royal deaths the sacrificial, wiling death of Christ the King’s death on a Roman cross, offering his life to God his Father in all serenity and elegance. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez) https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) King in disguise: The story is told of Mother Teresa of Calcutta observing a novice using tweezers to pluck maggots from the leg of a dying leper. The young woman stood at arm’s length to perform the odious task. Gently but firmly, Mother Teresa corrected her charge. Taking the tweezers and putting her face quite near the wound, she said, “You don’t understand, my dear. This is the leg of Christ our Lord. For what you do to this man, you do to him.” https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) Francis of Assisi was wealthy, high-born and high-spirited, but he was not happy. He felt that life was incomplete. Then one day he was riding, and he met a leper, loathsome and repulsive in the ugliness of his disease. Something moved Francis to dismount and fling his arms around this wretched sufferer; and, lo, in his arms the face of the leper changed to the face of the Christ. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) Leo Tolstoy’s story “Martin the Cobbler“ tells of a lonely shoemaker who is promised a visit by our Lord that very day. Eagerly all day he awaits his arrival. But all that come are a man in need of shoes, a young mother in need of food and shelter, and a child in need of a friend. Martin, who has met all these needs, gently and cheerfully, ends the day thinking “Perhaps tomorrow he will come,” only to hear a voice reply, “I did come to you today, Martin; not once, but three times., and each time you served Me. Thank you for yoru love!” https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
7)”Long Live Christ the King! Long Live the Pope.” Those of us, who pray for the persecuted Church, mourned the loss of Ignatius, Cardinal Kung who died at the age of 98. He stood by his convictions, and withstood persecution for his Faith. He was consecrated the bishop of Shanghai in 1949, shortly after the Communists took over China. The Chinese government pressured him to align his loyalties to the “Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.” But he refused, choosing to remain loyal to his Church’s chain of command. In 1955, the authorities brought him and 200 other priests to a stadium in Shanghai. The government ordered them to “confess their crimes.” Instead, Kung shouted “Long Live Christ the King! Long Live the Pope.” Shortly thereafter, he received a life sentence, and spent the next 30 years in prison, most of the time in solitary confinement. When he was freed in 1987, he came to the United States with his nephew and settled in Stamford, Connecticut. He went to his eternal reward on March 12, 2000. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!” Of thirty Roman emperors, governors of provinces and others in high office, who distinguished themselves by their fanatical zeal and bitterness in persecuting the early Christians, one became mentally deranged; another was slain by his own son. One of them became blind; another was drowned. One was strangled; another died in miserable captivity. One of them died of so loathsome a disease that several of his physicians were put to death because they could not abide the stench that filled his room. Two committed suicide; another attempted it but had to call for help to finish the work. Five were assassinated by their own people or servants, five others died the most miserable and excruciating deaths and eight were killed in battle, or after being taken prisoners. Among those who died in battle was Julian the Apostate. In the days of his prosperity he is said to have pointed his dagger to heaven, defying the Son of God whom he commonly called the Galilean. But when he was wounded in battle and saw that all was over with him, he gathered up his clotted blood and threw it into the air, exclaiming, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!” (Boise) https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) “He is something more than a king.” In Lloyd Douglas’ novel, The Robe, the slave, Demetrius, pushed his way through the crowd on Palm Sunday, trying to see who the center of attraction was. He got close enough to look upon the face of Jesus. Later another slave asked, “See him – close up?” Demetrius nodded. “Crazy?” Demetrius shook his head emphatically. “King?” “No,” muttered Demetrius, “not a king.” “What is he then?” demanded the other slave. “I don’t know,” mumbled Demetrius, “but he is something more than a king.” https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
10) ) “Honey take a long, long look. That man died for you.” There is an inspiring anecdote about Abraham Lincoln. In April 1865, the slain body of Lincoln lay in state for a few hours in Cleveland, Ohio for mourners to pay their tribute. It was on its final journey from the nation’s capital to Springfield, Illinois. In the long queue, when an African American woman and her little son reached the president’s body, she lifted her little son up and said in a hushed voice: “Honey, take a long, long look. That man died for you.” — What that African American mother said to her child can be said about Jesus by every mother of every child. Pointing to the body of Jesus on the crucifix, she can say: “Honey, take a long, long look. That man died for you.” https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
11) “Little omission of kindness”: William McKinley, the 25th U.S. President, once had to choose between two equally qualified men for a key job. He puzzled over the choice until he remembered a long-ago incident. On a rainy night, McKinley had boarded a crowded streetcar. One of his prospective candidates was in the car. When an old woman carrying a basket of laundry struggled into the car looking for a seat, the job candidate pretended not to see her while McKinley obliged. Remembering the episode as a “little omission of kindness,” McKinley decided against the man on the streetcar. — Our decisions (even the small, fleeting ones – tell a lot about us, and whether we serve ourselves or Christ, our King, living in others. [Presidential Anecdotes by Paul F. Boller Jr. (Penguin Books).] https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
12) The Generals of Insignificance in our lives: In the Berlin Art Gallery there hangs a painting by the famous artist Adolph von Menzel that is only partially finished. It is called, “Frederick the Great Addresses His Generals before the Battle of Leuthen in 1757.” Menzel painstakingly painted the generals first, placing them around the outside of the painting as a background and leaving a bare patch in the middle of the painting for the King. But Menzel died before he could finish the painting. So, there is a painting full of generals but no king. — We often spend much time enthroning the generals of insignificance in our lives, and postpone inviting Jesus the King of Kings into our hearts till the last moment which is quite uncertain. As a result, many Christians die without putting Christ into the very center of their lives. The painting of our lives will never be complete until we place at its center Christ the King whose feast we celebrate today. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) “I shall be that soldier.” Sportsman and best-selling author Pat Williams, in his book The Paradox of Power, tells about one man who deserved to bear the name Christian. In fact, that was his name — Christian X – who was King of Denmark during World War II. The people of Denmark remember him the way any of us would want to be remembered, as a person of character, courage, and principle. Every morning, King Christian rode without bodyguards in an open carriage through the streets of Copenhagen. He trusted his people and wanted them to feel free to come up to him, greet him, and shake his hand. In 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Denmark. Like so many other European nations, this small Scandinavian country was quickly conquered. But the spirit of the Danish people and their king proved unquenchable. Even after the Nazis had taken control of the nation, King Christian X continued his morning carriage rides. He boldly led his people in a quiet but courageous resistance movement. On one occasion, the king noticed a Nazi flag flying over a public building in Copenhagen. He went to the German Kommandant and asked that the flag be removed. “The flag flies,” the Kommandant replied, “because I ordered it flown. Request denied.” “I demand that it come down,” said the king. “If you do not have it removed, a Danish soldier will go and remove it.” “Then he will be shot,” said the Kommandant. “I don’t think so,” said King Christian, “for I shall be that soldier.” The flag was removed. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14) Jesse Owens crushing Hitler’s Aryan Supremacy theory: The black man standing in the arena was an affront to Der Fuehrer’s authority. The scene was the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany. The black man was Jesse Owens of The Ohio State University representing the U.S.A. He was aptly called “the fastest human alive.” Der Fuehrer was Chancellor Adolf Hitler who had recently risen to power championing an arrogant theory that his “Aryan race” of “supermen” would conquer the world. In implementing his theory, he began systematically to stamp out the Jews in a bitter expression of prejudice and discrimination. Hitler also publicly denounced Blacks (Negroes as they were called then), as an inferior race. Jesse Owens, in his estimation, should not even be present at the Games. Jesse Owens was not only present, but he went on to win four gold medals in the 100-meter-dash, the 200-meter-dash, the broad jump and the 400-meter relay race. He demolished Hitler’s claim that the Aryan race was superior to all others. Furthermore, this soft-spoken black athlete embarrassed Hitler and undermined his pompous authority in the heart of the Fatherland. — Today is Christ the King Sunday in the liturgical calendar, an appropriate time for us to grapple with the whole question of authority. We may not be in danger of being seduced by an evil power like Hitler, but we may not be clear on the authority to whom we do give allegiance. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
15) Faith in, and fidelity to, the King: While battling the Philistines, King David was camped at a place called the Cave of Adullam. He was tired of fighting and was longing for a taste of home. David said, wishing out loud, “O that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” Three of his most able and faithful soldiers overheard the king, and took it upon themselves to go and get water from that well for him. It meant risking their necks, for they had to break through the camp of the Philistines to do it. When they brought the water to David, however, he refused to drink it because there was not enough water to give everyone in the army a drink. Instead, reognizing how dangerous it had been to get the water, and how highly his men regarded him. Instead of drinking it, he poured it out on the ground as an offering to the Lord. — David had already shown his faith in his men, and these three were responding with faith and love for their king (1 Chron 11:15-19). What about Christ? Does he inspire Faith in you? https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
16) In the Line of Fire. Dr. Gary Nicolosi compares God’s love to the 1993 hit film, In the Line of Fire. Clint Eastwood plays Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan. Horrigan had protected the life of the President for more than three decades, but he was haunted by the memory of what had happened thirty years before. Horrigan was a young agent assigned to President Kennedy on that fateful November day in Dallas in 1963. When the assassin fired, Horrigan froze in shock. For thirty years afterward, he wrestled with the ultimate question for a Secret Service agent: “Can I take a bullet for the President?” In the climax of the movie, Horrigan does what he had been unable to do earlier: he throws himself into the path of an assassin’s bullet to save the President. — Secret Service agents are willing to do such a thing because they believe the President is so valuable to our country that he is worth dying for. At Calvary the situation was reversed, says Dr. Nicolosi. The President of the Universe actually took a bullet for each of us. At the cross we see how valuable we are to God. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
17) The shivering and hungry King: This is a story about an Irish King. He had no children to succeed him on the throne, so he decided to choose his successor from among the people. The only condition set by the King, as announced throughout his kingdom, was that the candidate must have a deep love for God and neighbor. In a remote village of the kingdom lived a poor but gentle youth who was noted for his kindness and helpfulness to all his neighbors. The villagers encouraged him to enter the contest for kingship. They took up a collection for him so that he could make the long journey to the royal palace. After giving him the necessary food and a good overcoat, they sent him on his way. As the young man neared the castle, he noticed a beggar sitting on a bench in the royal park, wearing torn clothes. He was shivering in the cold while begging for food. Moved with compassion, the young man gave the beggar his new overcoat and the food he had saved for his return journey. After waiting for a long time in the parlor of the royal palace, the youth was admitted for an interview with the king. As he raised his eyes after prostrating before the king, he was amazed to find the King wearing the overcoat he had given to the beggar at the park and greeting him as the new King of the country. — When He comes in glory, Christ the King is going to judge us on the basis of our corporal and spiritual works of mercy. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
18) “If only I knew it was you!” Nelson Mandela was still a young man when he became leader of the banned African National Congress. At a certain stage of the struggle, he was forced to go underground. He used many disguises and in general remained as unkempt as possible, so that he would not be easily recognized. Once he was to attend a meeting in a distant part of Johannesburg. A priest had arranged with friends of his to put him up for the night. However, when Mandela arrived at the house, the elderly woman who answered the doorbell took one look at him and exclaimed, “We don’t want your kind here!” And she shut the door in his face. Later when she found out who it was she had turned away she was horrified and said to him, “If only I knew it was you, I’d have given you the best room in the house.” — Mandela did not let incidents like this deter him. Jesus, too, “appears to us in different guises.” How many times have we encountered Jesus in an unfamiliar, “most distressing disguise,” as Mother Teresa once described him. She recognized Jesus every time. Do we? At the Last Judgment will we have to say “If only we knew it was you … [Flor McCarthy in New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho.] https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
19) Gluttonous kings versus humble king: Hu Hai was the second emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC). Hu Hai indulged in the super luxurious life. He forced a large number of peasants from around the country to build Epang Palace and the mausoleum in Lishan Mountain. He ordered 50,000 soldiers to defend the capital and all parts of the country were forced ceaselessly to send provisions to the capital. Several of the Roman emperors, unmatched in wealth and power, fully demonstrated a capacity for luxury and gluttony. Among these emperors, Claudius (ruled AD 41–54) is famous. The luxury banquet laid out in the famous tomb of King Tutankhamen of Egypt (died 1352 BC), which was intended for the monarch to enjoy in the afterlife, included a gourmet selection of wines inscribed with names of wine districts— one may call them— the Nile Valley, the Nile Delta, and the Oases. Hundreds of attendants waited on them. — Against this background, there came a King, giving a shocking surprise to his followers. Jesus washed the feet of his followers and waited on them. He performed a gesture that had never been heard of, and commanded his followers to do the same, and to follow it as a new commandment in his Kingdom. (Fr. Bobby Jose). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
20) Large grave in the monastery: St. Theodosius was a monk who lived in Palestine in the 500s. After growing in holiness himself, he decided to start a new monastery, which soon attracted so many vocations that it became more of a monastic city than just a monastery. One of the first things he did when he founded his monastery was rather shocking. He dug a large grave, right in the middle of the cloister. When he had finished digging, the little group of curious monks gathered around the rectangular pit to get an explanation. Theodosius said simply: “Here you see a grave. Here we will all one day be buried and our bodies will return to the dust from which they were made. Remember this, my sons, so that you never stray from the Lord’s sure but narrow road of prayer and self-denial. It is better to die to ourselves each day and rise again on the Day of Judgment than indulge ourselves foolishly now and remain in the grave forever.” St Theodosius had learned well the lesson of today’s parable — Christ wants us to know what’s going to happen after death, so that we can make the right choices throughout our life. (E-Priest). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
21) The British Navy Welcomes the Devil: The main point of Pope Pius XI’s 1925 encyclical on the Fest of Christ the King was to remind Catholics that Christ matters not only for our private lives, but for our public lives too. That reminder is as valid in 2025 as it was in 1925. We are constantly bombarded by media messages that tell us to keep our religion safe at home and keep it out of the public square. But if we don’t defend and spread Christian values in society, what values will thrive there? If we don’t continue to bring Christ into culture, what will culture become? You may remember a story that was in the news a couple of years ago. It told how the British Royal Navy officially recognized and approved of the practice of Satanism. A naval technician named Chris Cramer, who explicitly claimed to be a devil worshipper, was granted permission to perform satanic rituals on his ship. A Royal Navy spokesman explained that the Navy was “an equal opportunity employer and we don’t stop anybody from having their own religious values.” — If we truly believe that Christ is the Savior, that there really is one God who created us and redeemed us, we should not be afraid to bring that Faith to play in the society around us. If we don’t bring it to play, others will bring into play other values and beliefs, and those may not be as innocent as we would like. All religions are not the same. All values systems are the not the same. Today, the Church is reminding us of this, and encouraging us to be faithful followers of the one, true God, who so loved the world that He sent His Son to be our Savior by winning for us the forgiveness of sins through his death on the cross. [Rev. Francis M. de Rosa, STL; E- Priest.] https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
22) Hilaire Belloc won the election: In 1908, the famous Anglo-French historian and writer, Hilaire Belloc [BELL-ock] ran for the British Parliament. His opponents tried to scare off his supporters by claiming that Belloc’s faithfulness to the Catholic Church would inhibit him from being objective. Belloc responded in a speech: “Gentlemen, I am a Catholic. As far as possible, I go to Mass every day. This [taking his beads out of his pocket] is a rosary. As far as possible, I kneel down and tell its beads every day. If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God for having spared me the indignity of being your representative.” The crowd was shocked for a minute, and then burst out in applause. Belloc went on to win that election, and many more. — If Catholics cannot bring Christ’s wisdom, goodness, and grace into our society, what do we have to offer? Our paltry human wisdom? Our own tendencies to selfishness? Our shortsightedness? Pope Pius XI’s encyclical stresses that Christ truly is the King of the Universe, that he will reign forever, and that the Church on earth is the beginning of his Kingdom. It is not enough, therefore, for Christians to hold onto their Faith just in their private lives. We must bring Christ and Christian values into culture, politics, and every sphere of society. If we truly believe in Christ, why would we be afraid of defending and spreading Christian values? Why would we let ourselves be bullied by secular fundamentalists who try to exclude Christ from culture? (E- Priest). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
23) The Obelisk in St Peter’s Square: In St Peter’s Square in Rome, there stands an ancient Egyptian obelisk – a single block of granite in the shape of the Washington monument, almost 100 feet high and weighing 330 tons. It is the oldest obelisk in Rome, dating from about 1850 BC. At that time, it had been erected as a monument to the Pharaoh, and it watched over two thousand years of Egyptian history – the longest reigning empire in history. It stood there when Abraham was called, when Joseph was viceroy of Egypt, when Moses led his people out of Egypt. At the time of Christ, soon after the Magi came to worship him, the Roman Emperor Caligula brought it to Rome as a sign of Rome’s superiority as conqueror of Egypt. There it stood for four more centuries, a symbol of the Roman Empire, the largest empire in human history. A golden urn with Julius Caesar’s ashes was placed on it. It stood in the arena where St Peter himself was martyred, along with hundreds of other early Christians. Then the barbarians invaded Rome, and in the Middle Ages it fell. Ivy grew around it. It was half-buried near the old Basilica. But the Church converted the barbarians, and when a new Christian culture emerged and flourished, and St. Peter’s Basilica was rebuilt and expanded, Pope Sixtus V had the obelisk re-erected in the center of the plaza. — No longer is it a reminder of the long-perished empires of Egypt, Rome and the barbarian hoards. Now it is topped with a bronze cross, and inside that bronze cross is a small fragment of the true cross, the cross on which Christ, conquering his Kingdom, was crucified. Now it serves the universal Kingdom that will have no end, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. (E- Priest). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
24) Empires Come and Go – The Church Endures: St Maximilian Kolbe: This is one of the reasons why tyrants hate the Catholic Church so much. Tyrants want total control – we call their governments “totalitarian regimes“. And so, they can’t stand the Catholic Church, because it is a constant reminder that they don’t have total control – that they can’t; only God can – and does! And so, just as Herod tried to do with Jesus, the eternal King, they try to stamp out the Church, the eternal Kingdom. The Roman emperors tried. The barbarian tribes of northern Europe tried. The Medieval Islamic Caliphs tried. The French Revolutionaries tried. Napoleon tried – he even kidnapped the Pope, twice! The Nazis tried, and the Communists tried too, giving the twentieth century the bittersweet honor of having more Christian martyrs than any previous century. The tyrants of every generation try to take over the throne that only Christ can occupy, but the Church continues to survive, grow, and spread. A favorite example of this unconquerability of our Faith is found in St. Maximilian Kolbe. He was the Franciscan priest who died famously in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. A fellow prisoner had been condemned to death. But the condemned man had a family, and St. Maximilian had none, so the saint offered himself as a substitute. It was the crowning action of a string of selfless deeds that he performed throughout his imprisonment. Even the horrors of that concentration camp couldn’t conquer his Christian spirit. He celebrated secret masses on crowded, plank bunk beds; he secretly heard confessions walking through the mud to work; he even gave hope to his fellow death-row inmates: for fifteen days they prayed and sang hymns in the bunker where they were being starved to death. This is Christ the King’s everlasting, unconquerable, universal Kingdom. This is our Kingdom. This is our Church. (E- Priest). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
25) The King of Kings is here! The old Cardinal, Hugh Latimer, often used to preach before King Henry VIII. It was customary for the Court preacher to present the King with something on his birthday, and Cardinal Latimer presented to Henry VIII a pocket handkerchief with this text in the corner –“Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge,” a very suitable text for King Henry. Then he preached very forcefully on the sins of lust and did not forget the personal application to the King. And the King said that the next time (the next Sunday), when the Cardinal preached, he must apologize. The next Sunday, when the Cardinal stood in the pulpit, he thought to himself, “Latimer, be careful about what you say, the King of England is here.” At the same time a voice in his heart said, “Latimer, Latimer, be careful about what you say, the King of Kings is here.” Strengthened by this, he preached what God wanted him to preach. -Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. We must enthrone Jesus as our King in our hearts and in our homes. (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
26) The real king? This happened a number of years ago when the late King Baudouin was reigning in Belgium. As the Constitutional Monarch, one of his duties was to “rubber stamp” all the bills passed by Parliament with his signature, thereby officially promulgating them as law. In 1990, the Belgian parliament passed a reprehensible bill that basically removed all legal sanctions against abortions. As a practicing and conscientious Catholic, King Baudouin objected to abortion vehemently, and so he could not and would not endorse the measure. But according to the constitution, he did not have a choice – as figurehead monarch, he had to ratify the bill, so by refusing to sign the bill into law, he was, in effect, attempting to veto the Parliament, and putting his throne on the line! The parliament simply dethroned him for one day, promulgated the law on that day when there was no reigning monarch in Belgium, and then re-instated him on the next day. –Granted, earthly monarchs need constitutional limitations to prevent the abuse of power. But, that’s not true for the Heavenly Monarch, the all-good, all-loving God, for any time we attempt to impede Christ’s reign in our lives, we’re just erecting an obstacle to the good that He could be in our lives. Clearly then, there’s false comfort and perilous perdition in that illusion of ultimate self-determination: if someone on the street swears at you and says, “Go to Hell!” sure, it’s easy to invoke your autonomy then and shrug it off with the slur, “I’m free – I don’t have to go anywhere I don’t want to go!” Yet the same people who declare self-determination their highest law and have thus pretended to enthrone themselves as the sovereign moral authority by dethroning in their hearts Christ the King, will discover, when HE solemnly speaks those same words as the judgment of eternal damnation, the absolute limits of personal freedom, limits constituted by the True and Almighty King of all creation. [John Ruscheinsky in Daily Online Reflections; quoted by Fr. Botelho.] https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
27) A king of love, mercy and justice: The contemporaries of Jesus grew up hearing the stories of the cruelty of the ancient kings and rulers. Biblical Accounts give vivid descriptions of the cruelty of the Assyrians. “In 722 BC Assyrian armies swept through the Near East. They became notorious for their cruelty. There are caves in Palestine to this day where we can find etched into cave-walls depictions of Assyrian cruelty: men beheaded, children disemboweled, pregnant women ripped open. The Assyrians did it. Up until the Assyrian assault there had been twelve tribes in Israel. The Assyrians slew ten. After 722 BC there were only two tribes left, Judah and Benjamin. The other ten will never be seen again. The kings of Assyria tormented the miserable world. They flung away the bodies of soldiers like so much clay; they made pyramids of human heads; they burned cities; they filled populous lands with death and devastation; they reddened broad deserts with carnage of warriors; they scattered whole countries with the corpses of their defenders as with chaff; they impaled ‘heaps of men’ on stakes, and strewed the mountains and choked rivers with dead bones; they cut off the hands of kings and nailed them on the walls, and left their bodies to rot with bears and dogs on the entrance gates of cities; they employed nations of captives in making brick in fetters; they cut down warriors like weeds, or smote them like wild beasts in the forests, and covered pillars with the flayed skins of rival monarchs.”
The contemporaries of Jesus also were familiar with the cruelties of the Roman emperors and King Herod. They knew how the kings in the ancient world treated their enemies. Against this background there arose a king with a different code of conduct. Hammurabi, the ancient Babylonian king, created the first written set of laws. Since the laws were clearly written down, everyone was expected — But Jesus, the king of Kings, summarized all the laws into two and wrote them down in the hearts of men. He taught, “Love God with your whole being and love your neighbors as yourself; Love one another as I have loved you!” In the ancient world where enemies were treated with great cruelty, and criminals were murdered mercilessly, this was a shocking message. But from the code of Jesus emerged the uniqueness of the Kingdom Jesus. On this code is grounded the power of his kingdom which will last forever. This has made the kingdom of Jesus different from all the kingdoms on the earth. History has seen the rise and fall of many empires. But history has not seen any empire other than the empire of Jesus that grows century after century. When the angel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of Jesus, he said, “His kingdom will have no end.”(Lk 1:33) The angel thus conformed the prophecy of Daniel: “His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed.” (Dan 7:14). Fr. Bobby Jose. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
28) Jesus is the king of hearts: Bishop Villegas in his book entitled Jesus In My Heart said that Jesus is king of hearts in every Christian. To explain this contention, Villegas used the image of a deck of cards which carries four images of kings. The first image is the king of clubs. A club is an extension of a violent hand. A club is an extension of a hostile man. Christ cannot be king of clubs because Jesus is not here to sow violence. Jesus is not here to sow hostility. Jesus is here as a king of peace. Jesus is here, gentle and humble of heart, not to sow enmity among us. Jesus is here so that all may be brothers and sisters to one another. Bishop Villegas continued that Jesus could not be king of spades. A spade is used to throw dirt. Jesus is not here to make our lives dirty. Jesus is here to cleanse us from everything that defiles us. Jesus is not the king of spades because Jesus is not in the grave. Jesus is risen from the dead. Jesus is not king of spades because the business of Jesus is not to make other people dirty, to make people look at the grave dug by spades. The business of Jesus is to give hope and purity to us. Jesus cannot be king of diamonds for he came to bless our poverty. Jesus came to bless our pains and our aches. Jesus is not here to make our lives easier and more comfortable. Jesus is here to give meaning and purpose to our crosses and pains and trials. But Jesus can only be king of hearts. This is the kind of king that Jesus is. He is the king of the universe because he is the king of hearts. (Fr. T.S. Benitez). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
29) “COME unto Me”: A wonderful statue of Jesus the Christ exists in the cathedral of Denmark’s fairy-tale city of Copenhagen. The sculptor was the master Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen who died in 1844. He chose to sculpt a monumental Christ, the Christus, that would reveal Him in all His majesty. His hands would be raised as befitted His awesome power. His face would look out regally on everyone and everything. He would indeed be the King of kings, the Man in total control. It was done. “Jesus is the greatest figure in human history,” the sculptor said when the clay model was finished, “and this statue will so represent Him.” However, a funny thing happened on the way to the unveiling. The statue was left in a shed near the water. The dampness had its way with the clay Christ statue. The upraised hands had drooped. They no longer commanded. Rather, they besought. The fiercely upturned face had lowered itself onto the master’s chest. The person who wore this face had known many problems and was compassion itself. This was no longer a King before whom one would grovel and stutter, “Your Royal Majesty.” Rather, it was a Shepherd solicitous for every one of His sheep. At first, Thorvaldsen was bitterly disappointed by the accident. Then he realized after reflection that this was a more accurate Jesus than the one he had originally conceived. Indeed, it might have been providentially planned. So, he left it undisturbed. His original intention had been to inscribe the dictum “FOLLOW MY COMMANDS” on the base of the statue. But now he realized that was no longer appropriate. Instead, he chiseled the softer invitation, “COME UNTO ME.” — To this day, this benign Nazarene touches the hearts and spirits of those who enter the Copenhagen cathedral. It is reported that often Thorvaldsen’s masterpiece reduces spectators to tears. In most probability, it has more of a genuine effect on them than his majestic Christ ever would have had. The statue reminds them of His famous words to a puzzled Pontius Pilate in today’s Gospel, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (Father James Gilhooley). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
30) “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” I am sure that most of you have read the immortal play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. After the assassination of Julius Caesar by Brutus and Cassius, the body of Caesar lies before the people. It is then that Mark Anthony gives his famous speech reminding the people how much Caesar loved and cared for them. He said, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him; the evil that men do lives after them; the good is often interred with their bones. So be it with Caesar. The noble Brutus has told you that Caesar was ambitious. If it were so, it was a grievous fault and grievously has Caesar answered it. Caesar was my friend, faithful and just to me. He has brought many captives here to Rome, whose ransom did the general coffers fill.” Then he mentioned Caesar’s will in which he made the Roman citizens his heir. — Often, we forget the good and great things people do to us. It took Mark Anthony to remind the Roman citizens of Caesar’s love and care. Then their hearts were set on fire. This morning may we remember the great love, care and power which Christ has bestowed upon us. https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
31) Jesus alone founded his empire on love . Napoleon, writing in exile on St Helena, wrote these famous words: “Alexander (The Great), Caesar, Charlemagne and I have founded empires. But on what? On force! Jesus alone founded his empire on love; and at this hour, millions of men would die for him. He is everywhere proclaimed, loved and adored and his sway is extended over all the earth” — The Church still stands – and it always will…as long as there are people ready to profess their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. (Fr. Tony Kayala) https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
32) Bring Us to the Joy of His Kingdom: “You would have no power over me whatever,” Jesus said to Pilate, “were it not given you from above; Therefore, he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” (Jn 19:11) Even the most powerful kings get their authority from Christ who was designated by His Father to be the “universal king.” Italy’s last king, Humbert II, who died in exile on March 18, 1983, learned through bitter experience the transiency of earthly kingship. Umberto was the son of King Victor Emmanuel III. Victor, who reigned from 1900 to 1946, was largely a figurehead. When Mussolini became Italy’s most powerful personage in 1922, Victor weakly named him prime minister. Thus, whether he wanted to or not, he became a partner in the building of Fascism. True, the King took a firmer stand when the Allies invaded Italy in 1943. He dismissed the Duce from office and installed an anti-Fascist as premier. But Victor Emmanuel had already compromised himself, so he abdicated on May 9, 1946, in favor of his son. Prince Umberto accepted the crown but wore it all too briefly. On June 2, 1946, the Italians voted to replace the monarch with a republic, and sentenced the new monarch to perpetual exile. Though Humbert did not abdicate, he resigned himself to exile. Italians nicknamed him “il Re del Maggio” – “the May King”: his reign had lasted only one month. Humbert passed the rest of his life in Portugal. He led a decent, humble, non-political life; but he missed his beloved land. In 1982 the ex-king, now in his seventies, fell ill with a terminal disease. He gently petitioned the Italian government to allow him to visit his homeland for one last time. The government was willing but it would take some time to change the law about his exile. The delay proved too long. When Umberto died in Switzerland, the last word he uttered was “Italia!” Even in death, he could not be buried in Rome. Instead, he was interned with his forefathers in mountains of Savoy in southeast France. Despite his frustration, Umberto made one last kingly gesture. Since 1453 his family had been owners of the Holy Shroud of Turin, the famous linen sheet that seems to have been the burial cloth of Jesus. This he bequeathed to the popes in his will. It was a high tribute of a suffering earthly monarch to the King of Kings. It was also a meek prayer that He who reigned from the cross might welcome the lesser prince into the only permanent commonwealth – the kingdom of heaven. (Fr. Robert F. McNamara). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
33) What can I possibly learn from a dying felon who was justly convicted? 2,000 years ago, the mighty pagan Roman Empire ruled a giant portion of the known world, and persecuted the newly emerging Catholics for three hundred years simply because they refused to deny the Truth about Jesus. But today, that pagan empire that was based on power is completely gone. In fact, not a single government that existed 2,000 years remains in operation today. However, the Roman Catholic Church survives in the fullness of His truth! It is based not on power, but on powerlessness. In our RCIA[nowOCIA] classes and classes on the Early Church Fathers, the Creed has crucial and central importance. In that Creed, we profess our Faith – the foundation of our Catholicism –“I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ…on the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures.” — We are personally professing that this man called Jesus, who suffered and died on the cross, rose again – is indeed the King of Kings, the Messiah. Somehow, he is with us at all times, even in our own suffering; he is still Christ our King. This is why today’s Gospel (Lk 23:35-43) is so ironic. All those who ridiculed and reviled and jeered and sneered at him did not accept him as Messiah; they thought the Messiah would manifest himself in power. Yet here was their King and God right before their eyes, and they did not recognize him because of his powerlessness! But our Gospel does indicate that at least one person recognized and accepted Jesus, defending him against the taunts of the criminal crucified on their left, who was saying: “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong!’ And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come into your kingdom.’ And [Jesus] said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you wil be with Me in Paradise!’”(Lk 24:30-43).
Jesus’ words of forgiveness bring hope to our hearts. If a criminal can make a last moment’s conversion, then there is hope for me if I humbly return to him. That is Good News! (Fr. Robert F. McNamara). https://frtonyshomilies.com/).L/25
“Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No 62) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com
Visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle C homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies of Fr. Nick’s collection of homilies or Resources including mine, in the CBCI website, https://www.cbci.in. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020(, Fr. Anthony Kadavil, C/o Fr. Joseph M. C. , Pastor, St. Agatha Church, 1001 Hand Avenue, Bay Minette, Al 36507)
Fr Tony's Homilies 
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