Weekend Reflections for 11/22/19

     What's in a king? The upcoming solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe brings to a close our Church liturgical year, before the new year begins the first Sunday of Advent. 

     How do we envision Christ as king? Shakespeare clearly had his pulse on the true nature of kingship when he wrote his great work King Lear. The king in the play initially lords his power over the people, and his kingship is but a show of force. But after he is stripped of his regal privileges by two of his scheming daughters, he learns compassion for the common folk by walking with them for the first time. Thus he arrives at an understanding of true kingship--and humility, he learns, is the key. No king worth his salt can ever lose track of the commoner, but rather must always keep his plight in the forefront of his mind and in his heart.
   

 This Sunday's Gospel invites us to reflect on true kingship as manifested by Jesus on the cross. What a paradox for a kingly throne! Next to Jesus, the crucified thief asks Jesus to remember him when he enters his Kingdom. Jesus responds that he will indeed be with him in that Kingdom "today"!

     Here we realize, perhaps for the first time in history, that God's kingdom is one of Compassion. And there is nothing more powerful than Godly Compassion. It not only sustains the entire universe, but even more amazingly, redeems it.

     You and I are baptized into that same Kingship of Christ and thus are called to be instruments of his radical Compassion. Thus the mark of authentic kingship we are all called to exercise is a powerful spirit of Compassion that meets people in their misery and draws them into God's Mercy.

     Christ Our King, reign in our hearts and minds and bodies!  

-Fr. Anthony Wieck, SJ