YEAR B: HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING (10)
YEAR B: HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING
HOMILY THEME: HE CAME TO TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH
BY: Fr. Clem C. Aladi.
HOMILY:
GOSPEL: JOHN 18:33-37
“Those who testify to the truth belongs to the kingdom of God and are ruled by Christ their king”
We have gathered my dearest friends on this last Sunday of the ordinary time of the year to testify publicly that Christ is our king.
The readings of today describe the enthronement of the victorious Christ as King in Heaven in all His glory. This feast was instituted in 1925, by Pope Pius XI who proclaimed: Pax Christi in Regno Christi” (the peace of Christ in the reign of Christ).
In the gospel of today, Jesus asserts before Pilate that he is a king and clarifies that his kingdom “does not belong to this world.” He rules as King by serving others rather than by dominating them; his authority is rooted in truth, not in physical force, and his Kingdom, the reign of God, is based on the Beatitudes. Jesus has come to bear witness to the truth: about God and His love for us, about Himself as the Son of God and about us as the children of God. There are plenty of texts proving the kingship of Jesus both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament of the Bible. The first and the second readings of today also testifies that Christ is the King. He is the alpha and the omega, glorified by God and coming in the clouds.
Every Kingdom has a King and vice versa. Every kingdom has subjects. Bona fide subjects of a kingdom are called citizens. There are loyal ( who pledge allegiance and undying loyalty to the king) and disloyal citizens of a kingdom. Those who obey the laws ( the law of love and truth) of the kingdom are protected and enjoy the kingship of the ruler while the disobedient ones suffer punishments. Christ reigns as a king, His kingdom is not a certain geographical circumscription but the human heart. Those who live by and testify to the truth belongs to His kingdom and are citizens of His heavenly kingdom. Those who reject the truth make themselves non-citizens and enemies of the kingdom by their denial of the rule of Christ in their lives; they are ruled by worldly attractions.
ARE YOU A LOYAL OR DISOBEDIENT SUBJECT?DO YOU BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTH OR DENY IT? We live in a world of many “lies”, the devil has come to divert peoples attention from the truth. Christ is the truth, the way and the life. Those who live by Him have a life. The devil has come to steal and destroy the souls of those who reject the truth and to turn them away from the saving truth. Let’s us acknowledge Christ and follow in His footsteps. Our mission is not easy in a secularist world that is a slave to money, that tolerates only relative truths that can be manipulated at will by the powerful. To pretend to possess an absolute truth becomes insupportable and a subject of exclusion. The Truth of Jesus, Son of God and Saviour of the world, no longer has a place in public areas. If we bear witness openly, we must be ready to pay the price of our impertinence by suffering derision, ostracism and persecution. The kingdom of God is under attack by the kingdoms of darkness. We are children of light lets us reject every form of deception of the devil and his subjects in the kingdom of darkness. Only the Jesus the truth will set you free
*”You shall know the truth and only the truth shall set you free”* (cf. John 8:32) lies keeps us in bondage, lies are many but the truth is one.
WHO IS RULING YOUR LIFE? your emotions, worldly affections or Christ our King? We need to accept Christ the King as our Lord 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 will.
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,”* and demonstrated that love by dying for us sinners. *We accept Jesus as our King of love when we love others as Jesus loved, unconditionally, sacrificially and with agape love.*
Let us by our actions and words bear united witness to the truth for whose course Christ died for us. *Let earthly kings and kingdoms embrace the truth and work towards building up a human society where everyone finds love, justice, peace and protection.*
In the midst of various forms of deception in society today, may we remain courageous Christians who will stand by the truth at all times without fear of any loss or favours, for only then shall we bear witness to the truth. May God be your shield and protection from earthly deceptions. May Christ reign in your life, in your family and in everything you do.
I keep you and your family always in my prayers.
Fr. Clem C. Aladi.
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