Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King which was meant as a reminder that communism or fascism or materialism was not or ought not to be king of our lives. But then why all these readings about sheep and goats? Our king is a shepherd king and it poses the question to us: who is your king? If you say Christ, are you sure?
The king in ancient time gave you security and protection. He cared for his people and protected them against other kings and provided social and economic protection. Which king do you look to for security? Money! If you have money in your account, you feel safe. If you dont, you can’t sleep, can’t pay your taxes or your rent. If you have money, you feel secure or at least have the impression of security.
If you believe that Christ is your king why the lustful thoughts? Christ didn’t do that. Why do you steal or get angry or think yourself better than the other? Christ didn’t do those things. Maybe your king is the devil since lust, adultery, anger, theft, gossip, selfishness are fruits of the devil.
But Christ wants to reign in you and in your universe and in your life. He wants to put your enemies under his feet. He’s the only one who can give you real security. He tells us that we cannot serve two masters. If your affections are king or your family or your projects, then he can’t be. We always go to the lower master.
Like the psalm says, the Lord is my shepherd and there is nothing I shall want. Is that true? Do you desire a better job or better health or a bigger house or new car or better behaved kids or more time to travel or is nothing lacking in your life? The psalm uncovers our hypocrisy. Often God is one more thing in my life or church is one more thing or the eucharist is one more thing.
I hope you don’t misinterpret the gospel about the little ones. When you serve them you serve Christ. Who are these little ones? The homeless, or the ones you help at the soup kitchen? Yes and no. When we serve the poor and give away turkeys it’s a good thing but the danger is it may make me feel that I’m a very good Christian. Look at me doing these good things, which are good but what is more complicated is to ask forgiveness of your father who left you and who you hated for so many years. Or to forgive your spouse for that infidelity. These are the littles ones, the poor ones mentioned in the gospel. The little ones are your spouse or the disobedient or autistic child or the troublesome parishioner. If it suits me, I help them. If it’s my boss who’s unfair to me or my brother-in-law who hates me, then it doesn’t suit me!
These are the little one the gospel is referring to. Christ is in that one, the one who is my enemy, the one who did an injustice to me, the one who humbled me. He/she is Christ!
Christ rules from the cross which is his throne. He is crowned with thorns not a laurel wreath. His kingdom is there! He wants to help us from the cross.
In the catacombs in Rome, which are Christian cemeteries, there are many images of the good shepherd painted on the walls. But there is one painting that has the good shepherd not with a sheep on his shoulders but with a goat. You can tell it is a goat because it has horns and sheep don’t have them. The good shepherd is carry a goat?? A goat does whatever he wants, a goat would represent a person who lives the faith as he wants.
I am that goat. But a goat can become a sheep. Christ can change us without ceasing to be who we are. He’s the one who can make us a sheep. This is a good news! You can still be a goat when you have Christ inside you. If Christ is in you, there’s a lamb in you. It’s not I who live, but Christ who lives in me. He does this from the cross. He reigns in our life, from our cross, showing himself glorious in our cross. He makes of us docile sheep being led to do the Father’s will. He leads us to green pastures where there is calm and cool waters!