{"id":957,"date":"2019-11-19T12:53:31","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T12:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=957"},"modified":"2019-11-19T12:53:31","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T12:53:31","slug":"24-november-2019-c-thirty-fourth-sunday-of-year-c-feast-of-christ-the-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=957","title":{"rendered":"24 November 2019 (C) Thirty-Fourth Sunday of Year (c)\u2014Feast of Christ the King"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The bible<\/em> as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/em><\/strong>Reflections on the\nkingship of Christ      <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to the Feast of\nChrist the King<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pope Pius XI<\/a>\ninstituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925 in response to the then growing\nnationalism<\/a>\nand secularism. It was first celebrated on the last Sunday of October. In 1969 Pope Paul VI<\/a>\ngave the celebration a new title: (The Solemnity of) \u201cOur Lord Jesus Christ\nKing of the Universe\u201d. He also gave it a new date: the last Sunday in the\nliturgical year, a time for reflection on the kingdom of God\nand of Christ on earth and the fulfilment of God\u2019s plan for humanity at the end\nof time. The feast is also a fitting preparation for the new liturgical year\nwith Advent. The celebration was also adopted by Anglicans, Lutherans, and many\nother Protestants with the new Revised\nCommon Lectionary, <\/em>as well as by the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia. The\nfeast has a very rich biblical background, with texts containing various\naspects of the doctrine behind it. These are presented in the Lectionary\nreadings over the three-year cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading <\/em>(2 Samuel 5:1-3). They anointed David king of Israel. <\/em>Christ\nthe King, as the title over the Cross indicated is Jesus of Nazareth, King of\nthe Jews, Jesus son of David. It all began with anointing of David as king,\nabout a thousand years before the birth of Jesus son of David, to whom the\nangel promised Mary that the Lord God would give the throne of David his\nancestor, and that of his kingdom there would be no end (Luke 1:32-33). Today\u2019s\nreading tells of this anointing of David as king. In the early centuries of\ntheir settlement in the Promised Land the Jewish tribes lived without any king,\nin two great groupings, the northern group (later to become the kingdom of Israel)\nand Judah.\nAt a given time they wished to have a king over them, like the nations round\nabout. At first there was resentment to this idea, as endangering their\nfundamental belief that their only king was the Lord God. However in due time\nthey did get a king, Saul from the northern group. After the death of Saul all\nthe tribes of Israel\nanointed David as king of Israel,\nboth of the northern and southern tribes. This was but the beginning. God\npromised David that his throne would be established for ever (2 Samuel 7:16).\nThe Davidic dynasty did not last. It ended with the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 (586) and\nwould never be restored historically. Judah was subject to the Babylonians, the\nGreeks and later the Romans, but the hope for the coming of a successor to\nDavid, the son of David, persisted, giving rise to Jewish messianism, preparing\nthe way for Jesus as fulfilment of the promise to David, and the development in\nthe New Testament and the Christian Church of the rich meanings of the\nuniversal kingship of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm 121[122]). I rejoiced when I heard them say: Let us go\nto God\u2019s house\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading\n<\/em>(Colossians 1:12-20). He has created\na place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves. <\/em>This passage speaks\nof believers having created for them a place in the kingdom of the Son that God\nloves, hence a very apt reading for this feast. Because of the immense dignity\nof the Christian calling, Paul begins with a prayer of thanks to the Father\n\u201cwho has qualified us (believers) to share in the inheritance of the saints in\nlight\u201d. For the Jewish monks of Qumran their\ninheritance meant the association of the earthly community with the heavenly\ncommunity, with the \u201clot of the saints, with the children of heaven\u201d, by which\nthe angels seem to be meant. In our present text the saints may indicate the\nangels, but more probably the sanctified members of Christ\u2019s kingdom on earth.\nThis is the kingdom of light, Christ being the light of the world. The kingdom of God implies holiness, redemption and the\nforgiveness of sin. These words re-echo the words of Christ to Paul at his\nconversion, as given in Acts 26:18: \u201cI send you to the Gentiles, to open their\neyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to\nGod, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and have a place among those who\nare sanctified\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            After these opening words on the kingdom of God, of God\u2019s beloved Son, the text\nmoves on to the a hymn on the supremacy of Christ. The hymn on the supremacy of\nChrist in the universe and the church re-uses images of Wisdom personified in\nthe Old Testament (in particular Proverbs 8). Christ as the image perfectly\nreveals the invisible God. As first-born he has priority to, and supremacy over,\nall creation. Every created thing had it origin in him, and was created for\nhim, including various ranks of angels (Thrones etc.). As stated elsewhere in\nthe New Testament (Hebrews 1:3), Christ holds all things together, a concept of\nGreek philosophy found also in the Old Testament (Wisdom 1:7; Ecclesiasticus\n43:26). As stated elsewhere (Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:15) Christ is the head of the\nChurch, his body. Christ is the Beginning, and by his resurrection is the\nfirst-born from the dead, ushering in a new age, and confirming belief and hope\nin the resurrection of our bodies. Next comes .a verse to be rendered literally\nas: \u201cAnd it pleased God to make all the entire fullness (in the original Greek\ntext: pleroma<\/em>) dwell in him\u201d. (Some\ntexts render: \u201cBecause God wanted all perfection to be found in him\u201d.) The text\nis to be understood through Colossians 2:9: \u201cFor in him (that is Christ) the\nwhole fullness of God dwells bodily\u201d, that is, all that God wants to\ncommunicate himself in Christ so as to introduce us to Christ and make us\nperfect in him. Some see this idea close to that of the work of the Holy\nSpirit. This all-powerful presence of God in Christ is intended to make through\nhim a universal reconciliation, including both heaven and earth. This\nreconciliation was effected by the blood of the cross, by Christ\u2019s death on the\ncross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/em> (Luke 23:35-43). Lord, remember me when you come into your\nkingdom. <\/em>This beautiful passage is also about Jesus, the king and his\nkingdom. The title over the cross identified him as Jesus king of the Jews:\n\u201cThis is the king of the Jews\u201d. He is mocked by the leaders of the Jews, the\nsoldiers, and one of the criminals. The soldiers say: \u201cIf you are king of the\nJews, save yourself\u201d The repentant thief expresses belief in Jesus\u2019 kingship:\n\u201cLord, remember me when you come into your kingdom\u201d. We are not informed what\nthe thief thought what this kingdom was or would be. For Luke and New Testament\nwriters Jesus would enter his kingdom at his resurrection and ascension. Jesus\nsays that on that same day the good thief would be with Jesus in paradise. For\none section of Judaism paradise was the place where the souls of the just would\nabide before the resurrection. A central message of the passage is that at the\nhumiliating crucifixion scene Jesus was proclaimed king, a scene in which he\nwas mocked and forgave his enemies. The scene would bear witness to one\nimportant aspect of the kingship of Christ the king, kingship through\nhumiliation not as this world knew kingship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection &\nDialogue<\/em><\/strong>: Reflections on the kingship of Christ<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his letters Paul rarely speaks of the kingdom of God.\nIn exhorting the Roman Christian community to live in harmony, he remarks: \u201cThe\nkingdom of God is not food and drink but righteous\nand peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). To the Corinthian\ncommunity, given to debates and personality cult, he writes that the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in the\ntransforming power of the Gospel (1 Cor 4:2). The author of the letter to the\nColossians, as can be seen in today\u2019s second reading, prays that the Christian\ncommunity there \u201cmay be strengthened with all power, according to God\u2019s\nglorious might, for all endurance, patience and joy, giving thanks to the\nFather who has qualified us to share in the inheritance on the saints in light.\nHe has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son<\/em>, in who we\nhave redemption and forgiveness of sins\u201d (Col 1:11-14). For Paul, then, the kingdom of God is a present reality as well as an\notherworld eternal one.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kingdom\n of God was central to the\nteaching of Jesus. He proclaimed it coming in his teaching and miracles. He was\ndestroying the power of Satan. Without mention of the kingdom he also made\nhimself central to his mission. \u201cHe who loves father or mother more than me is\nnot worthy of me …; he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not\nworthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it and he who loses his life for\nme sake will find it\u201d (Matthew 10:37-39). Without mention of the kingdom the\napostle Paul stresses the centrality of Christ for believers and all creation.\n\u201cGod has highly exalted him, … that at the name of Jesus every knee should\nbow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that\nJesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). The kingdom of God is centered on obedience, the\nobedience of Christ and the obedience of faith of believers. Christ was\nobedient to the Father, obedient even to death (Phil 2:8); he learned obedience\nthrough what he suffered (Hebrews 5:8). Acceptance of the Christian faith means\nobedience of heart and mind to Christ and his saving work. Paul had been given\nthe mission to \u201cbring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his (i.e.\nChrist\u2019s) name among all the nations … who are called to belong to Christ\u201d\n(Romans 1:5-6; see also Rom 15:18)). The mystery of the Father\u2019s saving plan,\nkept secret for long ages, revealed through Christ, the Church and Paul, was\nmade known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to\nbring about the obedience of faith\u201d (Rom 16:25-26). Believers are sanctified\nthrough obedience to Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2, 22). The life of Christians is\na success against all obstacles when their obedience is complete (2 Corinthians\n10:5-6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regard to today\u2019s readings, we are reminded\nof the simple origins of the Davidic kingship in the anointing of David as king\nof all Israel; the second reading stresses the presence of the kingdom in this\nworld, a kingdom of light, in a life of freedom from sin, while the Gospel text\nstresses that Christ reigns as king from the cross.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A. The bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) B. Reflection & Dialogue: Reflections on the kingship of Christ      Introduction to the Feast of Christ the King Pope … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-readings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=957"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":958,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions\/958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}