34^th Sunday (Year B)

Solemnity of Christ the King

Daniel 7:13-14; Ps. 93; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18: 33-37

Is Jesus the King of my Life?

Is He the King over part of my life or every aspect of my life?

Beloved, today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. By this celebration, we bring our Liturgical Year to an end. Next week, we shall begin the Season of Advent. The Solemnity of Christ the King was established, as a universal feast, by Pope Pius XI in 1925. This was a time when the whole world was suffering because of the impact of the First World War, Communism, and the rise of the Nazis in Germany. It was at this time that the Church established this feast to remind the whole world that true PEACE, SECURITY, JUSTICE, and THE JOY OF LIFE come only when we accept Jesus as our King and allow him to reign in our hearts.

Our first reading from Daniel is a prophecy that was meant to bring hope to the People of Israel when they were suffering Babylon and were crying for a savior.  In this prophecy, God told them that the solution to all their problems lies in accepting the “Son of Man”, as their King. What is shocking about this prophecy is that the kingship of the "Son of Man" will radically different from what the Israelites were expecting because the “Son of Man” will be a king not only for Israel but also for all peoples and nations. This means he will unite Israel and her enemies, and indeed all the nations of the world, as one people with one King. That is not what the people of Israel wanted at that time. They wanted a king who would make Israel superior to other nations but not a king who would make other nations equal to Israel. So, you see, their understanding of the solution to their problems was different from what God saw as the solution.

This is the same "Son of Man" we celebrate, today, as our King. Our second reading from the Book of Revelation tells us that Jesus is the King who loved us so much that he washed away our sin with His blood and made all of us, people from all nations, one kingdom for God. Today, we celebrate that same King who is the solution to all our problems; but the King whose approach to solving our problems is radically different from what we might see as the best approach, or what the world teaches us as the best approach.  In our Gospel, Jesus makes this point very clear to Pilate:  My Kingdom does not come from this world; I am not a King the way you expect me to be. I am the King of Truth, I do things according to the Will of My Father; and I am a King for those who love the Truth.  

Beloved, because Jesus’ Kingship is so different and his approach to solving the problems of our lives is so different form our own approach, we, at times, find it very difficult to agree with him and surrender our lives totally to him. Therefore, as we celebrate this feast the question I ask myself is: “Is Jesus really the King of my life?

As I reflect on this question, I see that there are areas in my life where Jesus is the King; but there are other areas where I am the King. These are the areas where I struggle to do His will; and they are also the areas where I struggle with sin. I do not know about you; maybe you are not like me; you’ve got it all figured out. But I struggle when my approach to solving a problem is different from what Jesus tells me to do.

However, beloved, if you are like me, do not lose hope. We can start all over again. All is not lost because we serve a King who is merciful, a King who knows our weaknesses, a King who is always ready to give us a new start. Advent is a new beginning. Indeed, we can rise again! Let us renew our allegiance to Christ and resolve to surrender all aspects of our lives to Him. If we do, we will have life; and have it to the full.

32^nd Sunday (Year B)

1 Kings 17:10-16; Ps 146; Heb. 9:24-26; Mark 12:38-44

We are a Royal Priesthood:

People consecrated to offer a sacrifice, which is pleasing to God.

My dear People of God, how many priests do we have here this morning? Our second reading today reminds us that there is only ONE High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is always pleading for us before the Father. He offered his blood for two reasons:  a/ to take away the sin of the world; and b/ to help us gain salvation. So, There is One High Priest, Jesus, but all of us who are baptized in his name are also priests.

What is the principal duty of a priest? It is to offer sacrifice: his/her own life joined to the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. We are a royal priesthood and a chosen race; a people consecrated to offer a sacrifice pleasing to God (1 Peter 2: 9).  That is what we come here every day to do; and that explains why in the Mass, during the consecration, the ministerial priest invites all the other priests (all the baptized) to join their offerings to His in the words:

Pray Brothers and Sisters that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father…. And you responds: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hand, for the praise and glory of His name, for our good and the good of all His holy Church

Beloved, our readings today teach us how to offer our lives as a sacrifice in a way that is pleasing to God. The first reading tells us that God will call on us to offer sacrifices at some time in our lives that might not make sense to us, according to human reasoning. The widow of Zarephath was not a Jew; she had many problems of her own. She had lost her husband and did not have enough food to take care of herself and her only son. In fact, she told Elijah that she and her family would die after eating the little food she had. Yet, it is at this point in her life that God calls on her to feed the prophet and she is actually asked to feed the prophet first before she thinks about herself and her son. If you look at this request from the human perspective, you will say this does not make sense. But when she obeyed, three things happened:

Yes, that is what God can do. That is what happens when we dare to obey God even when it is difficult to do so. He always knows what He is about. We might not understand Him, but He knows how to make a way in the desert, divide the Red Sea, and bring water out of a rock. These are things that are above the human mind but they are things that happen when people obey God in difficult times. So if we dare to obey God even when our minds tell us it does not make sense, we shall experience the miracle of God.

In the gospel, Jesus warns us against developing the attitude of the Pharisees and the Scribes who loved to offer sacrifices in the Temple but were not ready to offer their hearts to God. They cared more about people’s opinions than what God thought of them. Rather, Jesus invites us to learn from the poor widow who was concerned more about what God thought of her offering and so offered her very self to God.

My dear People of God, we are priests called to offer a sacrifice pleasing to God. This may not always be easy but if we obey, we shall glorify God, we shall bring salvation to somebody, and we shall experience the miracle that comes from obeying God even when human reason tells us it does not make sense to obey Him. May God give us the grace to obey Him, in good and in bad times.

28^th Sunday (Year B)

Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm 90; Heb. 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30

“What must I do to have eternal life?”

What is eternal Life? Our first reading tells us that the most important thing in life is to gain the Wisdom of God, to be able to see things as God sees them and to act as God acts. Our second reading tells us that it is only God’s Word, i.e His wisdom that brings life. The most important thing in life, therefore, is to live as God lives; a life that reflects the wisdom of God. This is what Jesus defines as eternal life: To know the Father and the Son whom He has sent (John 17:3). This knowledge is not just cognitive but experiential. Thus, eternal life, in the Bible, means living the quality of life that God lives.  So another way of posing the question that the rich young man asked is this “What must I do to actually live like God?”

In our Gospel today, we read about a young man who is rich and has followed God’s commandments but still feels empty and knows deep in his heart that, despite his acts of righteousness, he still does not possess eternal life (He is still not living like God). He comes to Jesus to learn how to gain eternal life.

If you pay attention to the reading, you will notice that St. Mark does not tell us where this young man came from or where he went to after his encounter with Jesus. This is the evangelist’s way of telling us that the young man is lost. Regardless of all the good things he had done and the blessings he had received from God (his riches), the young man is lost, he does not have eternal life. So, it is possible to do many good things according to the Law and still be lost? YES

This young man had a good desire; he asked the right question but still could not accept eternal life (God’s way of living) because he lacked commitment. He could accept some of God’s Wisdom, such as the commandments he told Jesus he had lived, but not God’s Wisdom of detachment and the offering of oneself to be broken for others.

Beloved in Christ, the story of the rich young man teaches us that it is not enough to desire eternal life; it is not enough to come to Jesus and ask the right question; We can only embrace eternal life, only and only when we are ready to commit our lives to God and accept ALL His Wisdom. Yes, we need three things: The right desire, the right question and, above all, commitment.