King of the Universe

"All things are summed up in him" (Eph 1:10)  We bring our liturgical year to a close this week with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, also known more familiarly as Christ the King. Today's Gospel passage, however, does not paint the image of a gold-crowned, splendidly robed king, but presents Jesus on the cross in conversation with the Good Thief to whom he promises paradise. This is a stark reminder that the mission of Jesus was to save sinners, us, to bring liberty to captives, sight to the blind and freedom to those imprisoned in chains of selfishness, self-doubt and self-sufficiency.  The thief, known as Dismas, recognizes Jesus, defends him and humbly asks to be remembered in the kingdom of this man he acknowledges as innocent and a king. This is the stance of a citizen of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus never went about building up wealth or an army to establish his kingdom, but reached out to the lowly, healed the sick, fed the hungry and forgave sinners, thus showing us what he meant by the Kingdom of God and how he saw his kingship."I am a king",  (Jn 18:33), he told Pilate, but not in the usual sense. So this is a day, not only of the triumph of his mission over evil, and the gathering of all of creation to present to the Father, but it is also a day to remind us how we are to participate in the establishment of his reign.  "Let us rejoice and be glad in it."(Ps 118:24).
Bro. Rene