Foreign Allegiance

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Foreign Allegiance”

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Year B

As we celebrate the end of our Liturgical Year with the Feast of Christ the King, we are reminded that, like Jesus, “our kingdom is not of this world”. As Disciples of Christ, our loyalties are to Him and to the Kingdom that He revealed, suffered and died for and invited us to share.

But Jesus’ path of least resistance before Pilate when He refuses to summon “his attendants… to keep from being handed over” doesn’t in any way mean that the Kingdom of God is for the weak and the timid. On the contrary, those who strive to live in His Kingdom will be called upon to make greater sacrifices than those who employ armed resistance. A much higher price than dying on the battlefield will be demanded. The cost to be borne by those seeking entry into the Kingdom Jesus establishes is self-surrender; it is the slow and agonizing death to self that results from the taking up of our daily crosses, as when we suffer the hardships, disappointments, and sorrows of this life knowing that we are not alone or forgotten by God; it is in the dying to self, as when we forgive others for the hurts they have caused us or when we place the needs of others before our own. It is in making our best effort to follow where Jesus leads us on our journey of faith and to trust in His divine providence that… it will all work out for the good.

Jesus’ testimony before Pilate stands as a reminder of our calling to “live in the world but not be of the world, for… “Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world”. We have, in other words, a foreign allegiance” to one who is not of this world. To be faithful subjects of His Kingdom, Jesus must reign in our hearts so that we become like Him and take up the work that He began, the work of peace and justice. We must act as ambassadors of Christ, spreading His love, mercy, and compassion. We must invite Christ’s Spirit to dwell in our hearts, fill us up and overflow into the lives of all who pass our way!  

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

My Kingdom Is Not Of This World

Deacon Tom writes

“My Kingdom Is Not Of This World” 

The Solemnity Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Pope Benedict XVI wrote the following comment about today’s Feast of Christ the King:

“Jesus of Nazareth is so intrinsically king that the title ‘King’ has actually become his name. By calling ourselves Christians, we label ourselves as followers of the king. God did not intend Israel to have a kingdom. The kingdom was a result of Israel’s rebellion against God.  The law was to be Israel’s king, and, through the law, God himself. God yielded to Israel’s obstinacy and so devised a new kind of kingship for them. The King is Jesus; in him God entered humanity and espoused it to himself. This is the usual form of the divine activity in relation to mankind. God does not have a fixed plan that he must carry out; on the contrary, he has many different ways of finding man and even of turning his wrong ways into right ways.  The feast of Christ the King is therefore not a feast of those who are subjugated, but a feast of those who know that they are in the hands of the one who writes straight on crooked lines”.

This reflection from the former pontiff challenges us to decide which of the many paths we will follow in this life. A few words from St. Matthew’s Gospel serve as a guide: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21).  How we pursue the treasures we seek in this life is an expression of the divine activity within us. Let’s face it! We have so many choices today and hardly any reigns on how we pursue them.  How do we set priorities between our spiritual and physical needs? To whom will we pledge our loyalties during this life and at what cost?  Will we be serving the spirit of this world, thinking only of our own selves and needs, acting as if it’s all about me, declaring to those with different opinions “it’s my way OR the highway”?  Or, will we choose a different path, and live in solidarity with the poor, advocate for the weak and oppressed, seek shelter for the homeless and food for the hungry, be mindful of the plight of refugees and orphans?  Will we see ways to build relationships with those who oppose us or will we seek to annihilate them? This is the ultimate freedom we have today, the freedom to choose to be subjects of the creator and ruler of the cosmos who has … “set us free...to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God”  ROM 8:21.

Jesus was right to tell Pilate that “his kingdom does not belong to this world”. But, the way to the kingdom is here and is a conscious choice whenever we serve those who lack power, privilege and prestige, those very people Christ identified with, served, and redeemed. When we serve them, we declare with our lives where our treasures lie and we give witness to others of our deliberate choice to follow the man whose kingdom is not of this world.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom 

Image credit: Flickr.com