christ

SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2025: The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

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Aeticon, The Thief on the Cross.

Then (the crucified thief) said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”   Luke 23:42-43.

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The name of today’s feast puts everything into perspective, don’t you think? When you are styled “King of the Universe” there isn’t much left to be king of! Yet quite a few ancient monarchs styled themselves exactly that, the first being Sargon of Akkad about 4200 years ago, and the last was Antiochus I Soter, about 270 years  before the birth of Christ:

                                 

                                          Sargon                                  Antiochus

But apart from scholars of the distant past, who would know? Those remarkable titles seem to have died with them. So we celebrate the true King of the Universe today and bow before his majesty knowing that this title depicts the actual truth.

However, the King we celebrate is radically different from Sargon and Antiochus. They no doubt had their jewels and crowns and armies of servants catering to their whims. And there our King is radically different. When King Charles was crowned in 2023, the regalia was prominently displayed for all to see. The throne, the crowns (two of them), the magnificent robes, the congregation crying “God save King Charles” and so on. Now take a look at our King, suggested in the picture above. His crucifixion was his coronation. His robe was stolen by the soldiers. His greeting that day from the crowd, standing next to Roman governor, was “Crucify him!” And then afterwards they shouted “If you’re the Son of God, come down from that cross”. His crown was made of thorns, and his throne was the cross itself. This was not a King of pretension or apparent power; this was a King of stupendous suffering, who took all our sins on his bruised and bleeding shoulders that we might be free of sin and guilt and be made worthy of heaven. This was the ultimate sacrifice made solely for our salvation that we might be able to follow him through who-knows-what and still gain eternal happiness. So the goal is worth anything that fate, luck, circumstances, accidents, health etc., can throw at us. With our eyes fixed on the ultimate destination, we should be able to tolerate just about anything. Remember that Jesus went through what could be described as hell to ensure we received his message down to today. Also recall that he was utterly human, hence terrified of the fate which awaited him (he sweated blood in his terror, a rare condition called hematidrosis). He was also aware that he could repudiate everything he stood for by simply denying he had claimed he was the Christ, the Anointed One, and the Son of God, and gone back to Nazareth and act as though nothing had happened. But he didn’t. He considered his message to be critically important to us all, to be universally significant, eternally relevant and completely human, meaning anyone could adopt his teachings (and challenges), live happily and be accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven. He had made sense of the human condition and given an identity of what it means to be a human being in the world in ways pleasing to God our Creator. In a nutshell, he demonstrated that to be utterly human is to be completely acceptable to God our Creator. One step away from being human is a step in the wrong direction requiring correction. We are here to serve God, to serve each other, and develop our gifts in order to be able to do exactly that to the best of our ability. If we succeed in that, we can expect to be invited into paradise to live in joy and peace forever. It is in our power to do that. And so we should. Therefore when we are called from this life, we may justifiably expect to be invited to share in the happiness of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe forever. 

Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me, Juan Urruchi 1854, Museo de Arte de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico.

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Reflections on next Sunday’s Mass Readings will be posted on Wednesday.

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SUNDAY 21 JANUARY 2024: THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.

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Jesus calls the fishermen to follow him, stained glass, provenance unknown.

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[Jesus said to them,] “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”   Mark 1:16.

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According to the (United States) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in 2024 (and for many years before) fishing and hunting are the most dangerous jobs in the USA bar none. Lumberjacking is the second most dangerous. Bearing that in mind, and going back 2000 years, leaving all life-saving equipment and services back in the 21st century, the fatality rate among fishermen in Jesus’ day must have been horrendous. Given that I wonder if Jesus deliberately approached fishermen knowing they faced life-threatening situations on a regular basis, and in all probability were the strongest, not to say bravest, men in that community. Although at the beginning of his ministry, and knowing that the message he was going to preach was not about the All-Conquering Messiah that the Hebrews wanted to hear, I wonder if he deliberately looked to the toughest men in the community to recruit to his side. If he could swing them over, there was a pretty good chance his teachings would survive when he was just a memory. He was right, of course. But then there is the apparent instantaneous response to his call – they dropped everything to follow him! That is an almost incredible reaction. James and John even left Zebedee, their father, in the boat in their eagerness to join this holy man! Luke 5:1-11, dealing with the same scene, adds much more color to it. In his version, Simon Peter had been working all night and had caught nothing. So he was exhausted, tired, angry, frustrated and not in a good mood. Then this holy man came by and told him to pull out once more… Well, what would you have said? Luke gives Peter a very obliging and polite response, and he pulls out in obedience once more. I deeply suspect that that was an heavily edited version of Peter’s response, which probably told Jesus what he could do with his suggestion. But something in this holy man moved Peter to do what Jesus said. He caught a whole load of fish, was overwhelmed when he returned to Jesus, and said that he was a sinful man, and it would be better if Jesus simply left him. That is almost certainly verbatim, much more likely than his first obsequious reaction as stated in Luke, and of course it was exactly what Jesus was looking for. So Jesus must have had an air about him of total authority, goodness and conviction for the likes of these men to respond in the way that they did. He must have had an almost magnetic attraction, so much so that they could not imagine another instant not being in his company. He was the real thing. They were won over in an instant, and for the rest of their lives.

That being so, look at today’s second reading from Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth. He is telling them about a world turned upside down also. They should see things in an entirely new light with Jesus’ presence among them. Challenges are now opportunities to do good. Angry-making situations are now chances for understanding and reconciliation. Vengeance should now give way to forgiveness, and so on and on. In such matters, black does indeed  become white! And the first reading, although really unlikely at face value, does become believable if we can see Jonah as a really good prophet, a really good proclaimer of God’s word. It is probable that we too can tell a good person from a scoundrel, though that might be a little optimistic. But if, as apparently in Nineveh, everyone could tell that Jonah was the real thing, just as those fishermen in today’s gospel did when confronted by Jesus, then his words would really mean something. They believed and responded appropriately. In situations like that things can really change, as let’s hope they did in Corinth when they absorbed Paul’s teaching. Finally, let’s hope things can change within each of us, once we let God’s life and light enter in. And, as we can see from today’s readings, things really can be turned upside down, and for the better. Exciting? Maybe. Thrilling? Possibly. Challenging? Certainly. God-filled? Yes!

LIFE (AND) LIGHT – ΖΩΗ (KAI) ΦΩΣ – ZŌĒ (KAI) PHŌS

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Reflections on next Sunday’s Mass Readings will be posted on Wednesday.

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