By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S.
This is the feast of victory for our God!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Today, the Church throughout the world
celebrates the great feast of Christ the King.
We rejoice that the promise made
by the prophet Ezekiel
has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ,
who came as the Good Shepherd,
who rescues us and tends us,
who give us rest
and who seeks for us when we are lost
and brings us back when we have strayed.
This is the feast of victory for our God!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Today we rejoice that the Lord is our shepherd,
who leads us and refreshes our souls
who guides us in right paths,
who spreads a table before us,
anoints us,
and blesses us with overflowing grace.
This is the feast of victory for our God!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Today we rejoice that the Lord has been raised from the dead,
and that through him all of us will be brought to life.
We rejoice that Christ will hand over his kingdom to the Father,
will destroy every sovereignty, authority and power,
will destroy even death,
so that God may be all in all.
This is the feast of victory for our God!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Today we rejoice with the Son of Man,
who will come and sit on his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be summoned before him.
We rejoice with those who will be placed on his right,
those who have fed hungry,
gave a drink to those who were thirsty,
those who welcomed the stranger
and clothed the naked,
those who cared for the ill
and visited the prisoners,
those who did things for the least of their brothers and sisters,
and in so doing, did them for Christ.
This is the feast of victory for our God!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
When I was a seminarian
and was home for Thanksgiving,
I heard the shortest homily ever.
It was only one sentence long.
It was the Feast of Christ the King,
and after reading the Gospel,
the preacher waited for everyone to sit down.
He looked around the church
and simply said,
“If Christ is your King, prove it!”
Then he sat down in the silence that followed.
Today’s Gospel tells us how to prove it.
Today’s Gospel tells us what the Kingdom looks like.
Today’s Gospel impels us to witness to our faith
by what we say and do.
This is the feast of victory for our God!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
In baptism,
our King has anointed us
priests, prophets and royalty,
that we might worship and praise our God,
that we might proclaim God’s message
by our words and our actions,
and that we, like the King of Kings,
might care for those most in need
throughout our lives
This is the feast of victory for our God!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
However, we don’t do it alone.
Christ the King does not sit back and wait for us to act.
Christ our King helps us to do what we calls us to do.
Christ our King is more than the judge
who separates the sheep from the goats,
the good from the evil,
those invited to inherit the kingdom prepared for us
from the foundation of the world.
No, our King does not live in some far away palace,
protected from people he was called to serve.
Our King walks among us,
nourishes us with his own body and blood,
does for us what he asks us to do for others.
Our King never leaves alone,
never hides behind castle walls,
but is right here with us
at every moment of our lives.
This is the feast of victory for our God!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Christ is our King!
Now let us prove it!
This is the feast of victory for our God!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Note: This is the last scripture reflection in this series. Fr. Dennis, who is the director of advanced formation for the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, will continue to post homilies from time to time at https://www.dennis-chriszt-cpps.org/.