Saturday, November 23, 2013

Christ the King (C) 24 Nov 2013


Fr. Noel Connolly

Today is the last Sunday of the Church’s Year. Unlike the secular calendar which begins on January 1 or New Year’s Day, the Church’s calendar begins next Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent. So this Sunday is the Church’s official end of the year.

Endings are always a time for review, for looking back over the year with all its joys and hopes, its concerns, sorrows and anxieties. It is extremely important if we want to be reflective, prayerful and grateful Christians that we frequently look back over life to count our blessings and reflect on our anxieties, our failures and all the things we wish had never been.

In celebrating the Feast of Christ the King, the Church is proposing to us the context in which we should review the year namely the confidence that when all is said and done, when we reflect on our lives we recognise that Christ is our King. He is the ultimate value in life and he loves us and will protect us.

In today’s readings we are given different images of Kingship. In the second reading we have the beautiful theological image of Jesus as “the first born of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and earth were created ….. Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers – all things were created through him and for him.” And “all things will be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by death on his cross.” In this one reading we have the two great contrasts in God’s power or kingship. He is king of all in heaven and on earth but his kingship is not like that of worldly kings. His is a different type of power. It comes not from lording it over others but from service and ultimately from his death.

This contrast is strongly emphasised in comparing the first reading and the Gospel.  In the first reading from the book of Samuel we learn of how David was anointed King of Israel. Before Saul and David Israel’s only King was God. Israel was a group independent tribes united only by their common faith and history. Whenever they were attacked a charismatic leader would emerge who would unite them to fight off their enemies. But as their enemies got more powerful and sophisticated, many Israelites came to Samuel their priest and elder and asked him for a King. Samuel was reluctant to give them a King. He recognised they needed a king to defend themselves against the better organised and united Philistines but he warned them that a king would need a standing army and for that he would collect taxes and conscript their sons. He would also need a capital and servants and most likely he would be corrupted by greed and hunger for power and lead them away from God. In that he was prophetic. Israel survived because of their kings but the rest of the Old Testament is a history of good and bad kings and the prophets who challenged them when they were unjust or unfaithful.

Luke’s Gospel paints an entirely different picture. It portrays Jesus as King, but a King on the Cross. Instead of lording it over others Jesus would be servant to all. He spent most of his public ministry trying to warn his disciples about the dangers of power and to wean his disciples away from the idea of an all-powerful God. Whenever they got carried away with the idea of making him a King he would warn them that he must die.

We all want God to be powerful. We want a God who is in charge, who will fix our problems, who will give us clear directions, and rescue us from our crises. But Jesus shows us a God who reveals his love in rejection, darkness, failure & death. In today’s Gospel the soldiers and even one of the thieves taunt Jesus to prove that he is God by coming down from the cross. That is the worldly understanding of power, the ability to do whatever you want, to get out of all kinds of trouble, to save ourselves. But God’s power is contrary to human power. It is found in love and forgiveness, in patient suffering, in service of others especially the weak and the poor. Jesus proves he is God not by coming down from the cross but by staying on the cross and loving till the end. On the cross the contrast between the different concepts of power is clear. Rome seemingly has all the power. It can kill Jesus. But Jesus has the power to love, forgive and save. The Romans are forgotten and Jesus still lives.

God’s love is vulnerable & contrary to human power. God is active in pain, suffering and ambiguity. Jesus never evades suffering. And God normally doesn’t interfere and take us out of our crises or even our suffering. But he does love us and will always be with us. He will support and protect us. That is the kind of King Jesus is.

So on this last Sunday of 2013. We look back over the year to count our blessings and reflect on our anxieties, our failures and all the things we wish had never been. We entrust everything to Christ, our King.



33rd SUNDAY(C) 17 Nov 2013

Fr. Gerard Kelly
I have recently been involved with a group of people who have become uncertain about their future at work.  They have heard news that they might be forced to re-locate and work closely with another group.  However, no decision has been made, so they are not sure what might happen.  This type of situation creates a lot of anxiety for the people involved.  I notice that something that intensifies their anxiety is the rumours and opinions that are spread by other people claiming to know what will happen.  This sort of situation of an uncertain future is not all that uncommon.  We need only think of the many workplaces where change is happening and workers are unsure of their future.  The word “restructure” has become a word to instil fear in most people today.
Most commentators tell us that change can be very unsettling.  Change can happen in many varied ways throughout our life.  In its most basic form we change all the time as we age.  Generally people cope with this quite well, but sometimes there are moments when we realise it is happening and begin to get unsettled.  I have often met people who take fright when they are about to celebrate a birthday that puts them into a new decade – perhaps turning fifty, or sixty, or seventy.  Earlier in life, of course, the first day at school for a child can be quite terrifying.  Sometimes when the circumstances around us change we feel that we are no longer in control and we get anxious about it all.  Control seems to be the big factor.  When we can control change and don’t feel that it is controlling us, then we tend to manage it reasonably well.
The question of change and the future is behind the scene in today’s gospel as Jesus walks in the Temple and is questioned by some of the people there.  It almost seems as though Jesus wants to unsettle them.  But in the end, he tries to settle them down.  I think he is preparing them for the changes that they will have to face.  He doesn’t want them to become too fixed in their ways so that they will be unable to deal with what must inevitably happen.
It is very common for people to take this passage and Jesus’ sayings and start to read into our own times apocalyptic visions of the end of the world.  People have probably been doing this since the time when Jesus first spoke these words.  But I think we need to note carefully what in fact Jesus did say.  He seems to make two points.  The first is that it is important to read the signs around us.  These can give us some clue to what is happening and likely to happen and how to prepare for it.  We do this quite often is some areas of our life.  If we see dark clouds when we look out the window we are likely to take an umbrella with us just in case it rains.  Or to take a different type of example, children often have a sense of when it is a good time to speak with their parents about something.  The instinctively know when their parents are in a good or a bad mood, as they would describe it.  They have read the signs.  If we are able to read the signs well, then we can be better prepared for what is likely to happen.
The second thing that Jesus says is that we have to be careful that we don’t misread the signs around us.  Those who misread the signs show bad judgement.  Sometimes people misread them because they want to make a situation out to be worse than it is.  They are natural pessimists and may even seem to like conspiracy theories: “they’re all out to get us!”  Misreading the signs may be because we don’t trust other people or even because we don’t trust ourselves.
So what does Jesus propose to help us face the future?  We need to note that he doesn’t pretend that we won’t face challenges – even sorrows – throughout our lives.  Rather, he says it is important to deal with the challenges by trusting in God.  He gives us a new slant on wanting to be in control.  Don’t think too much about what you are to say or do, he says, because I will you the eloquence and wisdom that you need.  This doesn’t mean that we are simply passive in the face of the future.  We need to consider the reasons why we can have confidence in God.
We grow in confidence by looking to the past and remembering what has happened.  We can remember our own capacity to deal with new situations as they arose previously.  We can remember the support we have received from our various communities.  And we can remember God’s own goodness.  This memory is the source of our confidence as we face the future.

We also grow in confidence by developing a vision for the future that is based on hope.  Our hope is not the same as thinking that everything is fine and there will be no challenges in the future.  Rather, hope is based on God’s promise that in the end all will be good; that our lives will be blessed.  We can’t control the future, but we can face it with confidence in God.  In this way we live in the present, ready to face whatever situations confront us.