THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Christ The King 30 October 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

Jesus Christ is both our King and our God. We often today see our rulers as mere mortals compared with other cultures and times where the ruler is often given divine status among the people. It is therefore a little more difficult for us to appreciate the title of King when we speak of Jesus Christ.

In today’s gospel we hear our Lord say that His kingdom is not of this world. The kingdom of Jesus is that of Heaven. He has come to this earth to invite us all into His kingdom. Jesus has told us much about this kingdom in heaven by way of parables and examples. We have been told many times what is expected of us so that we may be permitted to enter the narrow gates of heaven. To condense it though it is simply said that we must Love God with our whole being and our neighbor as we love ourselves.

We too often see those that God has placed over us as distant, cold, uncaring and so our obedience tends more towards servile fear and submission. It is often true that earthly authority is distant, cold, and uncaring, hence we tend to think the same of all authority; and we form a false opinion that God is like them. Their failure to love, care, and fulfill their God given office and position as God would like them to is very often a cause of scandal to the rest of men.

We must rise above such scandal. They may not measure up as they should, but we must always respect and obey them (in all that is not sinful) because they have been placed above us by God. In obeying our lawful superiors we are indeed obeying God. Jesus Christ the King is their role model just as He is ours. If they fail to imitate Him as they should, it is all the more reason for us to imitate Him with ever more solicitude.

Jesus has taught us in the Lord’s Prayer to pray for God’s will and kingdom to come here on earth just as it is in heaven. We should thus, await eagerly for His will and kingdom to come to this earth. God expects more from us than just praying and waiting, He also expects us to do our part to make it happen. We must begin by changing our lives and making them conform to the demands of the Kingdom of Heaven. We can never enter that Kingdom if we are not in conformity with it; much less will we ever be able to do our part in hastening the Kingdom of God here on earth if we do not seriously begin to amend our lives. We must strive to love God more and more every day. As this love increases, it will begin to manifest itself more and more in our actions.

Our actions in turn will help us to increase our love for God, but will also speak volumes to others of our love for God and His Kingdom. In this manner we become ambassadors in helping our prayers come to fruition: God’s will and Kingdom here on earth. God will not force His kingdom upon us; He offers it by way of invitation. We must see that it is good and desirable (more desirable than anything else) and then cooperate with His grace so that we may enter into it – today in our own lives and eventually in eternity.

As we honor our King today let us resolve to honor Him as such every day for the rest of our lives. Let us see in Jesus a most loving Brother and King. Let us resolve to honor and obey those He has placed over us for the love of Him. Let us pray for our superiors realizing what a heavy burden God has placed upon their shoulders. If we find ourselves in the position of holding God given authority let us daily petition God for His assistance and humbly strive to rule and guide as He would have us do so. In this way each of us can do our part to hasten the fulfillment of The Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”