"Royal Charity" and the Test of Life

Homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
23 November 2014

        Life, as many people have postulated, is a test.

        Yet the questions and answers have been given to us today, just a few moments ago.

        Were you paying attention?

        We celebrate today the great Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. It sounds like quite a lofty celebration. But, in reality, it’s quite the opposite.

        While this feast celebrates and notes the end of another liturgical year, the anticipation that the Church Universal holds for the glorious Second Coming of Christ, and our eagerness to behold the fullness of the glory of God, we celebrate something that is much more “plain” at the same time.

        In the grand celebration of today, we recognize that the greatness of sovereignty is truly rooted in the practice of humility and charity.

        In my office, on the wall facing my desk, I have a copy of a painting called Christ, the High Priest. It is a picture depicting Jesus sitting on the floor with a bowl of water and towel, preparing to wash the feet of His disciples at the Last Supper. It is a wonderful reflection of the words that Jesus presented to us earlier in the Gospel: All who exalt themselves will be humbled; the humble shall be exalted.

        Yet, the Priesthood of Jesus is related to His Kingship.

        And having been anointed priest, prophet and king in baptism, we have the promise to share in the glory of our Lord.

        Through our baptism, we are promised heirs of the Kingdom of God. Yet, as Jesus teaches us and examples for us, only those who humble themselves within the virtue of charity will we found worthy to share in the fullness of the Kingdom. As we practice charity throughout our lives, we enter into the Priesthood of Jesus by giving – or, better yet, by sacrificing – our lives for the good of others. As we practice charity throughout our lives, we enter into the Kingship of Christ by recognizing that sovereignty is not obtained by power or position, but, rather, through humility and compassion.

        Yes, our life is a test. And the questions and the answers are summed up in one word: Charity.

        When the time comes for the Lord to take us home – both individually and collectively –, He will evaluate how we lorded over people our prestige and power as well as how we humbled ourselves to practice charity and compassion. Saint Robert Bellarmine reminds us: "The school of Christ is the school of charity. On the last day, when the general examination takes place, there will be no question at all on the text of Aristotle, the aphorisms of Hippocrates, or the paragraphs of Justinian. Charity will be the whole syllabus."

        So, if the syllabus, school, questions and answers of life are charity, what would be our grade right now? How would you grade yourself? How would you grade society?

        While multiple people in our society do good things – charitable things – for others, they do it because “it makes them feel good.” That’s really not a reason to practice charity, especially for the Christian. We are to be practicing what I like to think of as “royal charity”, for the practice is rooted in the example of Christ our King, and followed through because of the promise of our being heirs of the Kingdom of God. This “royal charity” moves us from being simply “good people” to becoming holy people; it helps us in the struggle to be just and righteous like our Lord and King. This “royal charity” helps prepare us for our eventual judgment.

        Yes, my brothers and sisters, we will be judged by our God. Both our First Reading and Gospel point to that fact. There’s no escaping it. We will be separated between the sheep and the goats. And while we do rightfully proclaim the mercy of God, we must also proclaim and remember the proclamation that Christ “will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead” – and we must be ready for that day.

        Think for a moment of the great hymn, Dies Irae, used in the Requiem Masses in the Church for hundreds of years. It is the great hymn that we, in certain ways espouse today, for it speaks of our impending judgment as well as the mercy of God. Listen to the beautiful starkness of the following strophes:

Day of wrath and doom impending.
David's word with Sibyl's blending,
Heaven and earth in ashes ending.

Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth,
When from heaven the Judge descendeth,
On whose sentence all dependeth.

What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding,
When the just are mercy needing?

With Thy sheep a place provide me,
From the goats afar divide me,
To Thy right hand do Thou guide me.

Ah! that day of tears and mourning,
From the dust of earth returning
Man for judgment must prepare him, 

Spare, O God, in mercy spare him.

        Yes, we will be judged! But which side will we be on? Can we be like the sheep and be humble and compassionate and practice “royal charity”, or will we be like the goats and lord over others our power and prestige? Do we trust in the mercy of God, or do we believe ourselves to be “good enough” or even too good for God?

        Today we trust in the Lord to know that our life is a test; we remember that the syllabus, the school, the questions and answers are summed up in charity, and, like the sheep, we pray to be shepherded into that Eternal Glory, to be with our King forever. But we do so recognizing that, in following the example of Christ our King, our greatness doesn’t come from our power and prestige, but through humility and compassion – practicing that “royal charity” that He teaches us today.

        And so we pray:

You are a surprise, O Jesus!
Everything You say,
everything You do,
all that You are
has a twist!

The last are first,
the least are great,
the weak are strong,
the wise are foolish,
the sinner is saint!

You surprise us, O Lord!
God’s ways are not our ways:
the ways of our world,
the ways of our times,
the ways of our forebears,
the ways of war and blood,
of pettiness and bigotry,
of greed and treachery,
of exclusion and exile.

  

You welcome in.
You draw together.
You gather up.
You embrace all.

You are full of surprises, O Christ!
Even on [the] night
before You are to die,
You give us to eat,
You give us to drink,
You wash our trembling feet
and charge us to do the same.

O Great One,
in Your divine humility
twist us still
and – bedazzled –
may we delight
in Your surprises!

 


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Enjoy the journey . . .