Catholic Preaching

Fr. Roger J. Landry
Conversations with Consequences Podcast
Homily for the S0lemnity of Christ the King, B, Vigil
November 23, 2024
 
To listen to an audio recording of this short Sunday homily, please click below: 
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/11.23.24_Landry_ConCon_1.mp3
 
The following text guided the homily: 

* This is Fr. Roger Landry and it’s a privilege for me to be with you as we enter into the consequential conversation the Risen Lord Jesus wants to have with each of us this Sunday, as we celebrate him, for the 100th time in the Church’s liturgical history, as King of the Universe. The Solemnity of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925, when he celebrated it for the first time on December 31, to conclude the 1925 Jubilee Year. For the next 44 years it was celebrated in the traditional Latin liturgy on the last Sunday of October and since 1970, in the new order of the Mass, it has been celebrated in November on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The Solemnity is an opportunity to celebrate what Christ’s kingship means and then, as Pius XI suggested, to commit ourselves to let him reign in our minds, wills, hearts, and bodies. This Sunday, as we enter into Jesus’ dialogue with Pontius Pilate on Good Friday morning, we get a glimpse into the kingdom Christ has established and how it’s supposed to impact us.
* Pilate begins his conversation with Jesus by asking the question that Jews had been discussing, and trying to answer, about Jesus for the previous couple of years: “Are you the King of the Jews?” To ask that question, was to ask whether Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. Jesus replied, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate tried to deflect the question, saying, “I am not a Jew, am I?” But the question cannot be ducked, and it cannot really be answered by what others have told us. Jesus came into the world to establish a personal, saving relationship with everyone he has created. As the Good Shepherd who would leave the 99 behind and go after the one sheep who is lost, he is interested in 100 out of 100. It’s not enough for him to be the King of “others” or even the King of the “cosmos.” It’s not enough for the pope, or the priests, or the Catechismto proclaim him sovereign Lord. It doesn’t suffice that we dedicate Churches to Him or whole religious institutes under the title of Christ the King. It’s not adequate, in other words, even that the whole Church in heaven and on earth acclaims him as the Savior and Lord. Jesus wants each of us personally and intimately to say and mean, “Thy Kingdom come!,” rather than just doing so because others have told us about this reality. Jesus died to become your king and my king and wants to have that life-giving relationship with each of us. He wants to become the most decisive reality in our life. Therefore, the first response we’re called to have is to ask ourselves honestly whether we have that relationship with him. Is he King of our time? Of our family and love life? Of our work, leisure, and money? Of our mind, heart, soul and strength? While he objectively is the one through whom all things are made, the King and Lord of all, have we subjectively, freely, wholeheartedly, lovingly chosen him to be our King, to obey him and follow him with trust, with love, with joy? If we have not established him as a King of all parts of our life, then we really do not have the relationship with him that is right and just.
* This thought is conceptually simple, but morally hard. For us to name Christ as King is, in this world, not to be a fair-weather fan of Jesus, like those who root for a championship team because they’re the winners. By worldly logic,