This is the last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year. Next Sunday we start Advent.
On the last Sunday of the year we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King.
Kings are not so much part of life for many people nowadays. In this context the term ‘king’ for Christ refers to His victory, and that we share in His victory.
Christ’s victory is the victory of life over death, love over hatred and fear. It is about the victory over the oppression of others, over any form of abuse of human persons. It is about the victory of justice over injustice. The victory of the common good over selfishness and greed.
The victory of respect of others over violence, of justice over injustice.
Christ achieves this by his victory on the Cross.
He is betrayed.
Rejected by those who should have known better.
Let down by many of those He loved.
Misunderstood.
Falsely accused.
Murdered.
Shamed.
In all this He struggled but was not crushed.
His passion and death was followed by resurrection.
God ‘The Father’ is faithful to Him and did not abandon Him, even when He felt abandoned.
Nothing of who He was, was allowed to decay and perish.
The resurrection is about the coming together of this victory.
Jesus is victorious over evil, sin and death.
We share in this victory.
In Jesus, God became truly one of us to that we can remember that God never abandons us. God walks with us even in pain and death.
So, at the end of the year, the liturgical year, we are reminded that even if heaven and earth were to pass away, God’s promise will never pass away.
As we share in the victory of Christ, we remember that all of creation shares in that victory.
We are part of helping bring about this victory by being good stewards of creation.
