Homily for the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Cathedral of Saint Raymond Nonnatus and Notre Dame Parish
25 November 2018
—
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.Â
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, ” says the Lord God,
“the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.â€
Jesus answered, “You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.â€
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!
Tuba mirum spargens sonum,
per sepulcra regionem,
coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.
Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus?
Rex tremendae majestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis:
salva me, fons pietas.
—
I have come to love these words from the Latin funeral Mass. They don’t sound as cool in English as they do in Latin, but here’s a translation:
How great will be the terror,
when the Judge comes
who will smash everything completely!
The trumpet, scattering a marvelous sound
through the tombs of every land,
will gather all before the throne.
Death and Nature shall stand amazed,
when all Creation rises again
to answer to the Judge.
A written book will be brought forth,
which contains everything
for which the world will be judged.
Therefore when the Judge takes His seat,
whatever is hidden will be revealed:
nothing shall remain unavenged.
What can a wretch like me say?
Whom shall intercede for me,
When even the just ones need mercy?
King of tremendous majesty.
who freely saves the redeemed ones,
save me, source of mercy.
—
Like the finale of great orchestral work, this solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, puts a fitting end to our celebration of Ordinary Time. Over the last month or so, the readings on Sundays and, since last week, the weekday readings have been preparing us for this moment of triumph and victory of Jesus, the King. The words of scripture, especially from the Daniel, the “prophet of the apocalypseâ€, and from Revelation, and these words from the funeral Mass, give us a sense of the grandeur and power that will come when Jesus comes again to take his rightful place as judge over all the nations and as King of every corner of the cosmos.
Today’s feast is about three things: religion, fear, and confidence.
First, religion. Listen again to the words of the opening prayer from Mass today:
Almighty, ever living God, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of the Universe…
And I will pray these words in the preface today before the Holy, Holy, Holy:
…and making all created things subject to his rule, he might present to the immensity of your majesty an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love, and peace.
We are speaking today of making all things one in Christ. What does this has to do with religion? Everything, when you really think about it. The whole purpose of religion is to bring all things into one. The word religion comes from two Latin words, “re†and “ligoâ€; re of course is the prefix meaning to “do again†and ligo is the verb meaning “to tie†or “to bind.†So we see that religion, religo, is to bind together again, or tie together again, to restore all things in Christ, to bring together all things into the unity of a single entity. “Whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son†and “he might present…an eternal and universal kingdom.â€
Here we see in a sense the fulfillment of our worship, of our prayer, of our conversion of life, of charitable deeds: the bringing together of all aspects of our lives into one in Jesus.
Second, fear.
We know from religious education that there are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that one of them is “Fear of the Lord.†This is not the same, of course, as fear of tornadoes or spiders or the property tax bill. Fear of the Lord is sometimes translated as “Wonder and Awe†in the presence of God. You can hear this kind of fear in the words of Requiem Mass I quoted earlier:
What can a wretch like me say?
Whom shall intercede for me,
When even the just ones need mercy?
King of tremendous majesty.
who freely saves the redeemed ones,
save me, source of mercy.
To wonder at something is to be stupefied by it, to be astounded by its beauty, power, elegance, strength; it is to recognize something mystifying about it. To be in the presence of a truly wonderful thing is to feel as if you are seeing a familiar thing for the very first time.
How many times have we seen the sunset in our lives? Hundreds, if not thousands. And yet, sometimes you see one and it just takes your breath away. You feel lost in it; it’s the first time you’ve seen a sunset and you’re captivated by its beauty. All at once, you feel sad because you know this incredible thing will only last a few minutes and yet you feel hopeful because there’s a chance you can this again tomorrow.
That feeling, that sadness that isn’t sad and that joy that isn’t yet joy…that is wonder. And in the presence of such a profound and beautiful mystery as God the Holy Trinity, when we are in the presence of Jesus the Messiah and King, all at once we want to fall on our faces in worship and dance around in joy and celebration and fall to our knees in sorrow and repentance.
The feast today is about all of these things. We really do believe that Jesus is going to come again. We really do believe that he will come, that the trumpet will sound, that the graves will be opened and the dead will rise and the book will be opened and the final judgment will come forth from the mouth of the Lord. What will we feel in that moment if not wonder and awe? Certainly, I will be nervous because I know that I’ve been real idiot in my life. But I will feel joy to even be able to look upon someone so incredibly beautiful, powerful, majestic…this man whose face and body and presence fully encapsulate everything I’ve ever wanted to see and feel. Sheesh. Amazing.
Which leads to the third point, confidence.
Face it, people: God is God and we are not. Tough.
But when you consider that God also has supreme sovereignty over all the earth, things don’t seem so bad. It gets better: God has supreme sovereignty over all the earth, and has come to his creation for the sole purpose of reconciling it, of “re-ligo-ing†it to himself, that his main desire and goal and wish is that all things in every corner of the cosmos would be one with him again, as it was before original sin entered the picture…this isn’t looking so bad.
In the face of major tragedy, it’s the one thing we’re tempted to say but is usually the worse thing to hear: “everything happens for a reason.â€
But what if everything does happen for a reason? The more I’ve lived my own life and faced my own pain head on, but also since being a deacon and now a priest and having the chance to have a front row seat into the lives of so many people and situations, I’m really beginning to feel more confident in this idea that perhaps everything happens for a reason EVEN IF that reason is simply to foster our further growth in maturity in Christ. In other words, to reconcile more and more in new ways all the time everything back into himself, that he might be King of the Universe both in word AND in fact.
I am certain that God is alive, that he is powerful, that he has a plan for my life, and that he is constantly working for the good of those who love him. This fills me with great confidence, with gratitude, and with a desire to serve him, to serve the one who has been nothing but good and gracious to me.
—
The trumpet, scattering a marvelous sound
through the tombs of every land,
will gather all before the throne.
A written book will be brought forth,
which contains everything
for which the world will be judged.
Therefore when the Judge takes His seat,
whatever is hidden will be revealed:
nothing shall remain unavenged.
What can a wretch like me say?
Save me, source of mercy! Save me! I love you! I need you! I’m sorry! I want you!
Jesus, King of love, I am confident in you!
Give us, Jesus, a share in your kingdom. Give us, Jesus, a share in your life! Come, Lord Jesus! Come, Lord Jesus! Come, Lord Jesus!
And just like, from brightness and light and trumpets, it will be dark again. Advent is coming, and is now here. Come, Lord Jesus. You want him? He’s coming. Prepare the way.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
