Sunday Meditation: The King of the Universe

We come to the end of times, metaphorically that is.  The end where the King takes command of His entire kingdom.  We come, in the full name of the feast day, to The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  We reach the end of the liturgical year, and today is still considered the Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary time where Christ is acknowledged as king of heaven and earth, that is the entire universe.  I have written numerous times on this feast, on how it was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in his magisterial encyclical, Quas Primas, and even on the Year C readings where Dr. Brant Pitre explains how the day came about. 

I will delve into the Year C Gospel readings one more time.  The Gospel for this day comes from the Gospel of Luke where Christ on the cross is implored to come down and prove He is the Messiah by the “rulers,” the Pharisees, and the bad thief of the cross.  But the good thief, traditionally referred to as St. Dismas—yes, he is considered a saint—is repentant and acknowledges the proper role of Jesus’s kingdom.

 

Here is the Gospel passage.

 

The rulers sneered at Jesus and said,

"He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God."

Even the soldiers jeered at him.

As they approached to offer him wine they called out,

"If you are King of the Jews, save yourself."

Above him there was an inscription that read,

"This is the King of the Jews."

 

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,

"Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us."

The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,

"Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation?

And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal."

Then he said,

"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

He replied to him,

"Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

~Lk 23:35-43

 

I return to Archbishop Edward Weisenberger of Detroit for the exegetical homily.

 

“For those with the eyes of faith, how true a King, and how worthy of our full commitment and total devotion, how true a King who promises that with Him we are all on our way to a very royal glory.”

Again I am turning to someone I have never before included in my meditations.  This is Fr. Joe Dailey.  I think you’ll like this.

“TODAY you will be with me in paradise.”  That was outstanding.  I see that Fr. Joe has retired but still occasionally puts out a homiletic video.  But he has a good store of them from over the years.  I will probably tap into them every so often.  He goes on to say, “Paradise is the condition of integrated unity.”  The last two minutes of the homily was incredibly powerful.  Fr. Joe ends with, “TODAY this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 

 

Sunday Meditation: "This is the King of the Jews."

 

For our hymn, let’s hear “To Jesus Christ, Our Sovereign King” from the Catholic Music Initiative.  

 

The Catholic Music Initiative is a group trying to “harmonizing tradition and faith through music.”  A worthy goal, and judging by this rendition accomplishing just that.