Solemnity of Christ the King, 24 November 2013, Luke 21:5-19

Christ the King - A Modern American Tapestry

Friday the 22nd of November 2013 was quite a day for memories.

It marked fifty years since the assasination of President John F Kennedy in Dallas. On the same day, 22 November, 1963, CS Lewis died in Oxford, aged 64. Also, on that day in Rome, the bishops of the world voted on the first document of the Second Vatican Council, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. It would be promulgated a few weeks later, on 4 December, 1963.

And on the 22nd November 2013, Fr Alec Reid died in hospital here in Dublin. He is rightly known primarily for his role in building a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. As someone said somewhere on Friday, the 22nd of November must be a day when all the greats die.

In the Church’s liturgical calendar, the 22nd November is the memorial of St Cecelia, virgin and martyr, and the patron of musicians, especially musicians involved in the service of the Church.

Why am I mentioning all of these things as we gather to celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King? I mention them because all of them are inspirational characters that encourage us to sing a new song.

Fr Alec Reid sang the song of peace, and more than once paid the price of being a peacemaker. We remember him as one who persevered, seemingly against all odds, in shaping a community of love, of peace, and of mutual respect.

President John F Kennedy adorned the walls of many homes here in Ireland – he, along with Pope John XXIII and the Sacred Heart made up a kind of Catholic, small ‘t’, trinity, of the 1960s. His horrific death was a strike against one who also stood for peace and for the rights of marginalised groups in society.

CS Lewis is remembered for his books, especially his children’s books, the Chronicles of Narnia. They confirmed that we are all called to greatness, that every child is called to occupy the seat of a prince or a princess in the Kingdom of God. His writings told a story of our real place in God’s family – as sons and daughters of God, we must gather our courage, accept Christ’s grace, and strive to be nothing less than the best that we can possibly can be.

So, as we celebrate this solemnity of Christ the King, may we be reminded of our real situation in the Kingdom of God, both here and now, and beyond this life. We are to live according to that dignity which was bestowed on us at baptism; as nothing less than the sons and daughters of God.

Perhaps, with the good thief, we too can say: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’

33 Sunday Ordinary Time, C, 17 November 2013, Luke 21:5-19

Philippines - Trocaire.org

As we approach the end of the Church’s year – next Sunday is Christ the King, the last Sunday of the year, before the following Sunday which is the first Sunday of Advent – as we approach the end of the Church’s year, the readings are all about the end times. The gospel that we have just heard is about the end of time.

For many people in the Philippines last week, it must have seemed like the end times had come. Or indeed, in Syria, where the ongoing war has left whole populations as refugees, relying on their neighbours, relying on the world, to reach out and help them in their strife.

Thankfully, for most of us, such events are a very rare occurrence. We live in a privileged part of the world because of the peace, stability and prosperity that we enjoy. We may have hit hard economic times over this past few years; we may blame many different groups in society for getting us into our economic mess – but as some people say: that’s a first-world problem. We still live in a part of the world that is blessed with a high standard of living, low disease and mortality rates, freedom to practise our religion, democracy that may not be perfect, but is certainly good.

This Sunday, we are asked to remember people in two parts of the world that need our prayers, and need our financial help. Why should we be generous to them? Because, they are our brothers and sisters. Even if they are not Catholic, or not Christian – they are still our brothers and sisters by our common humanity. And they need us. Our faith teaches us that buildings; Churches & temples, will come and go. But the bonds of care, the bonds of love, reach way beyond buildings.

The bonds of care call us to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with our God.

32 Sunday Ordinary Time, C, 10 November 2013, Luke 20:27-38

Model of the Second Temple in Jerusalem

You know, they say that, when we’re in the pub, we shouldn’t speak about religion or politics. The folk wisdom of our time suggests that these aspects of life are what divide us, and that the time we have a few drinks on us is not the time to sort these divisive issues out! No, the place to sort these things out is in their respective places – religion belongs in the Church and politics belong in the party offices (so, the wisdom goes).

Of course, that really isn’t true because both religion and politics are fundamentally about people. So, perhaps the proper place for any discussion of religion or politics is wherever people are. That leaves us back in the pub then… Maybe it is one of the places where we should discuss religion! I don't know.

Either way, today’s gospel story takes place in the temple, a very important religious centre for Judaism at the time of Christ. Jesus was teaching the people in the temple, probably in the courtyard around it. Various groups attempted to challenge his teaching, mainly because the people were amazed by him and wondered at him.

The chief priests and the scribes and the elders have arrived to listen to him, and they have sent in a few ‘questioners’ in an attempt to trap Jesus. The question about whether the people should pay taxes to the emperor had just come up. Jesus gave a fantastic answer: "whose face is on the coin? On the denarius? The emperor’s? Well, then, give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s!"

Orthodox icon of the Resurrection

Then we get to the gospel story for this morning. In the temple, teaching the people. Causing both a religious and a political disturbance. People are talking, not just in the temple, but down the road in the inns and in the boarding-houses of Jerusalem. Who is this man? What does it mean?

One of the titles that we have for Jesus is ‘Teacher’. This part of the gospel is not the only part where Jesus occupies the place of teacher. There is the sermon on the mount in Matthew’s gospel, from which we have the beatitudes. And many other places besides.

This morning, Jesus is challenged about ‘resurrection’. It comes in the guise of a question about marriage, but the real issue is the resurrection. Do you believe in the resurrection? From the gospel, we know that the Saduccees don’t believe in the resurrection. But, they are very religious. They take religion very seriously. And, either they want Jesus on their side, or they want to scapegoat him and show him up as a false teacher. But that doesn’t happen. Instead, Jesus takes them very seriously, and proposes a ‘right-teaching’ for them on the doctrine of the resurrection.

And so, right teaching comes into the arena. It is brought out by the Lord who calls all people to himself. If we have right-belief, and if we live from it, then hope is ours. No matter what happens, the future, especially the future that lies beyond this world, cannot be taken from us.

The resurrection is central to our faith. Can we prove that there is a resurrection? No. Our faith is not built on proofs. Our faith is built on hope. Our faith is built on life. Our faith is built on the rock that is Christ. And, if we believe in the resurrection, then we believe that there is a future for us. There is a future for all people. If we believe this, our lives will never be the same again.

This is about death and life. Do we deal in death or celebrate life? Are we hopeful for the future, conscious that the future is in God? Are we at rest in our souls about what the future holds? Or, do we listen to the script about the horrors of the present time, and the horror of the time to come? Are we people of hope? Or people of despair? Are we people of life? Or are we people of death? Do we believe in the resurrection promised us in Christ? Or do we stubbornly hold onto our belief that there is nothing after this life? 

31 Sunday Ordinary Time, C, 3 November 2013, Luke 19:1-10

Defining his work, Alfred Hitchcock once said that “some films are slices of life. Mine are slices of cake.” He went on: “what is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out.” (http://www.ajkeen.com/2006/01/27/life_with_the_d/)

The TV series ‘Love/Hate’ is achieving incredible viewing figures at the moment. Almost a million viewers tuned in to the first episode of the latest series. The fifth episode of the series will be on tonight.

Good story-telling that people can relate to, makes ‘Love/Hate’ a very successful production. Whatever we may think of the violence, the series appears to be real to life. We hear every day on the news about gang violence on the streets of our cities. ‘Love/Hate’ gives us the safe, dramatized, insider view of the violence on the streets of Dublin. We see people getting killed or attacked, and become immersed in the story of why that happens. The drama of the story is the drama of real-life.

The gospel this morning is something like that. We can connect with Zacchaeus because he is this flawed, human character. If the gospel is a drama, a representation of real-life, then today we are introduced to Zacchaeus. Key pieces of information are offered: name, profession, and wealth. He is short and can run. He can climb trees. Already he is a complex character. He is keen to impress. He is impulsive.

He seems to be a career-driven, wealthy, young man, who imagined himself going places. Maybe tax collecting hasn’t turned out the way he imagined that it would.

Zacchaeus is a wonderful character in the story of the gospel. We are all characters in the story of the Christian journey. Our lives are complex, comfortable, sinful, rich. But, perhaps, like Zacchaeus we are not really alive. Not really whole. Maybe the perfect life that we dreamed up for ourselves hasn’t quite worked out. Like Zacchaeus, we ache for the fullness and freedom of life that is salvation in Christ Jesus. Our hearts ache for the fulsome salvation that is offered by the Lord.

Zacchaeus is ‘anxious’ to meet Jesus. He has heard of this man. And, in his anxiety, his heart overtakes him. He finds himself running ahead, climbing up the nearest sycamore. If Jesus was coming here today, wouldn’t you climb a tree to see him? When will Jesus arrive?

Real encounter with Jesus is a life-changing moment. Someone once described prayer as subversive. If we really pray, then we will encounter the Lord Jesus. And if we really encounter the Lord Jesus, then we will be changed by that. And if we are changed by that, our lives will speak loudly to the world. Evangelisation is nothing less than sharing with everyone the joy of having encountered the Lord.

So, you may ask, how are we to encounter the Lord Jesus? If we were Christians of another denomination, we might say that the real encounter with the Lord is to be found by reading the Word of God. We would carry our tattered, worn out Bible with us everywhere. We would seek to immerse ourselves in the Word of God, and offer the Word to other people, so that they too might encounter the Lord.

As a Catholic, we may feel that the answer to encountering Jesus is to be found in Eucharistic adoration. If we have made a pilgrimage to Fatima or Medjugorje, perhaps we will feel that we need to listen to the messages of Our Lady, in order to encounter the Lord. Or, maybe we are devoted to the prayer of the Rosary; or perhaps a devotion to St Anthony or St Jude. Maybe St Pio (Padre Pio). Or maybe we take time to pray through meditation.

For us in the Catholic tradition, we believe that it is in the Church that we encounter the resurrected Lord. “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20) We are baptized into the Church. We hear God’s Word in the Church. We celebrate Eucharist together as Church. Bishops and priests shepherd the Church. The Lord walked among us to gather us as one, in the Church. The word ‘Church’ means ‘gathering unto the Lord’ (ekklesia tou theou in the greek).

When we gather together, and encounter the Lord, we are moved to do what Zacchaeus promises to do in the gospel. We give away our material wealth to those who need it, because we realize that money in the bank is nothing compared to our wealth in Christ Jesus. It is no use being rich, if I cannot share my riches with others.

We are also moved confess and to make recompense for our wrongs. For Zacchaeus, his sins of cheating others came, perhaps, from a sense that he had to put himself first. Before his encounter with the Lord, perhaps he felt that he deserved the good life, and anyhow, who cares if that meant cheating a few people along the way. We know this element of the human story well. The encounter with the Lord not only changes Zacchaeus’ heart, he resolves to make recompense four times over! Zacchaeus is a character who discovers real freedom, real wealth, in the encounter with Jesus. He can afford to give up everything in the face of this moment. Like many of us, Zacchaeus impulsively and excitedly makes rash promises to Jesus. Does he keep them? Who knows.

“what is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out.” Maybe we need to be a bit silly, a bit impulsive. Move beyond the comfort zone. Fail. Succeed. Fail. Try again.

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.’”