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On the last Sunday
of the Church year, Roman Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of Christ
the King. This solemnity is easy to pay lip service to, after all, what
Catholic (or Christian, for that matter) would argue against the
proposition that Christ is King? But, this Solemnity presents a rather
troubling challenge, especially to Americans who place such a high
premium on and cherish their independence and freedom above almost
everything else.
Having once revolted
against a foreign sovereign who sought to extend his realm and increase
his wealth by taxing our forefathers, we’ve constructed a national
heritage for the past 227 years based upon the concept of independence
and, especially, the freedom to be self-governing and self-determining
people. While many of us are willing to suffer fools in the realm of
public debate, we don’t so easily tolerate those who tell us what we
have to do and how we should live our lives. And we certainly won’t
give up our autonomy without a fight because we don’t countenance anyone
who’d want to rule us.
If we think about it
for just one minute, from the time we’re little kids we’re bred in a
culture that equates “growing up” with being “independent.” At home,
parents tell their children that all of those important “parenting
lessons" are intended to prepare kids to become independent adults, that
day “when you’re on your own.” At school, teachers have students read
stories about all of those people who spared neither life nor limb not
only for our nation’s independence during the time of the Revolution but
also to preserve it in ensuing generations. These stories are intended
to inculcate in youth the civic virtues and skills they will need to
function as independent adults in our society. Take, for example, how
the idea of growing up and, then, living at home with one’s parents
strikes so many people as odd and how the idea of growing old and
needing “assisted living” scares most people half to death. Deep
inside, we really do value independence and being free to decide what we
want to do, how we’re going to do it, and when we going to do it.
To talk about Christ
the King is to challenge our much-cherished concept of independence. If
Christ is THE King, it doesn’t take much reflection on anyone’s part to
realize this would require giving up our independence and submitting
ourselves to his authority, to his teaching, and to his way of life.
For Americans, in particular, this idea—whether it means submitting
ourselves to any worldly power, to Jesus, or even to Church moral
teaching without having any say in the matter—cuts straight to the heart
not only of our national heritage but also how we understand ourselves
and desire to live our lives. Were we to submit to Christ the King, we
would have to yield ourselves to this King’s absolute authority. For
those who cherish their independence, this idea is anathema.
And yet, that is the
faith we profess. When we grasp that Christ’s kingship is based upon
his absolute dependence upon God and doing his Father’s will, only then
can we recognize how the reign of Christ the King is not a matter of an
earthly kingdom but a matter of the human spirit where truth and life,
holiness and grace, as well as justice, love, and peace are evident in
the way people live their lives. We don’t have to die in order to
participate in this King’s reign. No, we participate in it to the
degree that, like Jesus, we recognize our absolute dependence upon God
and do the will of our Father. Being dependent upon God not being
independent of God is what brings the true freedom—the freedom of truth
and life, of holiness and grace, as well as the justice, love, and
peace—we so very much desire.
In the gospel we’ve
just heard, we can see the dilemma today’s Solemnity of Christ the King
places before those who cherish independence. In Pontius Pilate, we see
a man who by the standards of a worldly kingdom, achieved the pinnacle
of independence. In Jesus, we see a man who by the standards of a
worldly kingdom, was a dismal failure, but by the standards of the
spiritual kingdom he sought to build, demonstrated what it means to live
one’s life totally dependent upon God. And, in the Jewish religious
leaders, we see people who by the standards of both kingdoms, were
abject failures, desiring to be citizens of both but belonging to
neither and, ultimately, condemned to the dustbin of anonymity in the
annals of civilization and religion.
When the Jewish
leaders brought Jesus before Pontius Pilate, the all-powerful Roman
Governor was wearing elegant, royal purple robes and a crown of laurel
leaves, all symbols of his worldly office. Pilate also held a golden
scepter, a symbol of his worldly power. And, he was seated upon a
massive and magnificent raised throne. No one looked down upon Pilate.
No, seated upon his majestic throne, everyone had to look up to Pilate.
Judging simply by these material externals, Pilate had achieved the
pinnacle of independence.
But, in reality,
Pontius Pilate was neither independent nor free because he understood
all too well his vulnerability as a foreign ruler in a strange land.
The target of all those who hated Rome’s occupation of Palestine,
Pontius Pilate presented its public face; but, to ensure his safety, a
brigade of the Roman army named the Praetorian Guard was on duty to
protect Pontius Pilate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. His need for
protection—demonstrating not only Pilate’s vulnerability but also his
lack of independence and freedom—is something I am sure Ambassador L.
Paul Bremmer knows equally as well today as he oversees the difficult
and challenging transition in Iraq from decades of dictatorial rule to
independence, freedom, and democratic self-governance. To keep his hold
on the reins of power he relished so much and to protect himself from
assassination, Pontius Pilate ordered the execution of anyone who
threatened and would not submit to his rule.
In contrast, Jesus
was standing before this man who symbolized such immense worldly power,
independence, and freedom. Wearing a simple cloak and tunic and soon to
be wearing a crown woven not of laurel leaves but of thorns, as people
of the world judge things, Jesus possessed no power. He did, however,
possess a shepherd’s staff and, before long, would take his seat upon
his throne, the cross. Then, not just Pilate but all of the people,
even his friends, kinsfolk, and co-religionists would look down on this
pathetic figure and spit on him. To these people, Jesus was neither
independent nor free. Instead, he was a slave to Pontius Pilate’s
ambition and to the rising tide of public opinion that was now turning
against him.
Standing there in
the Praetorium and looking up to the Imperial governor seated in majesty
before him, Pilate looked down at Jesus and asked, “Are you the King of
the Jews?” which was to inquire, “So, you believe that you are
independent and free, superior to the power of the Emperor and his
Governor?”
Pontius Pilate had
it all wrong. Worried more about maintaining his power, Pontius Pilate
mistakenly believed Jesus to be building a worldly kingdom. But, Jesus
was not seeking to be an earthly King of the Jews or of anyone else for
that matter. Entirely dependent upon God and doing his Father’s will,
the kingdom Jesus was building was an edifice of spirit not of the
flesh. “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.” Evidencing his independence from God who is Truth, Pilate
retorted cynically, “Truth…what is truth?”
Sadly, no one
intervened on Jesus’ behalf. Preferring to live with some degree of
independence under a tyrannical regime, even the Jewish religious
leaders preferred to have one of their own put to death than to allow
their independence—along with their social status, wealth, and lives—to
be placed in jeopardy.
In reality, the
quandary the Jewish leaders found themselves in isn’t all that much
different from many of our own political leaders who publicly call
themselves “Catholic.” Valuing their independence, these women and men
don’t submit to Christ the King as they make decisions about the
important moral issues confronting our nation. Instead, they assert
that their religious beliefs are “a private matter,” one that should
have no bearing upon their work in the legislative arena. Incredible as
it may sound, these politicians actually work to pass legislation
opposed to the faith and morals of the very Church they claim to belong
to. Fearful of losing their base of worldly power and incurring the
wrath of those who do not want Gospel truth to inform social policy,
these politicians—like the Jewish religious leaders in Palestine—aren’t
willing to give evidence their dependence upon God and to suffer for it,
as Jesus did when he confronted the all-powerful Pontius Pilate.
The situation of the
Jewish leaders also doesn’t differ all that much from those who allow
the media either to inform their faith and moral beliefs or to sway them
away from defending their faith and moral beliefs. Simply turning on
the television oftentimes presents a challenge to our faith and moral
beliefs. Sitcoms mock Gospel values. Talking heads lecture about the
separation of church and state and encourage people to leave their
religious beliefs at home so that all of us can “just get along.” Since
all truth is relative, they ask, why not just “live and let live”? But,
as we all know, “silence breeds contempt” and all the while, society’s
moral standards decline as people young and old cower when it comes time
to proclaim: “Look, enough is enough.” “Truth…what is truth?” is how
Pontius Pilate dealt with the same reality.
While Jesus opposed
Pilate’s power at his own peril and many people of faith today oppose
the power of politicians and the media at their own peril, it is
important to recall on this Solemnity of Christ the King that Jesus
taught us by his example that true freedom is the consequence of
recognizing our complete dependence upon God. As a result, Jesus did
not back down when the all-powerful Governor of Judea confronted him
asking, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And it is when we recognize
that our true freedom is the consequence of living each day dependent
upon God that we will not cower before the worldly powers of our own
times when the question is put to us.
The Solemnity of
Christ the King is not a celebration of some sovereign’s power and
humanity’s subservience to an oppressive political or social regime.
No, this Solemnity is a celebration of divine authority and our place in
the bigger scheme of creation as God’s creatures. Today’s Solemnity is
not about political and social independence, self-governance, or
self-determination. Instead, the Solemnity of Christ the King is about
our absolute dependence upon God and doing God’s will by the example of
our lives. While we can protest and demand independence from political
and social regimes, we cannot do the same as creatures of God. Our
dependence upon God is something we must submit to if we are ever to
experience what it means to be truly free.
The Solemnity of
Christ the King presents a paradox of faith. This Solemnity is not
about what Americans most fear losing, namely, the power to be
independent, self-governing, and self-determining beings. No, this
Solemnity is about something much more fundamental than all of those
right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution
which, if you think about it, are completely meaningless as we confront
the certainty that each of us will die. The Solemnity of Christ the
King is about surrendering our desire to live our lives on our own terms
and submitting ourselves to God’s authority so that we will live each
and every day of our lives on God’s terms. This is how we discover our
true freedom.
To do this, we must
remember Who we serve. The courage Jesus demonstrated as he stood
before Pontius Pilate in the Praetorium and the lack of courage evident
both in Pilate and the Jewish religious leaders in Palestine reminds us
that we must submit to God’s authority in our lives and take our stand
before the powers of our world without apology and without compromise.
As difficult as this is, it is the only way that we will participate in
the spiritual kingdom where Christ is King, as the Preface for today’s
Solemnity proclaims, “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness
and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.” |
HOMILY
