Homily for Christ the King Sunday ~ 20-11-11

Would you pray with me?

Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of your faithful, kindle within us the fire of your love, and may my words, and our hearts together, glorify You oh God.  Amen

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King or as it is more commonly known, Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of Ordinary Time before the beginning of Advent. 

Today we will focus on the Kingship of Jesus the Christ!   I would suspect that most of us envision Jesus as the good shepherd, a friend to the poor, a teacher, a healer or perhaps you think of Him as the one who calms the storm.  We think of Jesus as our redeemer, the one who affirms us, and the one who loves us unconditionally, but rarely do we think of Him as a judge.  How often do we picture Jesus as the Judge of all people? 

In today’s Gospel we read:  “When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on His royal throne”.  It is difficult for us to imagine Jesus as ‘royalty’ ... he was born in a stable and buried in another man’s tomb.  He entered the city of Jerusalem riding a donkey, not in a state coach.  His royal robe was a purple rag and he wore a crown made of thorns and his sceptre was a reed.

He was led through the streets bloody and beaten and endured the heckling of the people watching.  At Calvary His throne was a wooden cross to which he was inhumanely nailed.

Christ as King has nothing in common with our worldly perception of earthly kingdoms.  In His kingdom there are no masters because everyone is a servant!  We also read  ... if one of you wants to be first, you must become last – like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.

We are told that we will be divided into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  We will be sent either to the right or left side of Him who sits on the throne ... the righteous will sit on His right and the others on His left!

How often do we think about the way we live and whether or not we are going to be on the right or the left of our Lord’s throne?  Have we seen the Face of Christ in everyone we meet or do we sit in judgement of others?  Have we welcomed strangers into our homes, have we clothed the naked?  Have we fed the hungry, given the thirsty a drink or do we simply walk by the person sitting on the sidewalk thinking ... if I give him money will he just take it and use it for drugs or alcohol?  Do we have the right to make that call for them?  Jesus tells us that whenever we do something for those least of these, we do it for Him!

As Christians, we have heard many, many times that we are to be in the world but not of the world, in our walk with the Lord.  We cannot live in two kingdoms at the same time; that of the world and that of Christ.  What we do, is try to amalgamate the two and make one look like the other until we can’t tell the difference.

Christ’s rule is one of justice, not the kind of justice we’re used to, the one where we believe in giving people what they deserve or letting the punishment fit the crime!  Christ’s justice is one of compassion and forgiveness!  Think about it, if we all got what we deserved most of us would be sitting on the left side of the throne!

Jesus is not asking us to do the impossible; He does not expect us to withdraw from the world but to fully engage it.  He expects us to be loyal to His ways.  We live in a society of paranoia!  We are obsessed with our national security, public safety and terrorism.  We live in fear of others and if we fear them how can we love them?

As children of God, doing things for others should come naturally, not because we think it is expected of us but out of compassion and not out of obedience.  We need to let Jesus rule our lives so that when hard times come we do not allow fear to overtake us but continue to operate out of compassion and love as Christ has taught us.

What have we learned from today’s reading?  As followers of Christ we have Hope!  We do not need to worry about power and wealth, or anything else for that matter, He only asks us to do as He has done.  We should learn to let our safe and comfortable lives go so that we can stay closer to Him who was prepared to die for us on the cross.

Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King but as we celebrate, let’s be mindful of what sort of king we are celebrating.  Should we be focusing on Jesus the king and ruler surrounded by angels just waiting for the day He is to return in power and glory or should we be focused on Jesus the servant, friend, brother and redeemer of us all.  The King that we follow is a servant king; a king with no wealth or possessions.  The King we worship is a risen Lord whose spirit is everywhere and at all times with us and within us to guide and direct us ... to fill us with His love so that we can share that same love with everyone we meet.

I will close with two direct quotes from a sermon entitled, ‘Jesus is Lord’... unfortunately I do not know who the author is but I do think they are good food for thought:

“It is very difficult for us to grasp that God’s judgement and justice is exactly the same power as his mercy, love and forgiveness which we have all experienced”.

“The service of love and compassion for other human beings is what counts in the end.  As we learn to recognize and serve Christ in one another, we can look forward in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ”.

Closing Prayer

(based on Matthew 25: 31-46)

Creator God, your church awaits the day when Jesus will come in His glory, and the angels with Him, and He will sit on His royal throne. Until that day, when we will be received as your blessed people, keep us safe in your care. Make us merciful, serving your Son now as he comes to us in those in need. We ask this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

 

Thanksgiving

Today, as we enter the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, I am reminded of all the things I am thankful for.  I'm thankful for growing up in a loving, caring family.  I'm thankful for the many friends that I have.  I'm thankful that I enjoy a reasonably healthy life.  I am thankful for my son.  I'm thankful for our pets.  I'm thankful for the quiet and solitude of my new home, where I am able to enjoy nature at its very best every day, and the list goes on and on.  Most importantly, I am thankful for a loving and caring God who walks with me and watches over me at every moment of my life.

There were rough patches in my life, especially when I left the church for many years.  I could not tolerate the prejudices and intolerance of the church.  I felt, many times, that the church was doing more to hurt people than it was to help!  God eventually gave me the gift of a change of heart!  God helped me to understand that those people in the church who were hurting others were only human after all.  Many still believe they know the heart and mind of God ... many still hurt others in the belief that they are right and others are wrong.  I have learned over the years and God has given me the strength to stand up to these prejudices and speak my mind.  It does get me into trouble from time to time but I have learned if what I say is God honouring and Spirit led then change can and will come.

Today, I am lifting prayers for the church and giving thanks that times are changing, albeit slowly.  The church is becoming more tolerant and accepting ... sometimes, one step forward and two steps back but nonetheless making attempts at reforming itself.

So, on this weekend we pause to remember the good things and put away the bad things in our lives.  We give thanks for a bountiful harvest and share our table with others.  Perhaps, as we share a meal with others, we could ask God for the gift of love and hospitality towards others.  This is not an easy thing for many to do as they feel they are just getting by on what they have.  As we reflect on the true meaning ... we need to see the word Thanksgiving as two words ... Thanks and Giving.  Let's remember those who are less fortunate, not through pity or throwing money at charities, but by opening our hearts and our homes in the spirit of God's love and hospitality.

May each and everyone of you have a most Blessed and Happy Thanks-giving!

Peace be with you.

Br. John-Anthony

New Website

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http://stcuthbertscottage.webs.com/

Welcome

Grace to you and Peace in the name of Jesus the Christ!

For the past 9 1/2 years I have been a solitary Benedictine Monk living and serving in the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia located in Victoria, British Columbia.  As a non-canonical monk I was pretty much free to carry out my ministry as I saw fit.  Over the past couple of years it was becoming more and more apparent to me that I was not really 'connected'.  I came to the religious life very late and would not have been accepted into a residential community based solely on my age and health issues.  The only non-residential community that existed in the area was the Community of St. Michael the Archangel in the Diocese of New Westminster on the mainland (Vancouver).  There were no members on the Island so I did not pursue a relationship with them.  Over the past few years the Community of St. Michael the Archangel has become known as The Canon Communities of St. Benedict, OSBCn!  Please take a moment and visit our website to find out more about them.

One of the houses, the Community of St. Aidan of Lindesfarne, was established in Victoria, BC.  I requested admission to the community on June 10th of 2011 and was welcomed with open arms.  On July 16th, 2011 the Superior of the Community, the Rev. Dr. Martin Brokenleg, authorized the establishment of St. Cuthbert's Cottage in Youbou, British Columbia which is where I live.

This is the beginning of a new spiritual journey for me and I am excited and humbled to be able to share it with you.  From time to time I will be posting about my journey.  Note:  The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Community and I take full responsibility for the content.

As always, my thoughts and prayers go out to each and every visitor to this blog.

Blessings