[stephenkhoo]

UNIVERSAL KINGSHIP OF CHRIST PRESUPPOSES PERSONAL SUBMISSION TO THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST 

SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2 SM 5:1-3; COL 1:12-20; LK 23:35-43http://www.universalis.com/20131124/mass.htmToday the Church celebrates the Feast of Christ the King.  This feast is an appropriate conclusion to the liturgical calendar of the year for we are celebrating the redemptive work of Christ which is to establish His Lordship over all creation.In principle, the Lordship of Christ has been established, at least objectively, in the world through His victory on the cross over sin and His resurrection over death.  More specifically, the Lordship of Christ is realized in His Body, the Church, for as St Paul said, “Now the Church is his body, he is its head. As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way; because God wanted all perfection to be found in him and all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross.”However whilst it is true that objectively salvation has been won for us, but subjectively is it true for all?  This is what the gospel text from St Luke is asking us.  The fact is the world has not yet surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. Today, the Church is facing increasing hostility to religion, especially Christianity.  The secularist trend of the world wants to put God out of circulation.  In the name of secularization, we can no longer publicly speak of God.  It is considered socially inappropriate to mention God in public space. We are obliged to keep any talk or discussion of God only in temples and churches and at home.  Indeed the reprimand of the Good Thief applies to us all, “Have you no fear of God at all?”  The truth is that man not only does not love God but no longer fear Him, since he is made to believe there is no God but man himself.When men are numbed to the presence of God, in their emptiness they try to satisfy their hearts through consumerism. Without God, men’s hearts are restless.  The world seeks to assuage our restlessness by inviting us to consume more.  We are encouraged to ‘Live it up’; make the most of life by acquiring the best that money can buy. Such an emphasis shows that men have lost the sense of the sacred.  He is reduced to an animal and his spirit remains hungry and empty.Not only is man becoming more sensual and materialistic, he is also becoming more carnal.  When man has forgotten that he has a spirit, he loses the meaning of love.  Lacking in the experience of true and authentic love, he reduces love to mere lust.From being carnal, the next step is to indulge the body and live simply on the physical level.  Today, there is an over emphasis on the body where we are obsessed with keeping ourselves looking young and beautiful.  This desire for a longer life on this earth belies a world that has given up on God, and therefore life after death.  Man is thus not so much concerned with whether he is living a meaningful life but simply to extend his physical life for he fears death, thinking that it is the end of everything.Most of all, when man has lost God, he also loses the sense of what is right and wrong.  There is no longer objectivity in truth.  Truth, he claims, cannot be found, for everything is subjective and also relative to the changing situation.  Since there is no truth, the culture of death is promoted.  Abortion of unwanted babies and mercy killing of the elderly and the sick are practised in the name of convenience. War, marginalization and terrorism are offsprings of the lack of justice in the world.  It is a scandal that in spite of the growing affluence of so many nations, so many people in the world are without a proper meal a day.It is within such a similar context that the solemnity of Christ the King was established as an institution by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in response to the atheist and totalitarian political regimes that denied the rights of God and of the Church.  Today, this threat is no less grave and serious.  In fact, the threat against God, Christianity, the Church, the moral standards of humanity and peace in the world is even more real and insidious, because it comes in the guise of secularization and neutrality.Accordingly, if we hope to save humankind from corruption and self-destruction, it is necessary that as the subjects of the King and as members of the Body of Christ, each individual must first accept His Lordship on behalf of creation.  Christ cannot be king of all nations unless He is first king of our hearts.  Rightly so, the words of the enemy taunting Christ should apply to us:  “Save yourself first if you want to save others.”  Unless we are saved, no one will believe that Christ is our saviour!Today, like the Good Thief in the gospel, we are invited to profess our personal faith in Jesus as the king of our lives.  To speak of Jesus as our king and Lord means that Christ reigns in our lives.  Only when He reigns in us, can we be freed from the slavery of sin and share in His kingdom life.  Indeed, we must sincerely ask ourselves the question:  Is Christ King and Lord of my life? Who reigns in me, who sets the objectives and establishes the priorities: Christ or another?  Can we say to Jesus, just like the tribal leaders who said to King David, “’Look’ they said, ‘we are your own flesh and blood!’? In days past when Saul was our king, it was you who led Israel in all their exploits; and the Lord said to you, ‘You are the man who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you shall be the leader of Israel.’”  Can we make the same profession of faith as the Good Thief did, “Remember me when you have come into your kingdom?”To declare that Jesus is the Lord of my life means first and foremost that we are ready to give up sin that enslaves us.  Giving up sins is not the same as simply giving up some idea of sin.  Concretely, we need to examine what our sins are.  The truth is that many of us have a vague idea of sin.  Today, we do not even know that we are children of Satan, as Jesus said to the Jews in St John’s gospel, because we adopt the lies of Satan.  Many of us are living in sin but because we are so anesthetized by the world, we have come to live with our sins, thinking that it is normal.  Without a real consciousness of sin, how can we say that we are not the children of the devil?  Without a real consciousness of sin, how can we ever be able to distinguish what is right and wrong?  Even the thief on the cross could not recognize his sins enough to ask forgiveness from God or from Jesus!How then can we recover our sanity and be awakened to the truth to know what it means to be truly living under the Lordship of Christ?  We must try to appreciate the nature of Jesus’ kingship in order to understand the significance and meaning of Jesus’ kingship for us.What kind of kingship did Jesus exercise?  Certainly, the kingship or authority of Jesus is far from the idea of kingship understood today.  His kingship is based on true peace, righteousness, love, and truth.  The kingship of Jesus is not based on fear and violence but on love.  He did not come to conquer lands but hearts and souls for His Father.  He was a shepherd king who sought to look after the lost sheep.  His primary desire was to unite all men as one people, which is realized in the establishment of the Church as His body through the truth.  He was also a servant king, for He came to serve all men, regardless.  He was a priestly king, for He offered Himself not only as a high priest to offer sacrifices to God but as a living sacrifice, a victim, in saving us.As to His throne, it was at the crib of Bethlehem and at the cross.  Christ reigned from the cross by submitting to the rule of His heavenly Father.  The greatest freedom that one can give is to surrender one’s freedom to God.  Those who desire freedom are still not free.  In His total obedience to the Father, giving up His freedom totally for His Father and for us, in His death on the cross, He set all men free from self-will.Today, we are called to make a choice; the kingdom of light or the kingdom of darkness. Will we submit ourselves to God’s kingdom of love, peace, and righteousness or will we submit to Satan’s kingdom of pride, corruption, and selfishness? The choice is ours.- See more at: http://www.csctr.net/reflections/#sthash.D6YKXHCy.dpuf