Solemnity of Christ the King

By Popular Demand, my Homily from last night, for those who may have missed it..

____________________________________________________________________

I am sure that everyone gathered here today has heard of the website, Craigslist. It serves as a venue for almost everything imaginable, real estate sales, job opportunities, automobile sales, and just about everything else in between, including a ‘Personals’ section. Among the many selections of whose seeking what there is a “Missed Connections” section. So if in the busyness of your everyday life you encounter someone who you are attracted to, you can post it in this section. I used to always snicker at this page thinking, “why not just approach the person?”
There are so many reasons why people don’t act in that moment when they are attracted to someone. Sometimes it’s a lack of nerve, sometimes it’s a matter of the noise of our everyday lives that makes it inappropriate or impossible to act on that impulse.

In today’s Gospel Pilate has a bit of a Missed Connection. He has Jesus standing in front of him, and his total concern, being a politician, is Jesus’ title as “King of the Jews”. Jesus explains to Pilate with great clarity that His kingdom is not of this world. He tries to present to Pilate exactly who he is, and what’s going on, but Pilate cannot see past this “worldly title”, and his own ambition. So he fails to hear the call of Christ.

You see, Jesus calls to us each and everyday, at every moment. He is constantly calling , and inviting us to come closer, and have an individual experience of Him. This call goes beyond a matter of roles, and vocations. I’m not talking about a vocation to religious life, or the priesthood, or marriage. I am talking about how He calls you and I by name, He speaks to our very souls with an ardent and full desire to reach an intimate level relationship with Him, and for us to live that relationship in our daily lives. So why can’t we always hear it?

We can‘t hear it for the same reason as Pilate. Our everyday lives burden us down. We get so caught up in the day to day routine, our relationship with God often becomes the hour we give on Sundays. Being a bartender in many ways I am lucky, because the two things people love to talk about when they are drinking is religion and politics. Its amazing to watch people who sit at my bar, and talk about their lives, love, work, financial struggles, etc etc, who claim they aren’t religious…are often times the people who DO hear the call of the Lord, but they don’t realize that it is Him. They don’t realize that the reason they live the lives the way that they do, is because they have heard - and answered the call of Christ in their everyday lives.

How do we know that it’s Him calling? Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “I came to testify to the Truth, anyone who belongs to the Truth, hears my voice.” How do we live in the truth? It‘s not easy, because its not just the noise of our everyday lives that block the call of the Lord, it’s the rest of the world too. There are those of us who have been told by individuals along the way that our sexuality prevents us from answering that call, or that past choices and situations would make us unworthy. But we live in the TRUTH, and that truth is that we are members of this glorious Kingdom, and our King calls to us by name each and every moment of every day. How do we respond? By upholding the values we believe in when it is difficult. By being honest with our partners when it would be easier to dance around the facts. By challenging co workers on work matters when it would be easier to be complacent. But it all starts with acknowledging first and foremost…that Christ is our king, and our everyday lives are our testimony to that Kingdom.

Our liturgy is the example of perfect living in this kingdom. The sacrifice of the Mass, the Eucharist we share makes us a part of “the Christ Event”. It makes us present at the foot of the cross, when He laid down his life for us, for each and every one of us…personally. We then go out into the world, and carry His presence within us. He tells us at the last supper that His blood would be shed “for you and for all”. He says those words directly to you and I. He sheds his blood for us, and calls us by name - AS WE ARE.

As we receive from this altar today, and go back to the daily grind tomorrow, lets try to remember our membership in this Kingdom. Whatever our daily cycle is, let’s try to always live in the truth, weather it be at work, at a bar with a friend, or in our private lives with our partners, loved ones, and friends. We live in a very tangible world right now, but it’s HOW we live in this world that’s going to gain us entry into Christ our King’s tangible Kingdom in heaven. Let’s live in that truth - and not allow our daily lives, or the opinion of others to allow a “missed connection” between us and Christ our King. God Bless You.