Delivered by Melinda and Celine from the Parish of Saint Marinus Yohanes in the Diocese of Surabaya, Indonesia. 2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Rs psalm 122: 1-2.4-5; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43.
THREE GIFTS FORCHRIST THE KING
The title for ourmeditation on this Sunday, Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of theUniverse is: Three Gifts for Christ the King. We end our liturgical year C witha great celebration, which is the solemnity of Christ as king of the wholeuniverse. He is our King too. A king who is glorified and honored at his very solemnmoment, he must be seen in his palace and sits on his throne. Every one comesfrom all over the kingdom to worship and give thanks. Visitors do not forget tobring gifts or souvenirs for the king.
This is a commonpractice in the world in terms of honoring a king. For the Lord Jesus Christ asking, one might ask: where do we go to visit and give our gifts as signs of ourhonor to Him? For sure, in this world Jesus has no palace and throne. He has nosoldiers and staff surrounding him in the palace. Our gospel of todayillustrates that the palace and throne of Jesus are the Golgotha Hill and thecross on which he hangs, in the midst of blasphemies and torments come from hisenemies.
We, the members ofthe Kingdom of Jesus Christ must have the proper attitude of faith, so we cancome to visit our King without shame, hurt, and anger. On the contrary, we mustcome to pay our homage with an attitude of joy and gratitude. Why? Because Christthe King is very different from the kings of this world, which are the same asKing David, who will disappear one day with all his authority and glory. Christthe King reigns in the world and in heaven. In heaven lies His palace andthrone. His kingdom is the kingdom of Light.
By looking at thecrucified Christ the King, the gifts we should give to Him should be our faith,love and hope. Leaders should be teachers of the faith, but they actuallyinsulted and cursed Jesus on the cross. We must offer true faith to our King,because in and through Him our faith in God grows and bears fruits. We believein the truth that Jesus Christ suffered greatly under the power of PontiusPilate, was crucified, died and was buried. We believe that His throne in theworld is the Cross and his disciple we embrace that Cross as our strength.
The soldiersarrogantly insulted Himself as king. They are like those who have no love,though their lives are entirely as servants and helpers, but they really do nothave love in treating Jesus Christ. We must treat Jesus Christ with true love,namely through our self-denial in following the way of His cross. A criminalconvicted with Jesus joined in insulting Jesus, and this reflects how sinnersand marginal people expect salvation through the actions of Jesus Christ. Wealso have that hope, that is, we die with Christ and rise again with Him.
Let's pray. In the name of theFather... O Lord Jesus, our King, strengthen us on the path of Your way of theCross until we reach salvation. May we do not lose hope of that salvation. OurFather who art in heaven... In the name of the Father...