WHAT WERE YOU BORN FOR?
Today we celebrate Christ as King of our hearts and the Universe. Wherever Christ is present, there is the Kingdom of God. Our heart is His throne. The Kingdom is not a geographical country with borders or boundaries. It exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It exists in every country that cares for its weak and vulnerable. It exists in every parish that reaches out to the needy. The Kingdom of God is a time. It happens whenever someone feeds or gives a glass of water to a hungry and thirsty person. It happens when war is averted or ended. Whenever people join in the struggle to overcome poverty, there is the Kingdom of heaven. It is established here on earth becoming visible in charitable works of love and mercy. The Kingdom of God is in the present, in the work of the Church. It is in the future in the age to come in heaven. St. John Paul II said that the Kingdom of God is a condition. Its symptoms are truth, love, holiness, grace, justice, and peace. Jesus answered Pilate: “Yes, I am a King. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the Truth; and all who are on the side of Truth listen to My voice.” In celebrating Jesus today as our King and that of the Universe, we have to ask ourselves the question: ‘What purpose in life was I born for’? Is it to live for myself or to live for God who created me, and created the Church and the universe? Jesus’ Kingship is not one of executive or coercive power. It is to open our eyes to the real meaning of life, of our existence and that of the whole world in which we live. We are on a pilgrimage to get to heaven. If we reject the teachings of Jesus and His Church, then we are not on the right side of Truth. We live in vain. For example, if we vote in the upcoming Irish elections for a political party or candidate who we like, but who clearly and openly promotes abortion, which is the killing of life, then we are not on the Jesus’ side of Truth. The right side of Truth promotes full life from the womb to the tomb, that will reward believers a full life in heaven someday. The wrong side of Truth promotes death and will sadly result in suffering no life in hell someday. To live by the sword is to die by the sword. A mother who aborts a baby in the womb, selfishly deprives that little boy or girl a life on earth.
THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE NOW & AFTER DEATH
The concept of King and Kingdom is at the very heart of Jesus’ message to us. He came from heaven to establish His heavenly Kingdom here on earth beginning at baptism. It is a Kingdom of Truth, Life, Holiness, Grace, Justice, Love and Peace. Today we see Christ as a Crucified Merciful King. If we break the word King-dom down into two components, it helps us understand its meaning. King, who is Christ, and then the Latin word dom means Lord. So, Thy Kingdom come means, Thy Christ the Lord come into my heart to reign my life with Your divine will. To be subject to Jesus the King is to experience an extraordinary liberation and an exciting new spiritual outlook on life. Earlier Jesus said, “The Truth will make you free” (Jn 8:31). Many Catholics see Catholicism as a religion of bondage and imprisonment of our freewill and lifestyle. They imagine they have a greater sense of liberation by leaving the Church. But this is a distorted reading of the meaning of Jesus and His mission. No one is more free than the one who has seen the Truth, through the eyes of Jesus, and who accepts that Truth, as the Way to Life in its fullness. “I have come that they may have life, life in abundance” (Jn 10:10). Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega (Apoc 1:5-8), meaning the Beginning and the End of all things. He is all Truth and all Love. Lord Jesus Christ, You made all the universe and it was only by Your will that everything was made and exists (Apoc 4:11). St Augustine told us that, “Our hearts will find no rest until they rest in Him.” Open our hearts to the spirit of Truth that we will do Your will and seek Your Divine Mercy through confession. God bless, Fr. Brendan.