Friars Corner: More joy with Jesus
Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR
Daniel 7:13-14; Psalms 96:1-2, 5; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37
On Saturday of this week, we shall finish this church year as we have walked through the public life of Jesus. Next Sunday, we begin another cycle, C for Sunday readings. We shall begin to look at the life of Jesus from before his earthly birth until his Ascension.
We begin Advent. Hopefully, we want to get closer to Jesus and go deeper into life with him. We ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see more of Jesus and our ears to hear more of his plan for our life with his good news.
Before the changes from Vatican Council II in the mid-1960s, we simply ended the Church year with the 34th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Church liturgists wanted to end the year on a more positive note so they moved this Feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In some of the Western European countries that title was ok because they had kings for a long time. That concept for us Americans is foreign. We don’t have a long-term physical ruler. We have an elected president for only four years.
Here is a little background history from the Dictionary of the Liturgy, by Rev. Jovian P Lang, OFM, Catholic Book Publishing Co, NY. In very early Jewish history, the people demanded a king like other nations. God allowed it but it did not work well and few kings were good and faithful to God. The word Christ came from the Greek word “anointed” one and meant “messiah” in the Hebrew language. The Jewish king and high priest were anointed with holy oil. In the Bible, it was the title given to the one who, in the future, would come to restore Israel to its rightful place, Daniel 9:25-26. Jesus hardly ever used that title. He presented himself as the expected Messiah, Mark 14:62.
Evil messes up God’s initial plan
God the designer, creator and sustainer of the entire universe, had a plan for all things. Genesis gave us two creation stories of that plan. Adam and Eve at first enjoyed and obeyed God’s plan, then disobeyed the one command God gave them. Thus evil messed up God’s initial plan. That evil continued to expand even into our own day. We can see a conflict between God and satan, good and evil. We have to pick sides.
God finally send his own Son, born of the greatest human woman, the Virgin Mary. The God-Man, Jesus Christ, fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies and is the perfect King, Priest and Prophet, the expected Messiah. In his humanity, he has the fullness of power, love and joy that was symbolized by the oil of consecration in the ancient rites. Psalm 45:8 expressed this fact:
You love justice and hate wickedness; therefore God your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellow kings.
Jesus, the Messiah
Jesus clearly explained this symbolism when he began his earthly ministry one Sabbath in the synagogue in Nazareth, when he read the famous Isaiah text, 61:1;
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)
The primitive Church proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah (Christ). However, in time the title lost its Messianic force and became a personal name: Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus or simply Christ (Romans 1:1, 6 and 8). This title became a cultic name for Jesus by its use in worship (2 Timothy 1:10). As baptized Christians, we inherit this title and mission of Christ. We are in God’s kingdom as little priests, prophets and servant kings to help carry out his mission on earth.
Dominion and peace
Now back to the background of this Sunday’s solemnity. Initially, Pope Pius XI established this feast for the last Sunday of October to foster the awareness of Christ’s dominion over all people and to establish peace among nations. After Vatican Council II, this feast was transferred to this last Sunday of the church year.
This feast celebrates Christ’s Kingship in an altogether non-worldly way. Jesus Christ was anointed by his Father with the oil of gladness as the eternal priest and universal king. As Priest, he offered his life on the altar of the cross and redeemed the human race by his one perfect sacrifice of peace. As King, he claims dominion over all creation that he may present to his almighty Father a Kingdom of truth and life, a Kingdom of holiness and grace, a Kingdom of justice, love and peace.
On this Solemnity, is the Holy Spirit raising us up to stand on mountains and sometimes walk on the stormy seas of this life to be held in the loving arms of Jesus, our Lord? Can we get closer to Jesus today and the rest of our lives? In the midst of life with Jesus, we can have some of his joy.
Blessings,
(© 2018 Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR)
