Feast of Christ the King

-
Feast of Christ the King

 “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” is a famous quote and was written by the first Lord Acton to Bishop Creighton in 1887. The phrase still rings home today especially when you see places like Burma and North Korea where dictators have ruled their people by force and fear. And I am sure that we can all see other times and places where this inhumanity has been so prominent.
We all know this to be true and does it not then seem strange that we should be celebrating today Christ the King and where does this Kingship come from and how is it different from so many of the world’s experience.

The authority of Christ of King does not flow from fear and power but from the beating heart of Jesus. Its source symbol of strength is the cross. It shows us a different kind of kingship a different kind of authority. The authority flows from the cross is that of love and forgiveness it is journey towards holiness. From the cross Jesus speaks heart unto heart. It is from here that we get an idea of what this kingdom of God should be like and how we should help build that kingdom here on earth.

A Kingdom of love: The Cross is the tree of life and love. Jesus all through his ministry promotes love especially the marginalized those on the fringes of society. He reaches out to those who the world rejects and embraces them. It challenges us to reach out to those in need and show the love of Jesus. It challenges us to see the choices that we make and to embrace love. It challenges us to see the face of Christ in all that we meet especially those who we might find it difficult to see eye to eye.

A Kingdom of forgiveness: Flowing from the ministry of Jesus is one of forgiveness. He reaches out and teaches us by his actions and words the art of forgiveness from the prodigal son to the Zacchaeus. Even on the cross in his dying breath he reaches out and forgives. He sees into our hearts and sees the person who is behind the sin. He welcomes us back no matter what we have done as one of his Children.  This forgiveness really sets the Kingdom of God apart from the world. In the world we see one of retribution you only have to watch something like Jeremy Kyle and those reality shows to know for a lot of people this is true. It is sad to think that the world has rejected the lost art of forgiveness and even in the Catholic world the sacrament of reconciliation is sadly under used.

And so on this feast of Christ the King we look for a different kind of Kingdom. We look for a Kingdom that welcomes the vulnerable that seeks forgiveness and seeks a heart that speaks to heart.

Today is also National Youth Sunday so it is important to day to pray for all our young people especially those taking exams and also going through a difficult time. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Year of Service

-
Image
  This last weekend I was able to look back with friends at the wonderful year I had with the Vincentian Volunteers. Looking back I can see that there are many elements to this year that have remained always with me. These I can now see and after reflection have shaped my life since this most formative year. From this year I went on to train for the priesthood and became a priest. After 16 years I left ministry and now try my best to live my Christian values and life in the world. In a recent upgrade to my CV I realised that my whole adult life has been in some sort of service to others and usually to the most vulnerable and those on the fringes of society. From working in Top Shop to ministry to the Hospital to the work I now do in education. This all stems from this year I had with the community and putting Love in action. Yes I have made mistakes on the way and my human frailty has been evident but this life was never going to easy and straight forward.  When I look back on that yea
Read more

Easter

-
Image
  Over the last few years I have had major issues with the Catholic Church. I think that my issue is the authority of the Church and how many clergy, not all, use and abuse their power and class the laity as stupid idiots. I can say this as for 16 years I was a priest and caught up in the system. When you're in the middle of it you can't aways see what is going on around you. I could not see what the Church as a structure was doing to peoples lives. Until I was out I realised that the Church and Im talking about the Catholic Church here is full up of repressed men who are scared of change scared of themselves and scared of the laity. Those who speak out especially clergy who want significant change are laughed at by others and classed as trouble makers. This includes Pope Francis himself who wants change but sometimes can't get it because of what he has inherited. It is an issue that has gone on your centuries.  This does not allow for a healthy functioning Church. There ne
Read more

What have we learnt? Covid and the last year.

-
Image
Over the last year since the start of the Covid pandemic there has been much in the press about the affects on society. We have seen that there are many people who are anxious, feel alone and worried about the future. So I looked on the Internet for the Christian response to the Pandemic. I was not surprised to see that there were many articles to suggest that the Christian Church as a whole has failed in this time.  In the first Lockdown the Churches were asked to close and there was no public worship. As the infection rate went down the Churches could open for private prayer. In the recent lockdown many places of worship have remained open although the infection rate being a lot higher. I have maybe been a thorn in peoples sides by asking why. I even wrote to the Cardinal  to ask him why. I argued that they should be left shut because of the demographic that tend to go. I got a standard reply back. When I looked in newsletters I read many times about how to give your collection and t
Read more