To the Band of Brothers: November 23, 2020
Good morning!
Yesterday we celebrated the feast of Christ the King. It marks the end of the Church’s liturgical calendar. In other words, next Sunday we celebrate the first week of Advent and the next stop is Christmas. Incredible to think we have gotten this far in the semester already and are coming up to the end of the calendar year. Like me, you are all probably counting the days to the end of 2020. We need to put this year to bed.
Anyway, back to the King.
Living in the United States, it’s not as if we have any personal experience with kings. In our American lexicon, we associate the title “king” with those people or things that are great, fantastic, or bigger than life. Elvis Presley is referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll,” because he was the first and its biggest star. There’s King Kong of course because he was the biggest, meanest, hairiest beast to ever stomp on New York and top the Empire State Building. And, one of my personal favorites, is Arnold Palmer, the King of Golf, who scorched the fairways, set the standard for modern-day golfers, and even got a drink named after himself (a mix of lemonade and sweet iced tea). Before there was a Tiger, there was the King.
In December of 1922, Pope Pius XI wrote an encyclical where he referred to Jesus Christ as the King of Kings. The world had just gotten out of World War I and the devastation was everywhere. The Pope was concerned that the trend of totalitarian states and radical nationalism was still running rampant throughout Europe and the rest of the world. He wanted to accentuate the fact that peace was only possible if mankind recognized Jesus as the only true king. That scripturally based title was applicable only to Jesus and it was by living our lives the way he did and how he wanted us to live it, that we could assure world peace.
The first reading at mass yesterday was taken from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel. Knowing what you now know about the feast day and how it came about, notice how the Old Testament reading is perfectly chosen. Ezekiel lived in a time when Israel had just been invaded by the Babylonia Empire. There was death and devastation everywhere. The Jews were being exiled, their homes and farms were burned to the ground, and the great Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed. This was the worst part of it all because for the Jews, the destruction of the Temple meant the end of the world. This is what it must have seemed like for Pope Pius XI and the people of his time.
But Ezekiel’s harsh words in the reading are not necessarily addressed to the Babylonian invaders. Instead, he speaks to the people of Israel, especially to their leaders. He accuses them of being bad leaders, false shepherds who took advantage of the sheep. He chastises them because instead of being selfless leaders, they took advantage of the flock. “You consumed milk, wore wool, and slaughtered fatlings, but the flock you did not pasture. You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured” (34:3-4). It was because of the bad kings of Israel and their selfish administration that Israel was left vulnerable and ultimately invaded.
The Prophet Ezekiel goes on to speak the word of God, “I myself will pasture my sheep” (v.15). This “myself” is Jesus and his incarnation is the fulfillment of the words of the prophet. Jesus becomes the Good Shepherd who comes to serve, not to be served. He strengthened the weak, he healed the sick and blinded up their injuries. This is true leadership. This is truly how a king should live and reign. And this is what Pope Pius XI wanted to say when he addressed the world and set this feast day of Christ the King.
Our images of kingship are very secular. We imagine them as powerful and resplendent. But Jesus’s kingship seems to be very different. He did not live in a palace, and had no place to rest his head. Instead of a crown of gold, he wore a crown of thorns. Instead of a throne, he sat on a cross. And yet, he set the example for all of us to follow. We too are called to take part in the kingship of Jesus. When we were baptized, we were anointed priests, prophets, and kings in line with Jesus. Our regal standard needs to be the standard of Jesus, the true King of Kings.
Auspice Maria
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.