Sunday, June 12, 2005
LUKE 13:22-30
Kings and queens are not very much part of our lives in democratic society today. Why then does the Church insist on celebrating Christ the King and Mary the Queen?
Perhaps the answer is found in Jesus himself. When the Israelites, after the peak of glory under King David and King Solomon, were in exile, having been dominated by successive foreign powers, they longed for the promised Messiah, a temporal king, who would lead them back to glory as the supreme power in the world.
Jesus came to fulfill God's promise of a Savior King. However, his kingship is not according to the expectation of the Jewish people. The people wanted a conquering king to subjugate other people and by his power to impose his will on the people. Jesus avoided that kind of kingship. He escaped from the people when they wanted to make him king.
And yet, on other occasions Jesus himself revealed that he was the Savior King, the Messiah: to the Samaritan woman by the well, to Pilate, who asked, "Are you the king of the Jews?" But his kingship is not a political or a military one. His kingdom is of love and service. It is a kingdom within the hearts of people. He comes to reveal to us the love of God. He comes to tell us that the ways of the world, the way of selfishness, of greed, of lust, of hatred, of pride only leads to destruction and eternal death.
Jesus comes to show us that the way of love, of humble service, of spiritual poverty, of obedience to the Father's will is the way to the kingdom and eternal life with God.
And to show the extent of God's love for us, he accepted the shameful death on the cross. Down through history, countless people have died for their kings. But this king willingly died for his people. And even in his dying agony on the cross, he was concerned with the fate of those who were killing him. He prayed to his Father to forgive them. He forgave the dying thief. By this Jesus shows us what true kingship is all about. Other kings rule from their golden thrones. Jesus rules from a cross.
As king he claims dominion over all creation, that he may present his almighty Father, an eternal and universal kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.
Now, since Jesus is the King of the Universe, Mary, his mother would naturally be the queen. But more important than that, Mary's whole life was so totally God-oriented. When a woman gave tribute to Mary saying, "Blest is the breast that nursed you," Jesus corrected her by saying, "Blest rather is the one who hears the word of God and keeps it." Mary did that.
When the Angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to be the mother of God's Son, her faith and obedience to God was such that though she couldn't understand how this was going to happen, she said, "Fiat Yes Lord, let it be done." That was the spirit of Mary all through her life. And this spirit brought her to unexpected places to give birth in a stinking cave in Bethlehem, to the strange prophecy of Simeon in the temple, to the lost Son in the temple, to the foot of the Cross and ultimately, to the Spirit-shaken room at Pentecost.
Mary's spirit was intimately united with that of her Son, Jesus. But that does not mean that she didn't have any problem with God's mysterious ways. As Jesus' life orientation was to do the will of the Father, so was Mary's. And if she didn't understand God's mysterious ways, Luke's Gospel tells us that Mary "kept all these things pondering them in her heart."
Just as Jesus' kingship is the kingship of love and service, so is Mary's queenship - is that of love and service. At the Annunciation, when she heard that her cousin Elizabeth was in the family way, she went "in haste" to Elizabeth in the hill country to assist. At the wedding in Cana, she was the first to notice that the wine was running out, and she tried to do something to save the newly weds from embarrassment. She was with the group of women ministering to the needs of Jesus and the apostles during his public ministry. She was there at the foot of the cross in solidarity with her suffering Son. She was praying with the apostles at the Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended.
It is but natural that God would raise her body and soul to be beside her Son as Queen of the Universe. She is not only the mother of Christ the King, but as Jesus is honored as the King of the universe, because of his love and service, and faithfulness to the Father's will, so Mary by her life of fidelity and love is honored as the Queen of the Universe.
May she continue to inspire us and intercede for us that we may follow her footsteps in fidelity to God. With the support of her prayers may we come to share the glory of God's children with her in the kingdom of the Father.
May Mary, our Queen and Mother bring all of us to Jesus her Son!
Perhaps the answer is found in Jesus himself. When the Israelites, after the peak of glory under King David and King Solomon, were in exile, having been dominated by successive foreign powers, they longed for the promised Messiah, a temporal king, who would lead them back to glory as the supreme power in the world.
Jesus came to fulfill God's promise of a Savior King. However, his kingship is not according to the expectation of the Jewish people. The people wanted a conquering king to subjugate other people and by his power to impose his will on the people. Jesus avoided that kind of kingship. He escaped from the people when they wanted to make him king.
And yet, on other occasions Jesus himself revealed that he was the Savior King, the Messiah: to the Samaritan woman by the well, to Pilate, who asked, "Are you the king of the Jews?" But his kingship is not a political or a military one. His kingdom is of love and service. It is a kingdom within the hearts of people. He comes to reveal to us the love of God. He comes to tell us that the ways of the world, the way of selfishness, of greed, of lust, of hatred, of pride only leads to destruction and eternal death.
Jesus comes to show us that the way of love, of humble service, of spiritual poverty, of obedience to the Father's will is the way to the kingdom and eternal life with God.
And to show the extent of God's love for us, he accepted the shameful death on the cross. Down through history, countless people have died for their kings. But this king willingly died for his people. And even in his dying agony on the cross, he was concerned with the fate of those who were killing him. He prayed to his Father to forgive them. He forgave the dying thief. By this Jesus shows us what true kingship is all about. Other kings rule from their golden thrones. Jesus rules from a cross.
As king he claims dominion over all creation, that he may present his almighty Father, an eternal and universal kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.
Now, since Jesus is the King of the Universe, Mary, his mother would naturally be the queen. But more important than that, Mary's whole life was so totally God-oriented. When a woman gave tribute to Mary saying, "Blest is the breast that nursed you," Jesus corrected her by saying, "Blest rather is the one who hears the word of God and keeps it." Mary did that.
When the Angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to be the mother of God's Son, her faith and obedience to God was such that though she couldn't understand how this was going to happen, she said, "Fiat Yes Lord, let it be done." That was the spirit of Mary all through her life. And this spirit brought her to unexpected places to give birth in a stinking cave in Bethlehem, to the strange prophecy of Simeon in the temple, to the lost Son in the temple, to the foot of the Cross and ultimately, to the Spirit-shaken room at Pentecost.
Mary's spirit was intimately united with that of her Son, Jesus. But that does not mean that she didn't have any problem with God's mysterious ways. As Jesus' life orientation was to do the will of the Father, so was Mary's. And if she didn't understand God's mysterious ways, Luke's Gospel tells us that Mary "kept all these things pondering them in her heart."
Just as Jesus' kingship is the kingship of love and service, so is Mary's queenship - is that of love and service. At the Annunciation, when she heard that her cousin Elizabeth was in the family way, she went "in haste" to Elizabeth in the hill country to assist. At the wedding in Cana, she was the first to notice that the wine was running out, and she tried to do something to save the newly weds from embarrassment. She was with the group of women ministering to the needs of Jesus and the apostles during his public ministry. She was there at the foot of the cross in solidarity with her suffering Son. She was praying with the apostles at the Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended.
It is but natural that God would raise her body and soul to be beside her Son as Queen of the Universe. She is not only the mother of Christ the King, but as Jesus is honored as the King of the universe, because of his love and service, and faithfulness to the Father's will, so Mary by her life of fidelity and love is honored as the Queen of the Universe.
May she continue to inspire us and intercede for us that we may follow her footsteps in fidelity to God. With the support of her prayers may we come to share the glory of God's children with her in the kingdom of the Father.
May Mary, our Queen and Mother bring all of us to Jesus her Son!
# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 5:11 PM 
