Our Sunday Gospel reminds us that the Kingdom of Jesus is not one simply of command and might but, first, one of weakness and vulnerability. It is a crown of thorns before it is a crown of gold. Such a new sense of rule ushers in a new liturgical year as well, as Christ the King always leads into Advent: our Savior comes to us weak and dependent upon our desires to care for him, and to make him known in this world. He is a King, not a micro-manager, and he is willing to share whatever he can—his work, his mission, his very body and blood—with his members. On the Cross and in the Cradle, Christ undergoes a continual outpouring of His glory so that all might come to Him without fear.
This selection from the Gospel of Saint Luke reaches its crescendo with Christ’s promise that those who come to him will be with Him in paradise. So, we need again to stress how heaven for the Christian is not simply a place “out there,” apart from the trials and the crosses of this present life. Instead, heaven is a living, robust relationship with Jesus who longs to inform every moment and movement of our day here and now. We will be with Christ the King forever and in Christ and in his Church, forever begins today!
