Sunday Mass for the Solemnity of Christ the King 2020 - Year A
Channel: Jesuit Institute South Africa
Date: 2020-11-22

Join the Jesuit Institute South Africa as they celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King.

This morning's Mass is celebrated by Fr Russell Pollitt SJ.

Owing to COVID-19 and the suspensions of Mass in various parts of the country, we invite everyone to make a 'Spiritual Communion' with us during this Mass. More resources are available at https://www.jesuitinstitute.org.za/covid-19-resources/.

You might want to light a candle, or do something to make this a prayerful time for you all. Our readings for this Mass are:

              First Reading                   Ezekiel 34:11–12, 15–17
              Response                         Psalm 23:1
              Psalm                                Psalm 23:1–6
              Second Reading              1 Corinthians 15:20–26, 28
              Gospel Acclamation       Mark 11:9–10
              Gospel                               Matthew 25:31–46

Homily (begins at 10:30)

I want to suggest to you today that this celebration of Christ the King invites us to consider three things. First is transformation. You see God’s love is a powerful force, and we must allow the momentum of that force to transform us. And when we do that others experience our transformation through our willingness to be open to them.

We are not transformed unless others experience through us God’s love, the love of the eternal King whose throne is the cross and whose kingdom welcomes before anyone else, the little ones, the Gospel speaks of, is the only love that can transform. And we’re invited into that love, to be changed by it, transformed by it, so that we in turn can transform the attitudes of our own time.

The second thing that I want to suggest is that this feast of Christ the King invites us to consider how well we are living alternatively. You see, Christ the king invites us to the values of his kingdom. And when we do this we will be surrounded by or inserted amongst the stray, the marginalised, the poor, the little ones. The alternative living of the Gospel compels us to be horrified at things like the thieving of PPE funds from the poor in this country; to be horrified at gender-based violence. The very people who get the seats of honour in Christ the King’s kingdom are the ones that we often are willing to dispose of, the ones who often are those on the margins. Do we choose to insert ourselves among them?

And finally the third invitation is to take stock. As our local and global church, we have come to the end of yet another Liturgical Year. And today’s Solemnity of Christ the King perhaps asks us to take stock by asking simply one question of ourselves: how have I shown love in the past difficult year? It leads us to prepare for the season of Advent when we see the fullness of God’s love revealed in the incarnation, but how have I showed love in the year that has past?

On this last Sunday of the year, the image of Christ the King begs us to give our allegiance to what really matters, to the kingdom where there is no place for ambition or greed or status or power. Christ the King challenges us to be revolutionaries by making the world a more just and peaceful place.

So the feast of Christ the King is not about the powerful church born with Constantine. Christ the King is about our hearts being revolutionised. And so we might ask ourselves today: are our hearts revolutionary enough to claim membership of His Kingdom, of the Kingdom of Christ the King?

You can listen to this homily at
https://www.jesuitinstitute.org.za/sunday-reflections/listen-solemnity-of-christ-the-king-year-a/

or download it to read here,
https://www.jesuitinstitute.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Homily-for-the-Solemnity-of-Christ-the-King.pdf