Sunday of Christ the King

Read the Homily

Know Your King

Have you ever stood on your own grave? I have. Dad just informed me that he bought four plots at the cemetery, and one of them was for me. I was waiting for my father to return with the water for the flowers around my mother’s headstone when I realized I was standing on top of my own grave. I had thoughts. I pictured the day my body would be lowered into the ground. A few priests, my family, and some of the faithful from the church were there to shed a tear, say a prayer, and maybe say a few kind words about me. I wish my body were still alive, but I and everyone there are powerless. At that moment, there is only one person in the world who is powerful, and that person can come to my grave and say to me, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” There is only one person in the world who can come to my grave and say, “I am the resurrection and the life.” There is only one person who can say on that day, “I will prepare a place for you and I will come back to you and take you to myself.” That is one person in the world who will be my king.

There is a story of a guy who fell into a hole. He called out to people walking by for help. No one could help him. No one had a ladder, a rope, or a phone to call the mayor’s hotline. Finally, someone stopped to help. He jumped into the hole with the man, who exclaimed, “What did you do that for, now we are both stuck.” The man who came to the rescue replied, “I was here before, I know how to get out.” There is only one person who is powerful.

There is an excellent line in the Shepherd Psalm: “He sets the table before me in the sight of my foes.”  Try to imagine the implications of these words. Picture yourself sitting at a picnic table with a nice juicy T-bone steak. Lo and behold, a lion and a bear come out of the woods and start walking over to your table. Apparently, they smell the aroma of the steak. Everyone will tell you to run and take cover. But you stay seated at the table, enjoying your dinner. Are you crazy for doing that? Should you not be afraid? Of course not. You have a good shepherd at your side with power, with a very large shepherd’s staff.       

            The early evening is the best time to fish. It is also the time the sand fleas come out. A sand flea is smaller than a fruit fly, with large, sharp teeth. There is nothing you can do when they swarm you. As I packed up my gear, a gentle but steady wind blew against my face. To a five-foot, eleven-inch guy, a steady breeze is nothing, but to a sandflea, it is a hurricane.

There are moments in life that you realize that you are absolutely, completely powerless. Those are valuable moments because it is then that you realize that there is one person with power who can make a difference. You know in those moments who is your king and who you serve.