Homily
for Christ the King Sunday
November
22, 2020
God’s
Got This
One day a few years ago, I had just
finished Mass when a parent of one of our youth group kids came up to me. With
urgency in his voice, he asked me to go visit his son Andrew in the hospital. I
agreed, and later that day went to Stamford Hospital and was surprised to see
that Andrew was in the psychiatric ward. He was one of the most normal, down-to-earth
kids, so this was quite a surprise.
I asked him what happened. He told
me that he was just joking around with his friends in high school one day when
he made a joke about bombs. A teacher overheard him and had him arrested. He
was taken into custody but because his parents were illegal immigrants and didn’t
speak much English, they couldn’t explain to the cops that he was just kidding.
So they sent him to the psych ward for an evaluation.
I was shocked by this turn of events
in Andrew’s life. I asked him, “Wow, that’s crazy! How are you doing? How are
you holding up?”
He said that the first night in the
psych ward was crazy. He was realizing that he may have ruined his future. How
could he apply to colleges? What would happen if people knew he was in jail
then the psych ward? He was surrounded by people in the psychiatric ward who
were screaming their heads off, or talking to themselves, or believing that
they were Jesus Christ or George Washington. Laying there in his bed, he couldn’t
sleep – fear and anxiety totally overwhelmed him.
But then he said the thought
occurred to him: “God’s got this.” God’s got this – this whole mess is in His
hands. A supernatural peace began to descend on him, and he was able to sleep
deeply. When I saw him the next day, he was remarkably calm considering the
crazy situation he found himself in!
“God’s got this” – the best
definition of faith I’ve ever heard. In the midst of the chaos, Christ is King.
He wins in the end. Do we really believe that?
Ever since the election, I’ve had
many conversations with good Catholics who are very concerned about the state
of our country and the direction we’re heading. And for good reason – there are
many indications of a deep spiritual disease in our country, from the average
person to the heights of power. A disease of corruption and fraud, of lies and
power, a disease of division and hedonism. And people of good will are
legitimately concerned, because more and more we are becoming a nation that is not
led by God’s laws, and not led by Godly leaders.
But I ask you – is Christ the King,
or not? Has God “got this”, or not? As a Christian, this is our hope – that despite
the chaos in society, corruption in leadership, atheism and abortion and racism
and lust and revolution and all of the evils that we see on a daily basis, God
really is going to win in the end. This makes us look at the chaos without
fear, because we know that evil won’t have the final word.
We must remember that Jesus Christ
is a King who reigns from the Cross. At the Cross, evil celebrated because it
appeared that it won. God was dead, as Nietzsche would later say. The so-called
Savior appeared defeated, the triumph of evil seemed to be assured. But we know
the rest of the story – three days later, that Crucified King destroyed sin and
death by His Resurrection. God’s got this, and He wins in the end.
Hence, it should not surprise us
when it seems like evil is triumphing. This has been the state of the world
since the Garden. As Christians, we live in a world that has been under the dominion
of Satan – but our faith tells us that Satan’s power was destroyed by the
Cross, and Christ will win the ultimate triumph.
What must we do, then? We
must make sure that Christ has conquered the victory in us. How can we
expect the world to be free of evil if evil still has a stronghold in our own
soul? We let Him conquer us by surrendering our lives to His will, repenting of
our sins in the Sacrament of Confession, and uniting our souls to His in the Eucharist
and daily prayer. Christ must first be King of our souls.
Once Christ is King in us, then we
must fight to let His Kingdom come in the world. As Christians we win the
victory in and through Him. We are called to resist evil, stand
up for the truth, and fight for all that is good – not by our own strength, but
because we are in Christ Who has won the ultimate victory. We fight with
hope, knowing that God’s got this!
Back in 1241, the German prince
Frederick II wanted to increase his territory and began a vicious war against
Italy, with the help of Arab mercenaries who joined his army. He marched south
through Italy, seeking to take Rome. After destroying several cities, he came
to the town of Assisi and the convent of Poor Clare nuns on the outskirts.
Upon hearing the frightening sound
of an army marching in battle, the nuns were justifiably afraid – the soldiers
had a reputation of raping and pillaging everything in its path. In terror,
they ran to St. Clare, who was sick in bed. These nuns were in a total panic –
should they flee? Should they hide?
But Clare was tranquil. She asked
them, “Do you trust that God is with you?” She then got up, despite her
sickness, and went to the tabernacle where she removed the ciborium full of
Consecrated Hosts. She climbed up to the second story of the convent and stood
at a window, holding aloft the Eucharist.
When the soldiers saw the fearless
nun holding God Himself in her hands, it was the army’s turn to be thrown into
a panic! They quickly turned around and fled, leaving Assisi untouched. St.
Clare turned and said to her sisters, “I guarantee you, my daughters, that you
will not suffer any evil. Only have faith in Christ.”
My friends, Christ is King. He wins
in the end. God’s got this. So we go forward without fear or worry, allowing
Christ to be King of our lives and fighting for His Kingdom in this world. Even
if it seems like the world has won, we know the truth: Christ is King. God’s
got this.
No comments:
Post a Comment