Christ the King, Year C | Nov 20, 2022
Editor’s Note: Each week, we open the archives to share a previously unpublished homily from Fr. Brian for the upcoming Sunday. Whether you are preparing to preach or preparing your heart for Mass, we hope this offers a fresh perspective on the readings. – Jessica
Liturgical Context: [Christ the King, Year C] Related Homilies: [2016] • [2019] Scripture: [Link to USCCB Readings]
Remember Me. Don’t forget me. Never forget.
Phrases that emerge again and again throughout our lives.
Grade school kids scribble them on yearbook pages, before leaving for the summer
College roommates yell them as caps are thrown and hugs exchanged.
Lovers whisper them before an impending separation
Family elders make them as a request as their lives draw to a close.
And each time, there is a hope.
A hope for immortality.
That this connection. This relationship. This love that has been shared. It will not end. It will persist. That we will persist.
Is it any wonder that the thief uttered such a phrase?
For as his life was coming to an end, he wanted to make sure that someone remembered him.
His family and friends would have forsaken him as he hung on that cross.
And so he turns to the stranger next to him. His last hope.
Another dying man.
The thief had no guarantee that his desperate question would amount to anything.
But he had faith.
Faith in this man. Faith in his God. Faith in the possibility of eternal life, eternal love.
And in this conversation we are reminded of the truth that all remembering demands a level of faith.
To believe that the ones we remember are not separated from us.
No matter the time that has passed or the distance between us.
No matter where our lives have taken us or even the grim finality of death.
Nothing can stop us from remembering.
Nothing can stop us from loving.
For is not the act of remembrance at the heart of what we do each Sunday.
We gather and declare to one another that we remember.
We remember a Savior who gathered his friends around a table and said. Do this in remembrance of me.
We remember
This task is not for the faint of heart.
For memory can be such a tricky thing.
We misremember or forget.
We create alternate memories that feel safer. We turn people into different versions of who they were. Because the actual memories are too painful, too difficult
But this feast above all is the Church’s final reminder of the year to remember Jesus as he was. Not who we all too often have transformed him to be.
For he was
A Jewish carpenter with olive skin, living on the outskirts of an empire.
A prophet who called out those with power, wealth and privilege who abused their authority. A prophet who denounced religious hypocrisy. Who had no time for those who used their religion to exclude or divide.
A wonderworker. Who healed the sick and forgave sinners. Who broke bread with widows and outcasts. Who raised his friends from the dead. Who spoke Good News to a weary world.
A king whose kingdom turned the values of this world upside down. A king who served the least of these. A king who made sure the hungry were fed, the imprisoned were liberated, the strangers were welcomed, the lost were found.
A crucified criminal. Abandoned by his disciples. Condemned by both Church and State. One who refused violence in defense of his cause. One who died remaining true to who he was and whose he was.
Emmanuel. God with us. The one who loves each of us. Who enters into relationship with each of us.
And each time we remember, we are reminded of the mission that he embodied in his life.
The mission handed onto us.
And so, with the faith and hope of the thief by his side.
We ensure that his work continues. That his kingdom continues to be built. One brick at a time.
And so let us remember. Let us celebrate. Let us believe.
Long Live Christ the King, my friends. Viva Cristo Rey!
May God be Praised.
Video recordings of the Sunday evening Mass, where Fr. Brian regularly preaches, are available on Facebook at Delaware Koinonia. The archive of all of Fr. Brian’s homilies can be found here: Salesian Sermons
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