Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Sunday Mass - Nov 24, 2019 - Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Fr. Jason Malave
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Homily Video

Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe Homily Transcript

Today we celebrate Christ the King. Before I talk about that reality of who Jesus is, I’d like to talk about, or at least call to mind, other titles that we have for Jesus. So I’d like to ask you, how do you call Jesus with other titles? It turns out in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we have a number of titles for Jesus. We have, let’s see, “Image of the Invisible God,” “First Born of All Creation,” “The Alpha and the Omega.” We have, also, known Jesus as “The Christ,” “The Savior,” “Prince of Peace,” “Brother,” “The Anointed One,” and I will even share that a few years ago, I got a hat, that said “Jesus is my homeboy.” We have many, many titles for Jesus. It’s true. We do have many titles for Jesus. And in the Gospel today we hear that he received the title, “King of the Jews.” Well today, in our celebration, we remember that, in fact, Christ is not just King of the Jews. Christ is King of the entire universe, all that we know. Christ is the Savior and King. And from us, for us here in the United States, we don’t speak too much about kingly power. We don’t have a king or a queen. We have a president. In other places in there are kings. So how do we enter into this notion of Jesus, who is a king? I’d like to introduce to you, maybe you know about him already, but he is, he was, a priest, a Jesuit priest in Mexico, and before I talk about Blessed Miguel Pro, I want to, like, set the stage, because in Mexico, going back about one hundred years, in the year 1917, there was a constitutional change to the constitution there in Mexico, and there was a deep, deep persecution of Christians across Mexico, which is so hard for us to imagine, because it’s such a Catholic country these days, but one hundred years ago, and going for about 10 to 15 years, there was a horrible persecution. Hundreds of priests lost their lives. Thousands of Catholics lost their lives, because of this persecution against Christians and Catholics specifically. Miguel Pro was going to the seminary during the time of the new constitution. He was ordained right after the new constitution was written in the late or mid-early 20s, and so his early priesthood had to be in secret. So he was a master of disguises, and he would go around in disguise from house to house to house, celebrating Mass, until he was found out. And finally the government found a reason to execute him, and they did. Before they executed him, and the reason I’m sharing with you this story, is because in his core, in his heart, was Jesus the King, and everywhere he’d go, he’d proclaim, “Viva Christo Rey!” Long live Christ the King! Viva Christo Rey! It was in his heart that Jesus is our Savior and King of the Universe. And so before he died, he spread out his arms, like a cross, and he proclaimed for all people to hear, right before he was murdered, “Viva Christo Rey! Long live Christ the King!” We have many names for Jesus in our lives. He’s our King and our Savior, and with Jesus, we find everlasting life. Viva Christo Rey!

Readings

First Reading:

2 Samuel 5:1-3

Second Reading:

Colossians 1:12-20

Gospel:

Luke 23:35-43

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