Feast of Christ the King
Cobh
24 November 2024
"My Kingdom is not of this world"
My friends,
By this time next week, we’ll have a fair idea of who our political leaders will be for the coming years. That’s the purpose of the General Election – an exercise in choosing people for leadership.
From the point of view of those hoping to be elected, huge effort goes into listening to people to ascertain what they need and want. For that reason, the opinion polls are very important. Candidates and parties are very similar to a team of sailors who keep tweaking their sails to capture the winds of the popular mind.
The task of the politician is not an easy one – until you get elected you have no power or influence and when elected one is subject to pressures of every kind to please people in order to get re-elected. Yet what all in political life share is a desire to improve the lives of all people especially the poor. All try to seek the “common good” of society.
The Feast we mark today is that of Christ the King – in a real sense our leader and guide – not in worldly terms – “mine is not a Kingdom of this world”. Yet we speak of the coming of the Kingdom, building up the Kingdom in our midst. This Kingdom of which Jesus speaks is a group, gathering or organisation that has a supernatural vision and divine inspiration but is realised in our world by putting in place in our life and work routine the values that Jesus espoused and practiced in life.
The values, the vision and plans that so many local groups desire to be put into practice are not always linked to or appropriate as values and vision that belong to the Kingdom of God.
Politically, at this time for many reasons many political people on the Left, so called, seem to despise and resent the Church’s continual work of reaching out to those in need. Sadly, there are many who dismiss the prophetic mission of the Church which is to preach the Gospel in its totality in season and out of season.
There is a real risk for all of society here that our political vison is too narrow and too short sighted in its focus is on what people want and confuse it with what people need. We never had so much but yet so many are so stressed and exhausted by our striving – which lures us into the illusion and falsehood of prosperity that lacks purpose and meaning.
The vision of Christ the King is not of this world – man/people do not live on bread alone but on a combination of bread – fulfilling the basic needs but also the needs of the human heart to find meaning and purpose through the way we live and care for each other.
The vision of Christ the King is found in the lessons he gave us through his presence to and care for the downtrodden and excluded. The vision of many in politics is too narrow in scope. We fool ourselves and the next generation if we think our current model of social structures will hold up.
Are we asking why so many families are fragmenting - we have great need for fidelity and resilience.
Why so many young people are experiencing mental health issues – we leave them confused.
With so much employment still so many are emigrating! This society is less appealing.
If we eliminate the voice and wisdom of the wretched, impoverished, crucified one from our society then it surely has consequences for all young and old.
