Feast of Christ the King - Two-Minute Homily: Fr Michael Grace

0:00 When Pilot asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews, 0:04 he doesn’t deny his kingly status, 0:07 yet he is quick to qualify it. 0:09 “Mine is not a kingdom of this world”. 0:12 Hold that thought. 0:14 The feast of Christ the King invites us to do more than simply acknowledge 0:18 Christ’s kingly status. 0:20 It invites us to reflect upon one of life’s most important questions, 0:24 whom do we serve? 0:26 Many might answer, I don’t serve anyone. 0:30 Yet upon reflection, we all serve someone, 0:32 or some cause 0:34 or perhaps many people and many causes. 0:37 To serve no one 0:38 is to serve only ourselves. 0:41 This will always be insufficient. 0:43 Because our hearts are attuned to the ‘noble cause’. 0:48 Far from serving no one and nothing, 0:51 most people care for their children and their families, and serve them with love and dedication; 0:57 furthermore, they espouse various noble causes, 1:00 such as care of the environment 1:02 and the wellbeing of our community. 1:06 Yet we also serve other masters, 1:08 be they the pursuit of career advancement, 1:11 the acquisition of material goods, 1:14 our desires for comfort and pleasure and so on. 1:18 In naming Christ ‘King of the Universe’ 1:20 we name his as the embodiment of the noble cause. 1:24 He is the one who, bears witness to the truth, 1:27 and all who are on the side of truth listen to his voice. 1:30 In serving Christ the King, 1:32 we are called to serve the noblest cause of all 1:35 and so be drawn beyond lesser pursuits. 1:38 His is not a kingdom of this world, 1:41 rather it is a kingdom of hearts and minds. 1:44 Wherever truth is found, 1:45 and wherever it is expressed in noble action, 1:48 through compassion, mercy, justice 1:50 and above all self-sacrificing love, 1:53 there is Christ’s kingdom. 1:55 We are made for the noble cause, 1:57 and there is none more noble than the Kingdom of God.