Reflection on the Readings

As we come to the end of the liturgical year of the Church’s calendar, the Church celebrates the Feast of Christ the King. When we think about it, it’s kind of funny that as American Catholics we honor Jesus as King. There aren’t many kings or queens today, and those that do exist are usually figureheads.

So, this feast may seem out of place and even comical, like a joke. And it’s technically appropriate…you see, a joke occurs at the juxtaposition of two incompatible, absurd elements. We laugh when incompatible things come together.

• Like when you have a sophisticated man in a suit, who is all well-put-together trips as he’s getting out of his nice car.
• Or when a dog acts like a human or a cat plays the piano…we laugh

We find these things funny because it’s the coming together of incongruent, absurd or incompatible things. G.K Chesterton appreciated this. He said that “All of Christianity rests upon a kind of sacred jest or joke.” What he was getting at is at the heart of Christianity. Christians claim that God became man; that divinity and humanity met; that Jesus Christ is God and is human. This is kind of like a sacred jest or joke because it presents two things that you wouldn’t ordinarily associate coming together –humanity and divinity, meekness and strength, power and love.

From the beginning, Jesus on the cross has been seen by the world as a joke – something that doesn’t make sense – the coming together of two incongruent, incompatible things…like the sophisticated man in the suit who trips and falls, or the cat that plays the piano.

So how do we make sense of this outrageous Christian claim that this man on a cross is a King? And what does this claim have to do with us and our lives? I believe that the celebration of this Solemnity helps us to remember who Jesus is as our Lord and King, but it also reminds us of who we ought to be. You see, on the cross Jesus reunites two things that we tend to separate, two things that are seemingly incongruent and incompatible. On the cross, Jesus the King, reconnects Love and Power.

Friends, on the Cross, Love and Power coincide, they are reunited again. So, sure, within the framework of a sinful world I can see how the thought of Christ as King is laughable. But in terms of a transformed world; in terms of the deepest truths, it’s not a joke! In fact, it’s the most serious thing you can conceive of!

Fr. David C. Santos, Pastor

Quote of the Week