THE KING’S SUBJECTS
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this feast of Christ the King is, “The King’s Subjects.”
It’s us. We are the King’s subjects – Christ the King’s subjects. Isn’t that an interesting concept? Did you ever think of yourself that way – a loyal subject of Christ the King? Doesn’t it sound a bit medieval or foreign or a concept from a bygone age?
Christ is described as a king only once in the Synoptic Gospels [i.e, Mathew, Mark and Luke]. It’s here in today’s gospel – but we hear over and over again in the New Testament about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven.
Now Christ as we know from scripture was not the kind of king we might expect. He washed feet and gave out bread. He noticed and complimented a poor widow who put two cents in the poor box. He talked about forgiveness and helping our brothers and sisters in need. He had no army – just disciples, just servants, just followers, who like Paul tried to imitate him. (Cf. 1 Corinthians 11:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:6.)
As we heard in today’s second reading, Christ destroys death – and then “everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15: 28).
Now that comment is a head scratcher – convoluted – complicated – cryptic and mysterious, but notice the word “subject”.
Today is the last Sunday of the Church year. Next Sunday we start another Church year with the First Sunday of Advent.
The theme that hit me as I reflected on today’s readings and today’s feast is, “Subject and Object.” It’s a key theme to be aware of. Do I treat others as subject or object? There is a big difference. Think of the last time someone ticked you off – or a time when you felt “dissed.” Chances are, you were not being treated as a subject but as an object. It might be a good idea to go off on that question and forget the rest of this homily. Simply reflect upon the question: “Do I treat other people as subject or object?” Ask your spouse?
That would be the theme and thought of this homily.
And as the King’s servant – the King’s subject – do I serve or do I try to subject people to me? If I do, then I’m making them an object.
A BOOK TO READ
A book to read and re-read on this theme is Martin Buber’s classic book, “I-Thou.”
He says we have a choice to treat others as a Thou or an It.
He names the choice as: I-It versus I-Thou.
Notice he makes the you special, calling another a Thou – as in prayer.
Something happens to people who have read Martin Buber’s book. A book is an object, an it, but that book challenges people to see others as subjects – another I.
It’s the Golden Rule: treat others as one would want to be treated.
Seeing others as sacred, unique, a Thou, can lead to deeper and deeper respect – reverence – and really seeing, listening, being aware of the ones we’re with.
If you want to ignore someone, you have to make them an object, an it.
If you want to gossip about someone, you have to make them an object, an it.
If you want to criticize someone behind their back, you have to make them an object – an it.
If it dawns on us, that this other, is a person – a center – a subject – someone with ideas, feelings, a life, a story, roots, then we are challenged to talk, ask, communicate, respect, be aware, and be in possible communion with this other subject.
THE MASS
The title of my homily for this feast of Christ the King is, “The King’s Subjects.”
It’s us. We are the King’s subjects – Christ the King’s subjects. Isn’t that an interesting concept? Did you ever think of yourself that way – a loyal subject of Christ the King? Doesn’t it sound a bit medieval or foreign or a concept from a bygone age?
Christ is described as a king only once in the Synoptic Gospels [i.e, Mathew, Mark and Luke]. It’s here in today’s gospel – but we hear over and over again in the New Testament about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven.
Now Christ as we know from scripture was not the kind of king we might expect. He washed feet and gave out bread. He noticed and complimented a poor widow who put two cents in the poor box. He talked about forgiveness and helping our brothers and sisters in need. He had no army – just disciples, just servants, just followers, who like Paul tried to imitate him. (Cf. 1 Corinthians 11:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:6.)
As we heard in today’s second reading, Christ destroys death – and then “everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15: 28).
Now that comment is a head scratcher – convoluted – complicated – cryptic and mysterious, but notice the word “subject”.
Today is the last Sunday of the Church year. Next Sunday we start another Church year with the First Sunday of Advent.
The theme that hit me as I reflected on today’s readings and today’s feast is, “Subject and Object.” It’s a key theme to be aware of. Do I treat others as subject or object? There is a big difference. Think of the last time someone ticked you off – or a time when you felt “dissed.” Chances are, you were not being treated as a subject but as an object. It might be a good idea to go off on that question and forget the rest of this homily. Simply reflect upon the question: “Do I treat other people as subject or object?” Ask your spouse?
That would be the theme and thought of this homily.
And as the King’s servant – the King’s subject – do I serve or do I try to subject people to me? If I do, then I’m making them an object.
A BOOK TO READ
A book to read and re-read on this theme is Martin Buber’s classic book, “I-Thou.”
He says we have a choice to treat others as a Thou or an It.
He names the choice as: I-It versus I-Thou.
Notice he makes the you special, calling another a Thou – as in prayer.
Something happens to people who have read Martin Buber’s book. A book is an object, an it, but that book challenges people to see others as subjects – another I.
It’s the Golden Rule: treat others as one would want to be treated.
Seeing others as sacred, unique, a Thou, can lead to deeper and deeper respect – reverence – and really seeing, listening, being aware of the ones we’re with.
If you want to ignore someone, you have to make them an object, an it.
If you want to gossip about someone, you have to make them an object, an it.
If you want to criticize someone behind their back, you have to make them an object – an it.
If it dawns on us, that this other, is a person – a center – a subject – someone with ideas, feelings, a life, a story, roots, then we are challenged to talk, ask, communicate, respect, be aware, and be in possible communion with this other subject.
THE MASS
At Mass the Catholic believes the bread, an object, becomes a subject, becomes Christ, during the Mass. How this happens is mystery. It calls for faith. It took centuries for words to try to describe what the change is. One word chosen was “transubstantiation” – but all words are insufficient.
We just stand back in awe and reverence – in the presence of Jesus Christ. We just come forward – down the aisle – as in marriage - wanting to be in communion with the person of Christ.
We stand there and receive: “The Body of Christ.”
Isn’t that the key reason we come to Mass – to be in an I-Thou relationship with Christ and each other, the full body of Christ?
So we believe Christ is subject in the bread, in the wine.
Now that’s a great act of faith.
So we believe we are the Body of Christ – member connected to member – subject with subject - even with those we don’t see.
And it’s a great act of faith when we relate to each other as subjects of the King.
M. SCOTT PECK
A favorite story for me on all this can be found in M. Scott Peck’s book, The Road Less Traveled.
It’s on page 76 of his book and I have reflected on it often. Sometimes I forget the message; sometimes I remember it.
M. Scott Peck says, “Imagine two generals, each having to decide whether or not to commit a division of ten thousand men to battle. To one the division is but a thing, a unit of personnel, an instrument of strategy and nothing more. To the other it is these things, but he is also aware of each and every one of the ten thousand lives and the lives of the families of each of the ten thousand.”
Then he asks, “For whom is the decision easier?”
We just stand back in awe and reverence – in the presence of Jesus Christ. We just come forward – down the aisle – as in marriage - wanting to be in communion with the person of Christ.
We stand there and receive: “The Body of Christ.”
Isn’t that the key reason we come to Mass – to be in an I-Thou relationship with Christ and each other, the full body of Christ?
So we believe Christ is subject in the bread, in the wine.
Now that’s a great act of faith.
So we believe we are the Body of Christ – member connected to member – subject with subject - even with those we don’t see.
And it’s a great act of faith when we relate to each other as subjects of the King.
M. SCOTT PECK
A favorite story for me on all this can be found in M. Scott Peck’s book, The Road Less Traveled.
It’s on page 76 of his book and I have reflected on it often. Sometimes I forget the message; sometimes I remember it.
M. Scott Peck says, “Imagine two generals, each having to decide whether or not to commit a division of ten thousand men to battle. To one the division is but a thing, a unit of personnel, an instrument of strategy and nothing more. To the other it is these things, but he is also aware of each and every one of the ten thousand lives and the lives of the families of each of the ten thousand.”
Then he asks, “For whom is the decision easier?”
Then he answers his own question, “It is easier for the general who has blunted his awareness precisely because he cannot tolerate the pain of a more nearly complete awareness.”
Hopefully, when we come here to church – we become more aware of each member of our family.
Hopefully, we think of those we work with – and interact with on a regular basis.
Hopefully, everyone of us feels for all these folks and their families who are in service for our country – many of whom will not be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas – because they are in Iraq or Afghanistan or in many other places – as well as all the people in these countries who have been killed by suicide bombs and mistakes and all that.
Hopefully, every one of us feels for all these folks who are out of work – all these folks who have lost a good chunk of their life savings – with the crisis in our economy – as well as people all over our world.
Hopefully we feel human pain. To be subjects of the king is to feel the King’s pain – and that’s what our King felt – in the garden and on the cross – and all through his life.
Along with Martin Buber’s book, I-Thou, along with the Bible, M. Scott Peck’s book, The Road Less Traveled should be in one’s special book collection and read on a regular basis.
So that example of the two generals challenges me everyday – as priest, while driving, with family, while moving around on this planet called earth.
When I stand before you at Mass I have to remind myself not to speak at people, but to be with you. I want to pray with you. I have to stop and say, “This is not a crowd.” “This is not a bunch of people.” This is you, you, you, you and you and all you. You are subjects – subject to all the experiences of life I have and the person next to you has.
This is why I love the opening words of the Vatican II document, Gaudium et Spes, The Pastoral Constitution on Church in the Modern World, “The joy and the hope, the grief and the anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ.”
My sister goes crazy when a priest says at Mass, “Is there someone here in the audience who is a lector or Eucharistic minister?” She would want him to say, “congregation” or “community”.
You are you and you are dealing with this Sunday – this moment – and you have to figure out how you are going to do Thanksgiving this week – with your family and with our world.
For some people the next month and a half is the best time of the year; for others it’s the worst time of the year.
If I hear one complaint about us clergy, it’s the scream that there is not only life in the womb, but there’s also life outside the womb. Don’t miss the whole picture. Be aware of every person, every subject, young, old and in-between, as well as Mother Earth, if we’re professing to be pro life.
CAR STORY
A car is an object. Of course advertisers try to make them subjects – with feelings and this or that. A car is an object – a thing.
Hopefully, when we come here to church – we become more aware of each member of our family.
Hopefully, we think of those we work with – and interact with on a regular basis.
Hopefully, everyone of us feels for all these folks and their families who are in service for our country – many of whom will not be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas – because they are in Iraq or Afghanistan or in many other places – as well as all the people in these countries who have been killed by suicide bombs and mistakes and all that.
Hopefully, every one of us feels for all these folks who are out of work – all these folks who have lost a good chunk of their life savings – with the crisis in our economy – as well as people all over our world.
Hopefully we feel human pain. To be subjects of the king is to feel the King’s pain – and that’s what our King felt – in the garden and on the cross – and all through his life.
Along with Martin Buber’s book, I-Thou, along with the Bible, M. Scott Peck’s book, The Road Less Traveled should be in one’s special book collection and read on a regular basis.
So that example of the two generals challenges me everyday – as priest, while driving, with family, while moving around on this planet called earth.
When I stand before you at Mass I have to remind myself not to speak at people, but to be with you. I want to pray with you. I have to stop and say, “This is not a crowd.” “This is not a bunch of people.” This is you, you, you, you and you and all you. You are subjects – subject to all the experiences of life I have and the person next to you has.
This is why I love the opening words of the Vatican II document, Gaudium et Spes, The Pastoral Constitution on Church in the Modern World, “The joy and the hope, the grief and the anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ.”
My sister goes crazy when a priest says at Mass, “Is there someone here in the audience who is a lector or Eucharistic minister?” She would want him to say, “congregation” or “community”.
You are you and you are dealing with this Sunday – this moment – and you have to figure out how you are going to do Thanksgiving this week – with your family and with our world.
For some people the next month and a half is the best time of the year; for others it’s the worst time of the year.
If I hear one complaint about us clergy, it’s the scream that there is not only life in the womb, but there’s also life outside the womb. Don’t miss the whole picture. Be aware of every person, every subject, young, old and in-between, as well as Mother Earth, if we’re professing to be pro life.
CAR STORY
A car is an object. Of course advertisers try to make them subjects – with feelings and this or that. A car is an object – a thing.
One of my favorite car stories is the one about the couple who never bought a new car all through their raising of their kids’ time. Finally the kids are gone. Finally college is finished. It’s a time when the economy is doing well and they decide to buy a new car.
He loves it. She is out with it and she’s in an accident – and the car was just bought brand new last week. She is not hurt – but the car is damaged. She goes into the glove compartment. She takes out the insurance and registration. She spots a letter with the papers. She opens it up and reads, “Honey, I hope you are okay. Remember you’re you and I hope you are okay. You can’t be replaced. A car can. Hi sweetheart.”
Now that’s an I-Thou story.
TODAY’S READINGS
Today’s first reading and today’s gospel feature the contrast between sheep, ram and goats.
Today’s first reading and today’s gospel feature God being aware of each sheep, ram and goat.
Few of us are shepherds – but we know that people with dogs and cats, know that dogs and cats can be different. I don’t know about tropical fish. And we know people.
If we see people as subjects – unique gifts of our God – that each of us is the king’s subject, then we will be aware of who’s hurting – who’s strayed – who’s injured – who needs help.
If we see ourselves as subjects of the king, and if we see every person, as a subject of the king, then last night we felt for those who are homeless – because it was cold out last night.
If we see ourselves as subjects of the king, and if we saw the kids and adults yesterday morning who delivered 500 Thanksgiving meals to people’s doors, then we would have cried tears of joy yesterday morning.
If we see ourselves as subjects of the king, then we will see the child who wants to tell us a joke or tell them a story – or give them some time – and we will give it to them.
He loves it. She is out with it and she’s in an accident – and the car was just bought brand new last week. She is not hurt – but the car is damaged. She goes into the glove compartment. She takes out the insurance and registration. She spots a letter with the papers. She opens it up and reads, “Honey, I hope you are okay. Remember you’re you and I hope you are okay. You can’t be replaced. A car can. Hi sweetheart.”
Now that’s an I-Thou story.
TODAY’S READINGS
Today’s first reading and today’s gospel feature the contrast between sheep, ram and goats.
Today’s first reading and today’s gospel feature God being aware of each sheep, ram and goat.
Few of us are shepherds – but we know that people with dogs and cats, know that dogs and cats can be different. I don’t know about tropical fish. And we know people.
If we see people as subjects – unique gifts of our God – that each of us is the king’s subject, then we will be aware of who’s hurting – who’s strayed – who’s injured – who needs help.
If we see ourselves as subjects of the king, and if we see every person, as a subject of the king, then last night we felt for those who are homeless – because it was cold out last night.
If we see ourselves as subjects of the king, and if we saw the kids and adults yesterday morning who delivered 500 Thanksgiving meals to people’s doors, then we would have cried tears of joy yesterday morning.
If we see ourselves as subjects of the king, then we will see the child who wants to tell us a joke or tell them a story – or give them some time – and we will give it to them.
If we see ourselves as subjects of the king, then we volunteer if we have time. We will give an uncle or an aunt or a neighbor a call – or visit them – or when we see them, we’ll say, “Nice hat” or “Interesting cane you have. What’s the story behind it?” and listen to their answer.
If we see ourselves as subjects of the king, then we will walk down streets like Jesus – or the mall – or in a store – and treat everyone as a subject – making small human connections – being in and receiving holy communion with them or family.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
This is challenging stuff - but when we treat each other as a Thou, we experience God and Heaven – joy and celebration. After all, we are made in the image and likeness of God.
If we treat others with an I-It attitude, when we miss others, when we dismiss others, when we ignore others, then we are dead and in hell.
Today’s gospel has a powerful message: all around us are people who are hungry and thirsty, sick or they feel stuck or in the prison of self or loneliness or in actual prisons – and we’re a goat if we don’t care for each other. Amen.
That’s the king’s judgment. He walked around and discovered all this.
This coming week, this Advent, this New Church Year, let us be good at being, “The King’s Subjects.” Amen.
If we treat others with an I-It attitude, when we miss others, when we dismiss others, when we ignore others, then we are dead and in hell.
Today’s gospel has a powerful message: all around us are people who are hungry and thirsty, sick or they feel stuck or in the prison of self or loneliness or in actual prisons – and we’re a goat if we don’t care for each other. Amen.
That’s the king’s judgment. He walked around and discovered all this.
This coming week, this Advent, this New Church Year, let us be good at being, “The King’s Subjects.” Amen.
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