The title of my homily for this Sunday's feast of Christ the King is, “If I Were __ [Fill in the
blank] What Kind of ____ [Fill in the
blank] Would I Be?
Today is the feast of Christ the King, so that’s the
question that hit me for this feast.
If I were king, what kind of king would I be?
If I were pope, what kind of pope would I be?
If I were a parent, what kind of a parent would I be?
If I were the boss, what kind of a boss would I be?
If I were the owner, what kind of an owner would I be?
If I were rich, what kind of rich person would I be?
If I was the pastor, what kind of a pastor would I be?
If I was a priest, what kind of a priest would I be?
If I was the coach or the manager, what kind of coach or
manager would I be?
If I was a teacher, what kind of a teacher would I be?
If I was the principal of a school, what kind of a
principal would I be?
If I were a director, what kind of a director would I be?
If I were a doctor, what kind of a doctor would I be?
If I was the president, what kind of a president would I
be?
If I was the chairman or chairwoman of an organization,
what kind of a chairperson would I be?
If I was a news anchor, what kind of a news anchor would
I be?
COMPLAINT
DEPARTMENT
If I listen to people, there are often complaints - many
complaints - about bosses, leaders, kings, queens, bosses, managers, teachers,
principals, those in charge?
If I listen to people, I hear at times about people who
become boss: wow did they change. They have become bossy - difficult -
self-serving, not listening, a disaster.
If I listen to people, I hear them complaining,
complaining, complaining about people above them or about people in charge.
Coaches are unfair. They don’t put my daughter into the
game.
Teachers, principals, are unfair. They don’t give my son
credit - or give them good marks - or let them get into the National Honor
society.
TEMPLATE,
MODEL, IMAGE
Do we all have a template, model, image, description of
an ideal parent, president, coach, leader, boss?
If we scream, “She’s a dictator!” does that mean our
image of a good leader is one who is fair, open to suggestions, doesn’t have
only their own agenda, but is out for the common good?
Write down the name of the best teacher, boss, coach,
captain, or lieutenant, you ever had.
Now list under that name personal traits, tricks, qualities, characteristics,
style or what have you about that person and you now have a template of your
ideal leader, king or queen.
JESUS’
DESCRIPTION OF A KING / QUEEN / LEADER
We’ve all heard, I hope, Pope Francis’ description of a
good priest and bishop: one who smells like the sheep.
We’ve all heard Pope Francis’ comments in public to
bishops: enough with the garb that glitters.
Where does Francis get his job descriptions and important
characteristics of Church leaders? We know Pope Francis road down the streets of Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York in a Fiat - and Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
So for starters, Jesus called us to simplicity. We know the characterists Pope Francis used come from Jesus - who said he was a Good
Shepherd.
We know Jesus said we’re all called to serve rather than
be served.
We’ve heard that Jesus was off on listening. He heard
people. He let people touch him? He washed feet. He felt people’s hunger and
thirsts.
We all know that the heart of Christianity is found right
here at Mass. The call is that life is all about saying to family, school,
team, church, “This is my body. This is my blood. I’m giving me to you. Take
and eat me up - eat up my time and energies - and my me.
Every parent discovers with each baby they have - the meaning of life is service - giving -
dying to self - so that others can survive, thrive, and enjoy the great
surprises of being served - loved - hugged and lifted up.
Mother’s Day, Father’s Day is only 1 day every year. That’s
all folks. Enjoy that breakfast in bed.
Babies don’t say to parents. I know you want your sleep,
so I won’t scream till tomorrow morning - till after you wake up.
Dogs - like babies - don’t know this kind of stuff either.
When they bark, they are sending out a message: feed me or I need to get
outside - and now. To be a neighbor in a neighborhood is to see all those folks
out in the morning in their bathrobes and their dogs and doggie bag in hand.
AVOID THE
NEGATIVES
So a good king, queen, leader is called to have the
positive qualities of Jesus’ dream for how to live life to the full. Notice in today’s gospel - John
18:33b-37 - that Jesus says his kingdom does not belong to this world. But is it only in the hereafter? I read the gospels as saying the kingdom starts now.
It has positives like the calls of Pope Francis gleaned from the gospels and it
also has negatives to avoid.
One key one is not to belittle people. As I thought about
that word, “belittle” the following hit
me. If we belittle people is it because we want to bebig ourselves? If that is true, I would assume that the
leader who belittles others is unconsciously telling us that he or she feels
inferior, small, and they want to slay others to stand on them and say to the world, “Look how tall I am?”
Bottom line: Besmall yourself and bebig others.
John the Baptist said it best when he said of his
relationship to Jesus, “I must decrease; he must increase.”
I would the best leaders should make it their policy and
their politics, “I must decrease; they must increase.”
CONCLUSION
On the feast of Christ the King, the call is to renew our
service contract with our constituents.
have been dropped. Then folks drift for a while -till they realize their need spiritual practices:
walks on the quite side - by the water - meditation, book clubs - running - breathing - Yoga - music - volunteering - therapy - massage - body work....
Religions - then some
try new religions - and
some in doing so discover God - prayer - worship - community - and some come home
to their handed on religion - which they see
in a new light - graces and warts and all.
They have begun to discover they
can’t do
life alone - without God in the Center
because as Thomas Merton put it years ago,
“The spiritual life is oriented toward God ….
[which] puts us in the fullest possible contact
with reality - not as we imagine it, but as it
really is. It does so by making us aware of
our own real selves, and place them in
the presence of God.” [Author’s Note: this can be found in No Man is an Island.
p. ix - x.]
