Readings
Reading I: Second Samuel 5:1-3 |
Preaching TipBe Careful of Atomizing the Liturgical Calendar
Today we are at the end of another liturgical calendar year. Usually, this weekend we are already swamped with Advent preparations and the beginning of the next liturgical year. We can pause for a moment to recall a very important habit that we as preachers should bear in mind as we move along into another liturgical year.
The early Church had a liturgical calendar that was quite empty at the beginning. They did not celebrate today’s feast of Christ the King, for example. Nor did they have an Advent or Lenten season. There was no Ash Wednesday, no Divine Mercy Sunday, and no Corpus Christi processions.
On top of that, at the time, they had few saints to celebrate. So, there were no parades for St. Patty’s Day, no throat blessings for St. Blaise, no animal blessings for St. Francis, and no parish patron saint to celebrate.
In a sense, there were fewer liturgical “distractions”. The focus was on the Paschal Mystery. Easter was the day to which the whole year pointed. Every Sunday could be seen as a “little Easter” in the sense that it was the Lord’s Day.
This meant that the Sunday masses had a very clear relation to the greatest of all Sundays: Easter. For our brother priests in the early Church, the centrality of the Paschal Mystery was easier to maintain, as there was little other liturgical “competition”.
Fast forward 2000 years and with the plethora of liturgical celebrations, the centrality of the Paschal Mystery can only be maintained with more intentional effort. We are often tempted to “atomize” a feast day and to consider it as a stand-alone celebration. However, everything points back to the central mystery of our faith: the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ.
Today’s feast is a prime example of this. The Gospel for the feast of Christ the King links us back to the suffering of Jesus before Pilate.
To make this connection repeatedly is not a mere pedagogical tool but is theologically an accurate approach to preaching. This intentional effort is what the Homiletic Directory of 2014 reminds us to do:
“The homily is shaped by a very simple dynamic: it reflects on the meaning of the readings and prayers of a given celebration in light of the Paschal Mystery; and it leads the assembly to the Eucharistic celebration in which they have communion in the Paschal Mystery itself.” (Homiletic Directory 15) |
Solemnity of Christ the King, Year C
HOY ESTARÁS CONMIGO EN EL PARAISO
Hermanas y hermanos:
Hoy vemos a tres crucificados en la cumbre del Monte Calvario: El redentor de la humanidad y dos malhechores. Otros muchos estaban condenados, pero sólo estos dos fueron llamados para morir al lado de Jesús, "el Cordero de Dios que quita el pecado del mundo". A uno de ellos le dijo: "Hoy estarás conmigo en el paraíso".
San Dimas, es el único canonizado por Cristo mismo en vida. ¿Y el otro? No conocemos su nombre. A este no le dirigió ni una palabra. ¿El motivo? Las diversas actitudes. Dimas reconoce su pecado, tiene un corazón arrepentido. Es el primer paso para la conversión: mostrar la llaga. Al terminar el año litúrgico y en la fiesta de Cristo Rey, los invito a meditar conmigo en esta palabra de Cristo en la cruz: "Hoy estarás conmigo en el paraíso".
1. HOY: ¡Qué envidia nos da este bendito ladrón! No era un vulgar pirata, sino un ladrón que se robó el cielo. Con astucia hemos de apropiarnos de la cualidad de Dimas para llegar también nosotros al cielo.
¡Qué dicha tan grande la llegada de ese "hoy"! ¡Es como la llegada para cada uno de ese otro "Hoy" de la resurrección y de la salvación! Ese "hoy" se repite para cada uno de nosotros. Hoy es el día en que Cristo nos pide que compartamos sus sufrimientos en la cruz y que atraigamos muchas almas al cielo con nuestra fidelidad minuto a minuto.
2. ESTARÁS: Es el futuro que nos parece largo. Aunque nos asegura el premio definitivo nos cuesta comprender que tardará en llegar. No comprendemos que para Dios se trata de un eterno presente. Ese "estarás" se convierte en el "hoy" de cada día. Dimas comprendió que su sufrimiento en esta tierra, que su fidelidad en el momento final, era ya estar en el cielo.
Es lo que Cristo quiere que también nosotros entendamos: Ya desde ahora podemos gozar de ese premio, en un eterno presente, que para nosotros se traduce en la constancia, porque estamos viviendo en Dios. Ese "estarás" ya no suena tan lejano.
3. CONMIGO: La más bella de todas las palabras y la que da sentido a toda nuestra vida. Es la que abrió los ojos a Dimas. En ese estar con Cristo allí, comenzó su alegría porque el cielo se hizo presente. Aún la cruz más dolorosa se lleva con paz y tranquilidad si es con Cristo.
Cuando falta Cristo los temores son muchos, los pretextos abundan, los sofismas surgen. Si falta Cristo nada tiene sentido, nada vale. Sin él vana es nuestra fe. Ese paraíso que ya hoy podemos tener al estar con Cristo, hace más llevadera nuestra existencia. El mundo se convierte en la antesala del cielo por la virtud de la caridad.
Estas palabras de Cristo al buen ladrón han dado esperanza a los hombres durante dos mil años de historia cristiana y así seguirá siendo hasta la consumación de los siglos. La muerte es puerta del paraíso y "estar con él" es el objetivo de toda vida cristiana. Hagámoslo dueño de nuestros corazones y luchemos por establecer su reino en esta tierra para que nos gobierne con amor, justicia y paz. Amén.
Solemnity of Christ the King, Year C
TODAY YOU SHALL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE
Sisters and brothers,
Today we behold three men crucified on Mount Calvary: the redeemer of humanity and two evildoers. Many other were condemned, both only these two were called to die next to Jesus, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." And He told one of them, "Today, you shall be with me in paradise."
Saint Dismas is the only person canonized by Christ during their lifetime. And the other man? We don't even know his name. Christ didn't even speak one word to him. Why? Very different attitudes. Dismas acknowledges his sin and repents in his heart. This is the first step toward conversion: showing one's wounds. As we finish the liturgical year on this feast of Christ the King, I invite you to meditate with me on the words Christ spoke from the cross: "Today, you shall be with me in paradise."
1. TODAY: How envious we are of this blessed thief! He was no vile pirate, but a thief that robbed Heaven for himself. We should learn from Dismas' shrewdness so we can also make it to Heaven.
How wonderful the arrival of that "day"! It will be like when the "today" of our own Resurrection and salvation arrives! That "today" also applies to each one of us. Today is when Christ asks us to share in his suffering on the Cross so we can bring many souls to Heaven by our daily fidelity.
2. YOU SHALL BE: The future seems so far away. Although we are assured of final victory, it's hard for us to realize that it will take a while to arrive. We don't realize that for God there is an eternal present. The "you shall be" becomes the "today" of every day. Dismas understood that his suffering in this life, that his fidelity in that final moment, was already like being in Heaven.
That is what Christ wants us to understand as well - starting right now we can already enjoy our reward, in the eternal present, which is another way of saying constantly, because we are living in God. So that "you shall be" no longer sounds as far away.
3. WITH ME: The most beautiful part of the phrase, the one that gives meaning to our entire life. This is the one that opened Dismas' eyes. By being with Christ there, his joy had already begun because Heaven was present there. Even the most painful cross can be carried with peace and tranquility when we are with Christ.
But when Christ is not present, then fears are many, excuses abound, and sophisms arise. If Christ is not present, nothing else has meaning or value. Without Him our faith is in vain. That Paradise we can have right now by being with Christ, makes our existence easier to bear. The world becomes a waiting room for Heaven when we live the virtue of charity.
These words of Christ to the good thief have given hope to people throughout the two thousand years of Christian history and will keep doing so until the end of time. Death is the door to Paradise, and "being with him" is the goal of our whole Christian life. Let us make him the Lord of our hearts, and fight to establish his Kingdom in this world, so he can rule us with love, justice and peace. Amen.