Reflection on the feast of Christ the King 2 Sam 5:1-3; Col 1:12-20 Lk 23:35-43

William, who’s 3 years old, likes to wear his red cape.
We like his imaginary play.
For a playful adult will have resilience to live through difficulties.
People see “Heroman” in his cape and like to give him a word.
They say, “You’re a king.”
The small boy looks mildly annoyed, and frowns.
“I’m not a king! I’m William!”

Jesus, who was 33, liked to call himself “Son of Man”.
Yet in his all night vigils upon the mountain Jesus would be at prayer as the Son of Our Father, His Father then.

Benedict XVI tells us that Jesus would have seen great beauty from his mountain;his throne; his Cross.
In Jesus of Nazareth we read that Jesus saw “with the eye of his soul”.

Luke likes that phrase.
With the eye of his soul, Luke sees a measure of God’s awesome nature in his family.

We delight in our two little sons and they mirror our joy.
As husband and wife we dance the steps of performative, donative charity and love. Meeting each other where we are at, emotionally, helps each other’s growth.

Sharing mealtimes with people builds the warmth of belonging together,
A kindred connection between our psyches, our souls.
Since the Cross is a Crown, there is a call to be royal priests:
with “the other,” in their Beatitudinal suffering.

Like Jesus to the “good thief,”
God’s response to our openness to him is immediate and awesome.
Strangers became friends within seconds.
God works in the unexpected, as well as with the rationally planned.

For a Jew, salvation was understood in terms of male progeny and prosperity.
Now poverty would save the Chosen People of God.
Servanthood would characterize God’s Son.
The Passover Lamb would be the Son of Man.

There, at the sacrificial death of Jesus, God cries with Mary.
By this intimate espousal of her heart, Mary and the Holy Spirit would become one.
There, at the foot of the Cross, we are received as their children:
John, you and me.

Later, the resurrected Jesus is felt by a fire burning within his friends,
A sacred flame stoked by committed love and their firm resolve to return
to Jerusalem.
Let us allow ourselves to receive God’s freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
Therefore we may cry “Abba!” with Jesus and carry our lighter crosses, after him.

Louise and Luke Jeffree (nee O’Brien)
Dominican Family