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| The Sacred Heart of Jesus Devotion |
Today we celebrate the solemnity of
Christ, the King of the Universe. As
customary the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church always closes
with the feast of Christ the King. This
is to remind us that all our earthly life in following Jesus will culminate in
God’s Kingdom. This we affirm in our
creed when we profess that we believe that He will come again the second time
to judge the world in righteousness.
That we believe in the forgiveness of sins and in the resurrection of
the Body and in the life to come. This
belief we hold to be true in the eschatological sense and a reality we
expect. Each liturgical year we
pre-figure the journey and the promise, we live through a life of celebrating
the hope, the life, and the passion of Jesus Christ and which we believe we
shall achieve by God’s redeeming grace.
Reflecting on today’s reading I was reminded that
one important factor that will qualify us for God’s kingdom is on how we have
treated the poor, how we have visited the lonely and how we have comforted those
who are in prison. Jesus reminded us
that though there are ten commandments, all of these are summarized in into two
– Love God above all things and second love your neighbor as yourself. What kind of law would contradict this? While religious piety and formalities are
important human expression of love for God, one thing is much more important –
to show kindness to the poor and to help the lonely. I always wonder why Christ has always identified
Himself with the poor, I always wonder why He wants to be seen in the face of
the poor and the needy? But even in this
seeming paradox Christ is showing to us the real face of God. No one has seen God says the Scriptures, but
Christ has shown us the face of God the Father.
For those who have been with Jesus has already seen the Father. God is a God of compassion. Thus I always believe that the true practice
of the Christian religion can never be genuinely expressed by fanaticism and
extremism. Some Christians and perhaps
us included have been guilty of too much emphasis on formalities. Some of us condemn people who do not conform
to our ideas. Perhaps some of us have
branded others as “conservative” or “liberal”.
But God is neither liberal nor conservative. God is love and He wants us to see that grace
in Him. For as we have experienced that
grace we are bound to do charity to our poor brothers and sisters. There is no excuse for loving others, even
the most hateful ones. For by loving the
poor (there are two types of poverty-material and spiritual), we have qualified
to God’s standard set for those who will be in God’s Kingdom. Life is brief and short and death is the door
that will usher to the Day of Judgment.
God’s grace and our love for Him and the Poor will be our insurance
guarantee for His Eternal Kingdom. Jesus
invites us to get this insurance from Him free of Charge. Happy Cristo Rey!!!
