Our God is a king who shepherds

 Homily: Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – Cycle A

         Friends, as we celebrate this great solemnity of Christ the King, let us take a moment to remember that this celebration is a relatively recent addition to our liturgical calendar.  It was added in the 1925 by Pope Pius XI to respond to the secularism and atheism that was increasing throughout the world by declaring boldly that Jesus Christ is the King of the Universe.  In 2023, we can see that this solemnity is needed just as much as it was nearly 100 years ago.  In other words, the world today is no less in need of a reminder that all creation must “bend the knee at the name of Jesus”, who is God and Lord over the entire universe.

         In order to celebrate this great feast more worthily, I think that we first should test our own ideas of what a king is and what we expect of him.  My guess is that, for most of us, a king is like a god, who rules and governs.  A “god” because he has seemingly infinite resources at his disposal and, therefore, is someone to whom we can turn in our needs.  “Who rules and governs” because we expect him to set rules that regulate our lives as a people.  If the king is good, it ends up working out well for us: the king is generous with our needs and just in ruling and governing fairly for everyone.  If he gives into selfishness, however, then it quickly goes bad for us.  He uses his “god-like” power to take more and more from the people and ruling and governing according to whatever whims will serve his needs.

         Regardless of whether the king in this idea is good or selfish, the reality of it all is that it is a very “stagnant” idea: the king rules and the people are subject, but they aren’t really going anywhere.  The kingship in this idea is more about managing than it is about leading.  This is not the Judeo-Christian idea of a king, however.  Therefore, if we are going to call Christ our King, we ought to understand this Judeo-Christian idea of a king, and so let’s take a look at it.

         The Judeo-Christian idea of a king is that of a shepherd.  The Jewish people were very agrarian, and shepherding was common among them.  Thus, the idea of “a shepherd” was readily in their minds.  A shepherd is one who guides, protects, and provides for his sheep.  A shepherd is one who leads: seeking good pastures for grazing and to lead his flock into a place of peace, safety, and tranquility.  It’s perhaps easy to see how these ideals of a shepherd translate into ideals of a king.  A king is one who guides, protects, and provides for his people.  He is one who leads his people: seeking fruitful land on which they can live and guiding them towards the eternal life of peace, safety, and tranquility.  Truly, the shepherd is the ideal image for one who rules because the shepherd is one who places himself at the service of the ones over whom he rules.

         It should be no surprise, then, that the most famous of the Jewish kings is King David, who was a shepherd before being anointed king.  It should also highlight just how radical it is that we apply this image to God!  (The Lord is my shepherd…)  God, who is the all-powerful creator of the universe, is a shepherd, who lowers himself to serve the people he rules so as to lead them into good pasture and a place of eternal peace, safety, and tranquility?  Yes, indeed.  And it is he himself who declares it to be so.  In the first reading, we hear him say, though the prophet Ezekiel, “I myself will look after and tend my sheep.  As a shepherd tends his flock… so will I tend my sheep.”  Friends, our God is a king who shepherds.

         This idea is a counter-cultural one in our day, isn’t it?  Look around.  The leaders of nations around the world live as if power and domination are the only way to govern.  No matter the rhetoric, most leaders of nations today aren’t trying to lower themselves to serve the people that they rule, but rather are seeking their own interests, like the selfish king I described earlier.  How blessed are we to know that our God is a king who shepherds?  No matter how our earthly rulers treat us, we can always take consolation in knowing that “the Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want”.  He is a king who serves us by guiding us along the way towards a life of peace, safety, and tranquility with him forever.

         This shepherd-king is still a leader, however.  Thus, our readings reveal also that the shepherd-king is a judge, since a leader must be able to draw distinctions and resolve conflicts among those he leads.  Here, too, the readings reveal that the shepherd-king is just and that he protects the good of the many, especially those who are disadvantaged and marginalized by the few.  Thus, he must draw distinctions and separate out those who threaten the flock by trying to take advantage of its members.

         In declaring himself to be the “good shepherd”, Jesus was proclaiming who he is: a king.  He is also God, of course, which means that he is king not of some fixed place in the universe, but of the entire universe.  Thus, he is worth following since he, our God, is a king who shepherds, and who rules over all things.

         Recognizing this, I think it important to ask ourselves a couple of questions.  “Are we putting too much hope in our secular leaders?” and “Are we putting too much hope in our Church leaders?”  If we are, then we are forgetting this radical truth: that our God is a king who shepherds.  When we do that (that is, when we put too much hope in our leaders), we end up spending the rest of our lives looking for kings/queens who will shepherd us.  Almost always we will find, however, that the ones whom we have anointed king (or queen) will end up disappointing us by their inability (or unwillingness) to shepherd us rightly, and they may even harm us.

         When we declare Jesus as our king, however, and live according to the way that he leads us, we find that it is enough to bring about his kingdom here on earth.  In other words, when we recognize the limitations of our human leaders (as necessary as they are) we can resist the temptation to look at them as kings/queens and expect more from them than they can provide.  This reminds us to look to our true King, Jesus Christ, and to do his works—the works of mercy delineated in our Gospel reading—so that his kingdom—the kingdom of true peace, safety, and tranquility—might manifest itself more and more among us.

         Is this not what we want?  Of course it is!  Is it hard to realize?  Yes!  Our tendency to selfishness and sin makes it hard to realize.  Is it worth pursuing, however?  Without doubt!  Every day we decide to do difficult things in order to achieve good ends for ourselves.  Thus, there is no reason not to sacrifice even more to help achieve the end for which all our hearts long: that the kingdom of God would be fully realized in our world.

         Friends, our God is a king who shepherds.  For this, we should give thanks every day.  Our Good God has made it possible for us to manifest the goodness of his kingdom through our lives.  Therefore, as we celebrate the ending of this year of grace and the beginning of a new one, let us commit ourselves to manifesting God’s kingdom in our lives, so that his majesty may shine forth in each of us.  Viva Cristo Rey!

Given in Spanish at St. Joseph Parish: Rochester, IN – November 26, 2023