We’ve had many great emperors and kings throughout human history. One of the greatest emperors in the ancient world was Alexander the Great, who lived 4 centuries before Christ's birth. Alexander wanted to rule the world. He even called himself the “King of Kings." His empire eventually included much of the known ancient world: from his native Greece to India, Egypt, and Palestine. Alexander had a great intellect; the renowned Greek philosopher Aristotle was one of his teachers. Alexander was such a great military commander that his military strategy is still studied by military leaders today. Like any great leader, Alexander knew what he needed to do in order to rally his troops and to gain their loyalty. There is a story told of Alexander’s travels with his troops in the deserts of Persia. His entire army ran out of water; they were getting very desperate. Intolerable thirst seized them as they traveled under the hot desert sun. A couple of Alexander's lieutenants captured some precious water from a caravan passing through the desert. The lieutenants brought the water to Alexander in one of the soldier’s helmets. Alexander asked if there was enough water to give to the troops, but he was told that there was only enough for him alone to drink. Alexander lifted up the helmet as his men watched him intently, but instead of drinking the precious water, he poured it on the ground. His men let out a great shout, knowing that their great leader would not allow them to suffer anything he was unwilling to accept and suffer himself. Alexander the Great proved many times why he was viewed as such a great powerful leader.
In our modern world, we think of a king or emperor as having great power and strength. All the kings and emperors who led the mighty empires and kingdoms here on earth pale in comparison to Christ, the true King of Kings. Yet, as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King today at the end of our liturgical year, we don’t have readings about Christ’s power and might at Mass today, but rather we hear about Jesus as he dies on the cross, accompanied by the two thieves who are also about to be crucified alongside him. Many of the values of our world call out to us to acquire wealth, to seek power, to assert our domination and superiority over others. Often times, our world asks us to seek revenge or payback rather than to work towards reconciliation or healing. Yet, as disciples of Christ, we are taught that there is another way. We follow a leader who wore a crown of thorns rather than a crown of gold and jewels, who sought to love rather than to dominate, who forged solidarity and unity with the poor and the marginalized rather than alliances with the rich and powerful, who led a group of twelve apostles who brought his Good News to the world rather than a powerful army that sought to conquer and defeat others. It is by these values that Jesus lived on earth, and that he proclaimed in God's kingdom. It is by these values that we will be judged at the end of days: by how we bring God’s love and mercy to the world through our words and actions, by the way we live out God's love and mercy each day.
There is so much about our faith that perhaps we struggle to understand. Even with some of the dogmas and teachings of the Church that we seem to understand on the surface, we sometimes have a hard time applying them to real life situations. The great 11th century philosopher, St Anselm of Canterbury, called it faith seeking understanding, meaning that out of the active love we have for God, we seek a deeper understanding of God and we seek to live out our faith in our daily reality. Out of our faith, we seek a personal experience of God, a personal encounter in which we can truly say that Christ is our king and our shepherd. In that way, Jesus is to be more than a noun in our lives. Jesus needs to be a verb, an action word by which we live our lives. Jesus as our savior, our shepherd, and our king calls us to action and a way of life. As we get ready to prepare for the birth of Christ in the world at the start of the season of Advent next Sunday, may we look around us and see the ways we are called to bring Christ's message to the world.
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