Truth

Homily for the Feast of Christ the King
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd

Friends, its important to remember that God is essentially unknowable. To remember, that He who created all things and keeps all things in existence is Himself without origin, and uncreated a being unlike any we have ever experienced, and so while we can know by faith that He exists and we can say some things about Him, because He has told us about Himself. Whenever we say something about God we are grasping as something we truly can't comprehend.

When we call Him Father, we must understand that He is a perfect father unlike all us fallible imitations on earth. When we call Him good, we must realize He is pure goodness unlike anything we have ever experienced. When we say God is Love, only the love of Christ on the Cross begins to capture what we mean by Love, and still we can't understand or imagine the depths of His Love. And so today when we call Him King, we must realize that He is a King unlike any King the world has known.

As American's we often have a hang up with the idea of Kings. Sure we like the quaint relic of monarchy, but when we talk about a King who actually rules, American sensibilities are quickly offended! Maybe this is why people have such a hard time with the idea of hierarchy in the Church, a monarchy based on God's monarchy, though certainly not as good!

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, and on this feast day it is important to realize how much different Christ's kingship is. Most worldly rulers rule by force, although occasionally they rule by personal popularity, and its the same whether our ruler is one person, as in a monarchy, or many, as in a Republic like ours. Christ our King, in contrast rules not by the sword or popularity but by the strength of truth.

And again truth is not the truth we think of but the x-ray like truth of God which reveals the deepest darkest secrets of our heart. It was this sword of truth that cause our first parents Adam and Eve to be ashamed, they were ashamed of their nakedness, but not only of their body but of their soul before the eyes of God. And it was the sword of truth that barred them from paradise! God's truth is a weapon more powerful than any sword and more merciful—because although it cuts to the core of who we are it also heals those who trust in God!

God's truth reveals our sins, and reveals our shame, by first revealing who we are meant to be, and then revealing all of our failures. It reveals that we are God's children, who God loves so much, and in the light this Truth our sins look grotesquely horrible. God's truth harms us, because we are rightfully shamed by how ungrateful we are to God.

When we realize that all goodness and happiness comes from Him we realize how stupid we are when we go against His plan, and how wretched we are when we fail to give Him thanks. And yet, when we trust in God, through the Sacraments of Baptism and Reconcilliation His Truth also heals us, showing that God is able to Love and forgive us even when we commit the most horrible sins.

In these sacraments He forgives our sins and restores us to the dignity of the person that He created us to be.

The Mass is all about truth, because at the Mass, while still in this world, we experience a glimpse of our destiny in Heaven were we are meant to enjoy God's presence and give Him thanks and praise for His Goodness. And when we abide in truth the Truth sets us Free to be God's Children, to obey God's Law, to be Happy, and Holy. When we live as Children of the Truth we choose to be God's subject's and His Children. We choose to call our brother Jesus Christ our King. When we live in the Truth, God's kingdom exists inside of us, and begins to break into this world through us.

Every Sunday we pray as Jesus taught us Thy Kingdom Come on Earth as it is in Heaven. But its only by living in the truth, by avoiding sin, which is a lie, and by doing good, which is an act of truth, that our prayer can become a reality. Because when we live in the truth we realize who we are, what we were created for,

We realize that all people are our brothers and sisters made to help us grow in holiness, even when they themselves fail in this task, even when they sin against God and against us! When we live in truth we realize that there is no gain in murder, stealing, and lying, we realize that abusing our bodies hurts not just ourselves but the whole world. We realize that all sin is a lie, which separates us from the Truth, God, and from the children of truth, our neighbors.

Today Jesus invites us to be Children of the Truth to take to heart the Truth and Live it, who will we claim as our king?