Christ The King

Art historians say Italy is home to more than half of the art treasures in the world, and a significant portion of those treasures are in the city of Florence. One of Florence’s most famous museums and the home of many of its art treasures is the Pitti Palace.

The Medicis- Kings of Tuscany and Florence’s powerful ruling family- built the Pitti Palace and filled it with beautiful art treasures. Some were examples of Greek and Roman Classical sculpture, and many were works of the most famous Renaissance masters, such as Michelangelo, Titian, and Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Medicis didn’t design and build the Pitti Palace intending it to be a museum or a magnificent home. They created the palace with the express purpose of awing visitors to the King of Tuscany. Years ago, when I visited the museum, the guide told us the Medicis arranged the artworks in a series of rooms, eventually leading to the king’s throne room. Visitors to the Medici court were brought into the first room and left to sit there for a while. While sitting in the room, the visitor viewed and contemplated the beautiful objects owned by the Medici family.

After the visitor had sufficient time to be overwhelmed by that room’s beauty and wealth, they would be led to the next room. This room was even more beautiful with inspiring art objects, and again the visitor would be left cooling their heels to be awed by the wealth and power of the royal family. The palace had six or eight rooms decorated this way.

The king’s guests were led through the entire progression of rooms and left to contemplate the wealth and good taste of the Medici family in each one. Finally, they entered the Throne Room, painted in gold leaf and with beautiful murals depicting the exploits of the Medici family on the walls. The furniture and appointments of the room are truly awe-inspiring.

Here the king sat upon his throne covered with gold leaf and encrusted with gems. The king hoped by this time, the guests would be so stunned and intimidated that the king and his counselors would be able to manipulate the guest and get what they wanted from them.

Today is the Feast of Christ the King, and we observe that Jesus Christ should be the ruler and governor of our lives. We sit here in church, in the throne room of the Lord. We sit before the throne of Christ the King. Unlike the gold leaf-painted throne of the King of Tuscany, the throne of Jesus is simple and stark; it is the throne of the cross.

Today, like the King of Tuscany, Jesus wants to inspire and fill us with awe. Not by wealth and material things but by service. Throughout His public ministry, Jesus showed He came to serve others, unlike earthly kings who seek others to serve them.

Today is the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, and we look back at all we have learned about Jesus this year. It should leave us in awe of God’s love for us and inspire us to serve others. Luke’s gospel tells us Jesus tried to encourage His disciples to help others and taught service through His example of love. Jesus taught service by bringing forgiveness to our world.

Luke’s gospel has the parable of the Prodigal Son, where Jesus teaches God is a god who gives us the freedom to make our own decisions about life but doesn’t write us off when we make bad ones. Jesus taught that God is a god who awaits the sinners’ return, and when they do, God doesn’t hold back His love but is ready and willing to shower them with it. Jesus taught us to reach out to the sinner, especially those who we may feel have sinned against us. We must pray for them and be ready and willing to welcome them back.

Luke wrote that Jesus came to bring healing to our world. Luke told us the story of the Good Samaritan to help us recognize the people who should reach out to the suffering who often walk by. The stranger or the unlikely person often goes beyond themselves to heal the suffering. Jesus taught us that we need to be people who bring healing to our world. We can’t walk by, thinking we are too busy to help. We must reach out to the afflicted who we might feel unworthy of our love.

Luke told us how Jesus tried to break down the barriers between people. Luke wrote of when Jesus passed through Jerico and saw the tax collector Zacchaeus up in the tree. Jesus called Zacchaeus and said "I want to eat at your house today." Jesus broke down walls and showed that He saw the good in Zacchaeus. He showed us God’s love knows no boundaries and can penetrate all barriers.

Jesus taught us that we need to reach out and break down the barriers in our world. We must overcome the obstacles between people of different races and ethnic backgrounds. We need to reach across class and economic status and remember that we are equal in the eyes of God.

This year Luke told the story of the rich young man coming to Jesus to say he wanted to be one of Jesus’ followers. Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor, then follow him. The young man turned away and went home sad because he had too many possessions. According to Luke, if we want to follow Jesus, we must be committed to Jesus. Our faith in God is the most critical thing in our lives, and it is more important than our material possessions and our status in the community.

This message is such good news. It tells us that God loves us beyond imagining, even though we are flawed. Despite our sinfulness, God forgives us and wants to help us know we have a place today with God in the Kingdom of Heaven.

That is such an important message; we must share it with others. Jesus realized that and established the Church to live out His message and spread the Good News worldwide. That is an incredible privilege God puts into our hands. We must be willing to share our gifts of time, talent, and treasure to bring the Good News to our community. We are God’s hope for the world.

Last week the parish held a Ministry Fair, and we encouraged parishioners to consider using their time and talent here in our parish. Many of you responded, and I thank you. Today I ask you to reflect on sharing your treasure in the critical work of spreading Jesus’ good news here on the Lower Cape.

The commitment I ask of you is to make giving to the parish’s mission of sharing Jesus’ message with our community a priority in your budget. The best way to do that is to sign-up for our automatic giving program. The parish had to get serious about encouraging automatic giving early in the pandemic, and it was our lifesaver, and receiving donations by automatic giving saved the parish. It is easy to sign-up to contribute automatically using our WeShare program. Just go to our website www.holyredeemerchatham.org click on the donate tab at the upper right and follow the prompts. Make giving to our parish a priority.

Second, consider making your donation a percentage of your income. Scriptures encourage us to give a tithe or ten percent of our income to our church as an act of worship. When first ordained a priest, I resolved to try to practice what I preach, and I began to tithe. I give 5% of my income to Holy Redeemer, 2 ½ % to the annual Catholic Appeal, and 2 ½% to other charities, most of whom are Catholic organizations. I have never found myself wanting money. I realize I’m a celibate priest and don’t have many of the demands on my income parishioners do, but I encourage everyone to make the leap of faith. You might not feel daring enough to contribute the whole tithe but maybe start by setting aside 1 or 2 % of your income as a start.

Then progress in your giving. In a few months, reevaluate it. Do you miss the money you are contributing, or have God’s increased blessings replaced it? As followers of Jesus, we progress in giving because God’s Kingdom grows in our hearts as we share more. The Church grows when the giving and generosity of its members grow. As giving grows, we have more resources to bring more people into a relationship with Christ.

As the Liturgical Year of 2022 ends, we are about to enter Thanksgiving week. It is an opportunity to reflect and appreciate God’s blessings shown to us throughout the year. Use this week to deepen your commitment to a loving relationship with God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Count your blessings and share them with God, God’s Church, and our community.