Last week, we experienced two great celebrations. On Thursday, many of us gathered with friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving, and on Sunday, at mass, we celebrated the feast of Christ the King. In today's post, I'd like to look at the meaning of these two feasts from a bit of an "unconventional" view.
As we all know, Thanksgiving Day is a great time for us to call to mind that which we are thankful for in our lives. Whether we believe in God or not, we can all at least recognize areas of our lives in which we are fortunate. Over the Thanksgiving break, I found myself sitting with my brother on the couch enjoying some time to relax. At one point, he was checking out the website of his beloved Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (To the Top!). On the home page was a video sequence of several student-athletes sharing what they are thankful for and what sports team they represent. I thought this was nice, but after listening to five or six athletes say the almost the exact same thing (that they were thankful for their friends, family, and opportunities to compete for USM), I became a bit jaded in the repetitiveness of these responses.
In reflecting upon this further, I realized that just like the student-athletes, we are easily thankful for the things in our lives that are positive contributors (i.e. family, friends, talents, opportunities, etc.). However, in light of Jesus' message that we are to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48), I asked myself if maybe I should try to find gratitude in my life from more negative contributors (i.e. rivals, people I don't like, weaknesses, failures, missed opportunities, etc.). After all, if I can thank God for my enemies, I am in essence finding a way to love them as Christ does. So, why should we be thankful for such negative people and things? Well, these negative factors challenge us to reflect upon how we can become better loving people in the midst of them. We can not afford to allow ourselves to become complacent with the status quo of things being "good" in our lives. Complacency can limit our perspective on bigger and more important issues on which we can potentially have a positive influence. Not to mention, by being thankful for the negatives in our lives, we are hopefully able to look inward at ourselves to see where we may be contributing negatively to others and try to be better there, too.
On the feast of Christ the King, we get a chance to see Jesus defy the traditional role of a king. Jesus' "kingship" consisted of looking at the negatives in his life (as well as the positives) and ultimately dying for them in order to positively affect them in the best possible way. If this "positive-negative" paradox is not reflective of "the mystery of faith," I'm not sure what is. Keeping this in mind, I'd like to challenge us to redefine what a king is based on the life of Jesus. The "King of Kings" and the "Lord of Lords" whom we sing about and laud so much this time of year "did not come to be served, but to serve" (Mark 10:45). So, the next time we enter a large church with ornate designs, expensive furnishings, grand chalices and candles, and other "glorious" pedestals on which we put Christ the King, let us remember that Jesus did not call himself a king. Rather, we have given him that title throughout history (and for good reason), but I think Jesus wanted nothing more than to show us a kingdom made of servants not masters.
So, as we enter into this Advent and Christmas season, let us strive to be more humble, more thankful (for our allies and our enemies), and more king-like as servants of others.
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
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