Christ the King - Homily 1

Homily 1 - 2006

Today’s second Reading from the Book of Revelation spoke of Christ, saying he loves us, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father.

Whenever anyone is baptised, immediately after the actual baptism itself, the priest anoints the candidate with the Oil of Chrism on the forehead – as Christ was himself anointed priest, prophet and king.

Through being literally christened – christ-ed, we have all been made to share in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and kingly role and dignity.

At funerals, before we proceed to the burial, we pause in the church to connect again with the baptism of the deceased persons. We sprinkle the coffin with baptismal water, and then, remembering how their bodies were anointed to emphasise their sharing in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and kingly dignity, we respectfully envelop the coffin in a cloud of burning incense.

I would like to focus briefly on the fact that Christ has made us priests to serve his God and Father. What does it mean that, through our baptism, we all share in the priesthood of Christ?

You know what it doesn’t mean: you aren’t ordained priests. You can’t make the Eucharist happen. Yet, along with the ordained priest, you do offer the Eucharist; you do celebrate Eucharist. We are all celebrants.

Just before the Eucharistic Prayer, the ordained priest says to you: Pray that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father. (It used to be even clearer in the former Latin version: Pray that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable...)

Through our priesthood received at baptism, we are able to consecrate our world. As sharers in the priesthood of Christ, you bring your work, your lives, and, at the Eucharist, you join them with Christ’s gift of his life, and offer them to the Father.

Your work, your day-to-day interactions with people, are acts of worship: they are sacred.

Your kitchen tables, office desks, machinery, black boards (or are they white boards these days?) school desks, steering wheels, whatever, are your altar.

Your interactions with your family, your friends, sporting clubs, clients, students, animals, fields become acts of worship of God.

They are what we bring to these weekly gatherings for Eucharist.

Our baptismal priesthood gives a whole new meaning and value to the activities and interactions that fill our days. Our knowing this becomes a strong added incentive to work, to play, and to interact, respectfully and responsibly.

Living becomes a wonderful privilege where everything echoes into eternity. Nothing need be insignificant. We have our sacred sites: our churches, our altars, our shrines. But really we can make anywhere a sacred space. Or, rather, Christ has enabled us to make everywhere a sacred space.

As the Scripture put it: Jesus Christ loves us. He has made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father. It’s wonderful: Too good to ignore or to take for granted.