Readings

First Reading—2 Samuel 5:1–3 
Responsorial Psalm—Ps 122:1–2, 3–4, 4–5
Second Reading—Colossians 1:12–20
Gospel—Luke 23:35–43

Hope in the Mercy of God

• While describing the preeminence of Christ, St. Paul also includes a note that is key to Christian hope: Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead.” Jesus rose from the dead, showing us what we can hope for: the Resurrection. We too will rise with Christ, body and soul, and have a share in his glory.
   
• We act on this hope by clinging to Christ and striving to live as his disciples, being connected to him as members of his body, the Church. The spiritual and sacramental life of the Church has this aim: to draw us together as one body, intimately bound to the head. It is not by our works but by our being in communion with Christ, through the grace of God, that we attain the goal of our deepest desire: eternal life with God.
   
• The repentant thief who was crucified alongside Jesus, St. Dismas, beautifully shows what hope in the mercy of God looks like. Although he faces execution for wrongs he has committed, he entrusts himself to Jesus’ mercy.
   
• One of the most important virtues that Christians must ask for is hope. Hope is often thought of as a desire for a good that is possible to achieve. To share eternal life in communion with God can only be achieved by God’s grace and so hope in Christ is a gift from God. Hope is a kind of engine that pushes us forward in the Christian life. When we stumble in sin, as we so often do, hope drives us to get up, seek healing in the confessional, and carry on in the journey. On the other hand, when we lose hope, we fall into despair, refusing to stand back up and accept God’s healing mercy. But St. Dismas shows us that it is never too late to reach out to the Lord and ask for mercy. On this day, we can ask Christ the King, the firstborn from the dead and head of the Church, to kindle in us that flame of hope. 

• In his encyclical on hope, Pope Benedict XVI reflects on the kingdom that the repentant thief longs for:

  His Kingdom is not an imaginary hereafter, situated in a future that will never arrive; his Kingdom is present wherever he is loved and wherever his love reaches us. His love alone gives us the possibility of soberly persevering day by day, without ceasing to be spurred on by hope, in a world which by its very nature is imperfect. His love is at the same time our guarantee of the existence of what we only vaguely sense and which nevertheless, in our deepest self, we await: a life that is ‘truly’ life” (Spe salvi, 31). 

• As we celebrate Christ our King, we ask for the grace to persevere in hope. 

Faith in the Lord Who Suffers

• The pair of New Testament readings in this year’s lectionary brings out the strangeness of Christian belief. On the one hand, as St. Paul says, Christ is King of the entire universe because “in him were created all things in heaven and on earth . . . all things were created through him and for him.” At the same time, this king is mocked and jeered as he hangs on the cross. How can the Lord of the universe be a man who seems to be so weak?
   
• This question can haunt us today. We see injustice and suffering around us, which seem to go unaddressed and untreated. So many of the institutions on which we depend, including the Church in some ways, appear to be in decline. St. Paul’s description of Jesus seems too difficult to believe.
   
• In this reading from the Book of Samuel, David is praised as a great king, but we do well to remember that when Samuel first identified David as the one called by the LORD to be king of Israel, he was not immediately recognized by others as being particularly significant. Samuel went to Jesse, knowing that God would tell him which of Jesse’s sons was the chosen one, but Jesse did not even bring David to Samuel. In that passage, God tells Samuel, “God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance” (1 Sam 16:7).
   
• How does a human person see beyond “appearance”? By faith.
   
• Many see Jesus on the cross and see only a failure. In the passage from the Gospel of Luke, some of those people mock him. They ridicule Jesus in his suffering.
   
• But the thief recognizes Christ’s kingship. He sees what others do not see. He not only notes that Jesus is not a criminal. He implores Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. Pope Francis comments: “On that day at Calvary, many voices remained silent; others jeered. Only the thief’s voice rose to the defense of the innocent victim of suffering. His was a brave profession of faith. Each of us has the same possibility: we can choose to remain silent, to jeer or to prophesy.” What brought about this conversion? The gift of faith. Faith is not something we can simply summon for ourselves. Like hope, it is a gift from God.
   
• When we see the sufferings of Christians in places like Nigeria and Nicaragua, it can be easy to allow discouragement to cloud our vision. This feast reminds us that Christ’s kingdom belongs to the poor and humble who embrace the cross. In the midst of trying times, we ask God to illuminate our minds and strengthen our hearts to continue to cling to Christ our King. As Pope Leo XIV put it: “It is the Risen One who radically changes our perspective, instilling the hope that fills the void of sadness. On the paths of the heart, the Risen One walks with us and for us. He bears witness to the defeat of death and affirms the victory of life, despite the darkness of Calvary. History still has much goodness to hope for.”