Jesus did not come to be served. He washed the feet of His disciples. Jesus did not come to be wealthy. He tells us to stop holding on to our possessions and to follow Him. Jesus did not come to rule with a heavy hand. He came IN love TO love.
The face of Jesus on the cross is mercy. As accessible to you and me as it was to the repentant criminal… if only we see it, if only we grasp it, if only we respond to it. It is easy to call Jesus King, to proclaim his Kingship, to sing hymns of praise to Christ our King, but it might still challenge us to understand that Jesus flipped what it meant to be a King with a kingdom. We are called to build that kingdom of mercy and love.
But, until we see the crucified and resurrected face of our King in the faces of those on the margins, we will not and cannot understand the Kingship of Jesus. Are you willing to see Him in the faces of our migrant family at the border? In the faces of the unhoused in our cities? In the faces of those suffering from mental illnes and addiction? In the faces of members of our interfaith, LGBTQIA, and non-believing communities? In the faces of those we disagree with and those who have hurt us or that we have hurt? Will you see Him in the stranger, the prisoner, the wanderer? Will you see him in the struggle to protect our earth? Will you see Him in the ongoing struggle for racial and economic justice? Will you see Him in me? Will you see Him in you?
May we become more merciful, more loving, and ready builders of the kingdom here and now.
--Angélica Quiñónez
Image source: Bradi Barth, St. Dismas, the Good Thief, https://reason2bcatholic.com/2021/03/25/saints-alive-st-dismas-the-good-thief/
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