In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking our Lady's intercession. Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of Grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Good morning, brothers, and sisters. Today we celebrate the great solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the universe. It's really a beautiful title, King of the universe. And we know he is the king because he said to the apostles before he ascended into heaven, he said, you know, I go to my father and your father, and I will sit on a throne at his right hand as God is clearly king and ruler of all things. Jesus Christ has obviously, as God has, that role, that kingship. But even as a man has been anointed and established as king over the universe, now his kingdom is established. It's done. His kingdom reigns in the hearts of those who follow him. So, it's in the church and it's in the hearts of those who follow Christ. In a sense, it's in the hearts of the people he describes in the Gospel today. Those who care for the least of these the sick and imprisoned, the hungry, the naked, the homeless, those who take care of these kind of people, Jesus calls them his brothers. Then that means the Kingdom of Heaven is in your heart and you will have a share in his kingdom when he comes in glory. That's what it means, of course, to go to heaven. But at the end of time, when Jesus Christ comes, we know that He will judge the heavens and the earth. And the best parallel to this, that Jesus gave us in his own words was when he talked about himself as a king. He said there was this king. And, you know, he had some servants and he told them to do some stuff. Then he went off to take authority because he wanted to reign over another place as well. So he goes, Any wars on this other nation? As a king, he wants to rule over all things. He wants to rule over all hearts. And in the end, he will. The nature of his kingdom, though, is that initially, even though he's king and can dictate to you the rules, he doesn't. Then he went off to take authority because he wanted to reign over another place as well. So he goes, Any wars on this other nation? As a king, he wants to rule over all things. He wants to rule over all hearts. The nature of his kingdom, though, is that initially, even though he's king and can dictate to you the rules, he doesn't. He asks. He shows you how much he loves you. He dies on the cross for you. He's like, what more could I have done for you? Please obey me. And if we freely, by his grace, submit to his kingship, if we make him our king, then he will judge us and mercy. And we will go to live and be joyous and happy in his kingdom.
If we don't, then what does he say he will do? Right. In the Gospels, he says very clearly, those rebellious people, I will go and crush and kill. That's what I will do to those who refuse my kingship. Again, we easily fall into this mistaken assumption about our Lord is that he's always so gentle and merciful. Everybody's going to go to heaven, or he's very vengeful.
And, you know, it's black and white with God. You know, most people are going to be damned to hell. He's both. He's not one or the other. He is both in perfect measure. He's perfectly just always going to condemn everybody who deserves to be condemned. He's going to punish everybody who deserves to be punished. He's going to damned to hell anyone who refuses his kingship. Of course, he's going to do that. But he's also perfectly loving and merciful, which is why he gives us time, which is why he lovingly invites us to obedience as opposed to command it. You know, Saint Paul has an interesting thing. He says to one of the communities to whom he was writing one of the letters in the in the New Testament. He says to them, basically, as an apostle, as your bishop, I have the right to command you to obey me. But I would rather beg you. I would rather plead with you. Please obey me. Please. I don't want to have to command. And that's the nature of Christ's kingship. He pleads with us. He does everything in his power to convince us that he is good. And he does love us. And he'll do anything necessary to redeem us just so that we will obey him. Right. What did he say? You are. You are my disciples. If you keep my commandments, if you obey me, if you obey me. Obedience is necessary to be a friend of God to share in his rule and His kingdom. Now we can struggle with the idea of a kingship in a kingdom, especially as Americans. Right. Because we have this idea of governance that is very different from traditional, traditional, especially biblical governance. But we like this idea of like a democracy or a democratic republic. We get to vote, we get to elect, you know, we have different branches of government and this nice division of powers. We think that is the best because that's what we've been taught. That is the best form of government. United States has the best form of government. That's how we were raised, which is, of course, as a Christian, completely ludicrous because you would think that Jesus Christ, God would have established in his kingdom the best form of government. You just assume his governing form would be the best and you'd be right. But does he call his church a democracy, a republic? No, it's a dictatorship. That's what you must remember. A kingship is all the power and authority of the government is in a single man, one head. Now, he will have advisors if he's wise and other people, to help him administer the kingdom, administrate the kingdom?
Right. That's what Jesus did. That's why he appointed the pope and the bishops. That's why they're there. And that's why the bishops appointed the priests. They help them administer the kingdom. But you must understand the governance of God is a dictatorship. That's what a kingdom is. And that is the perfect form of governance, because that's what God would have chosen. Now, the reason we especially don't like dictators is because they're not always as loving and virtuous and good as Jesus, because they don't always ask you to follow the rules. They simply throw you into jail and control your lives. We have a distaste for the idea of a kingdom or a kingship who has a dictator, a single ruler who governs over all things in the kingdom. But that distaste is wrong. It's not Christian. It's not virtuous or holy. Jesus Christ is our dictator. He's the best kind. But first and foremost, he's the king. He's the ruler. Yes. The ideal of kingship that Christ shows us is one who sees himself as a servant to the people. Right. That's the idea of authority. I come among you as one who serves.
That's what he taught the Apostles. That's what the Pope and the bishops and the priests are supposed to be. They're supposed to be kingly servants. But we're still kings. Like St Dorothy's is not a democracy. You don't get a vote. Like I'm the king of this little castle. Now, I'm not the high king. The bishop Jugis is the king of the little castle of the Diocese of Charlotte. But he's not the High King. If there's a high king in this world, it's the Pope. The Pope is the high king. Now Christ is the high king of the church. In the end, he governs all things. But the Pope is his right-hand man who uses his power and an authority to rule over his kingdom on earth. Again, this is a dictatorship now, a good king imitating Christ would do so gently and lovingly. At first, they would begin with gentleness and love and compassion and mercy. But if that didn't work, then they would use all their power and authority to crush their opponents. You know how in the news, you know, we talk about Putin and in the Russian government and supposedly he's elected and he's an elected president or official now. He's a dictator. Right. He's the king. That's what he is. And we get up in arms when we hear that he does things like crush his political opponents. How undemocratic. I'm sorry. And how many tens of thousands of years of human society have the king crushed their opponents? It's called rebellion. It's called, you know, refusal to be obedient to the authority.
I mean, the U.S. government does that. Right. What do you think happens in every country throughout the world? You question those who govern, you get squashed. I'm not saying you can't try to rebel, but don't complain when you get crushed. It's the same with Christ. When we rebelled against him. In the end, he will crush us and cast us into the outer darkness, or there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Now, why is all of this so important? Now, a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to preach on it. Last week I wasn't here, but it worked out better this weekend. Right. A couple of weeks ago. I don't know how many of you keep up. I'd rather you not, because honestly, it just breeds confusion and people get frustrated.
The Holy Father removed the bishop of Tyler, Texas, and this was like a big controversy in the church. no. This holy and conservative bishop has been removed by this liberal and sinful pope. Scandal. Terrible. We need to riot. We need to, if not, write, protest. Go out and march. Prayer. Rosaries. God, give us a good Holy Father. That's so foolish. It's so ignorant. Anyone who would think that way has no idea who Jesus Christ is and what his church really is. Again, it's a dictatorship. Our Holy Father doesn't need a good reason to remove anyone. He's the Pope. He can just decide. I don't like your haircut. You're no longer Bishop of Charlotte, and there's no one in the church that can stop him. Now, you may say he doesn't have a good reason to remove the bishop of Tyler, Texas. Well, how do you know? Did the Holy Father tell you, his reasons? No, he did not make public his reasons. But you don't have a right to the reasons. I'm not saying it would be wrong to share them with you, but it's the same in your in your household.
You know, when parents tell their children to do this or that, they don't have to give a reason. It's nice if you do, but let's say you do give a reason. None of the ten times your child is going to say, I disagree with you. That reason does not follow in my head, which is why it doesn't matter whether you have a reason, because children are to obey, because you're the king of the castle.
It's a dictatorship, kids. The family is a dictatorship. Ultimately, Dad is the high king. Mom shares in that kingship. And that's the way it goes. Now, yes, God wants them to be a loving king. A loving dictator, but they don't have to be. When they spank that little bottom, you deserve it. What's the old military phrase? Thank you, sir. May I have another? All right. That's what they want from you. When they say jump, you say how high. The nature of authority, the nature of authority is very important. If we don't understand this, it's very easy for us to go against Jesus Christ himself. And so, I'm going to tell you this. Jesus Christ, the king of the church, one of the bishop of Tyler, Texas, removed. He wanted it. Why does he want it? I don't know. I'm not Jesus. He didn't tell me. I have some theories, some ideas, but. But it's speculation until the king lets me know. All I know is that he wanted it. You know. I know you wanted it because the Pope wanted it. Why did the Pope want? I don't know. He wanted it. Why does he want it? I don't know. I'm not Jesus. He didn't tell me. I have some theories, some ideas, but. But it's speculation until the king lets me know. All I know is that he wanted it. You know. I know you wanted it because the Pope wanted it. Why did the Pope want? I don't know. He wanted it. Why does he want it? I don't know. I'm not Jesus. He didn't tell me. I have some theories, some ideas, but. But it's speculation until the king lets me know. All I know is that he wanted it. You know. I know you wanted it because the Pope wanted it. Why did the Pope want? I don't know.
We can speculate. I will tell you this and I only point this out after doing my research, is that that Bishop had been disobedient to the Holy Father directly disobedient on several occasions before he was removed. And you could say, well, he was justified. The Holy Father was wrong in trying to get him to do that thing or that thing. I'm sorry. What? How do you know the Holy Father was wrong? Well, because in my mind, that's not what Jesus wants. You're the sheep. You're the child trying to tell the shepherd how to govern the flock. How many times do your own children make that same mistake against you and think they don't have to obey?
And yet God's going to punish those disobedient children just as much is going to punish you because you disobeyed. You went against the lawful authority that he has established in his kingdom, in his church, and that Bishop disobeyed the Holy Father directly even after he had been commanded to do something. If I was the Pope, I would remove him now? Yes. Are there other bishops in the world that we would like to see removed more than that, Bishop? Sure. Do I think it would be wonderful if the Holy Father removed all of them? Absolutely. But I'm not the Pope. I don't make those rules. You can't be more Catholic than the Holy Father.
You just can't be more Catholic than him. Now, before the pope formally removed this bishop, he sent him a formal letter. And in this formal letter, he kindly requested that he resign his office as bishop of Tyler, Texas. The Holy Father made this request. Now, those of you who understand authority. Was he asking him to step down? Was he saying, would you please consider this when somebody who has authority asks you to make your bed, are they just asking, like if you want you know, if you feel up to it, you know, please do the dishes. Well, I mean, you said please, but I just don't feel like it. No. When your parents, when your priest, when your bishop, when the pope asks you to do something, it's a polite command. It's what Saint Paul did. I could command you. I'd rather ask you. I'd rather beg you to obey. The Holy Father was giving the Bishop of Tyler, Texas, a way to bow out gracefully without losing any of his respect.
That's what he was doing. That was a good thing. This is what Bishop Julius does. Our new whenever we have new seminarians, it's always at least one of them that makes this mistake. They'll get a letter from the bishop saying, I kindly request your presence at this event, and then one or two of the seminarians won't come for me to recall them. Why weren't you there? I didn't think I had to be there. Why did you not think you had to be there? Well, because the bishop just said, I request your presence. You didn't say I require your presence. Okay. Don't do that again. When your bishop kindly requests your presence. That's a command. It's just a polite way of doing it. Why? Because he's the dictator. He's the king. You don't refuse the king. You don't refuse the king anything. If you can help it. That's the same with the Pope. Honestly, I'd like to even say that's the same with your pastor. But again, supposed to be a kindly king. I request I don't command. I could not go to, you know, let God judge you in the end.
I'll just, you know, suffer the consequences. When the Holy Father asked him to step down, he was giving him a polite and gentle way of saving face. But he refused his commander. He refused his king, the representative of Christ on Earth. And what did the king have to do? What did the pope have to do? He had to formally remove him. Right. What other recourse did he have? I didn't want to do it this way. I tried to do it the nice way. You refuse the nice way. Now I'm going to crush you. And yet, is this Bishop humbly accepting this removal? No. He's still in public media, and he's still causing discord and disharmony and disunity in the body of Christ.
And he's doing it with all the most polite and gentle words justifying his behavior for this reason for that reason. Just like any child would do to justify their disobedience. And I would generally never correct a bishop. However, he has made this public, right? I must correct it because remind you, my people, that we are faithful to the Holy Father, whether I understand him or not. Why? Because we are faithful to Christ, whether I understand him or not. Why? Because he is the king. That's why he is the dictator. And we must submit to him in all things. We always have to be careful with this. Never allow this American political philosophy to cloud our understanding of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Yes, he is good and loving and merciful, but he is a king. And if you don't submit to that love and that mercy the way he has asked you to, he will cast you into the outer darkness. He will separate the sheep from the goats and only the sheep will share in his kingdom. The goats will suffer for the rest of eternity.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel. Homily begins at 20:27