Mercy. Cross. Kingdom.

2025-11-23

Mercy. Cross. Kingdom.

At the throne of the crucified King, mercy gathers the scattered and restores the excluded.

Jeremiah 23:1–6 | Benedictus | Colossians 1:11–20 | Luke 23:33–43 | RB Chapter 44

Christ the King Sunday closes the liturgical year with a paradox that overturns our expectations: the King is revealed not in splendour but in suffering, not on a throne but on a cross. Luke’s Gospel places us at Calvary, where Jesus is mocked as “King of the Jews.” Yet it is precisely there, stripped of power and dignity, that his kingship shines most clearly. He reigns by forgiving those who crucify him, and by promising paradise to the thief who turns to him in faith. His crown is mercy, his sceptre reconciliation, his kingdom opened to the excluded.

Jeremiah’s prophecy speaks of failed shepherds who scatter the flock, and of God’s promise to raise up a righteous King who will gather, heal, and reign in justice. The Benedictus echoes this hope: “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Colossians lifts our vision higher still, proclaiming Christ as the image of the invisible God, the one through whom all things were created, and in whom all things hold together. The readings together remind us that Christ’s kingship is not about domination but about restoration, not about exclusion but about communion.

The Rule today speaks of excommunication and satisfaction. It describes the one who has fallen into serious fault lying prostrate before the oratory, silent and prone, waiting for the Superior’s word of mercy. It is stark, even severe, but it is also profoundly human. We know what it is to fall short, to fracture fellowship, to feel the weight of exclusion. Yet the Rule insists that even in prostration, the member remains part of the community. Their posture of humility is not annihilation but a path back to belonging. The Superior’s blessing, “It is enough,” mirrors Christ’s word to the thief: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Restoration is not earned by humiliation alone, but by mercy received.

For those of us who live with rhythms of exclusion—whether through illness, neurodivergence, or the quiet separations of life—the Rule offers a strange comfort. It acknowledges that satisfaction may take time, that reconciliation is a process, but it also insists that mercy has the final word. The Superior’s authority is not to crush but to restore, just as Christ’s kingship is not to dominate but to reconcile. The Rule’s ritual of lying prostrate becomes a visible sign of what the Gospel proclaims: that the way back is always open, that forgiveness is stronger than fault, that the community is never closed to those who seek mercy.

So the reflection for this feast is simple, yet profound:

Christ reigns in mercy: His throne is the cross, his crown forgiveness.
Christ gathers the scattered: No shepherd’s failure can undo his justice.
Christ restores the excluded: The Superior’s “enough” echoes his “today.”
Christ holds all things together: Even our fractured selves are drawn into his peace.

On this Sunday of Christ the King, as the liturgical year closes, we are reminded that the final word is not exile but restoration, not humiliation but mercy, not exclusion but communion. The King who reigns from the cross is the King who welcomes us home. His kingdom is not of this world, yet it is breaking into this world wherever mercy triumphs over judgment, wherever forgiveness heals division, wherever the excluded are restored to fellowship.

Christ the King is the one who bends low to lift us up, who reigns by reconciling all things, who declares that mercy is stronger than fault. And so, as the liturgical year ends, we are invited to begin again: to live as citizens of his kingdom, to embody his mercy, and to trust that in him, all things—our lives, our communities, our fractured histories—are held together and made whole.

Intercessions

Response is.

“Christ our King, guide us in your peace.”

1. For the Church in Ireland

That the Church here may be a beacon of welcome and hope, cherishing the faith handed down through generations and proclaiming Christ’s reign of mercy.