Christ the King Sunday Today’s Preface describes Christ’s kingdom as one of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice. love and peace. This ideal is not to be merely a future hope but is to be worked for in the present. The kingdom is our hope, but somehow it is also in our midst, in the process of becoming. The gospel tells us how we are to promote the fuller coming of God’s kingdom among us. It comes whenever  justice is done for the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and the oppressed. To behave in this way is to imitate the Shepherd-King himself who is presented in our Gospels as one who rescues from situations of alienation, who feeds, gives rest, heals and makes strong The way to serve Christ our King is to work for the coming of his kingdom. In working for the relief of the deprived, the oppressed and the outcast we are serving Christ in person, because Jesus identifies himself with all those in need, personally. Therefore a disciple of Christ the King cannot afford the comfortable luxury of merely shrugging at life’s injustices. “I just keep myself to myself” or “Anyway, I do nobody any harm” are not neutral stances; they are refusals to get involved. To be deaf to the cries of the neighbour in need is to be deaf to Christ. To be blind to the anguish of the dying is to close our eyes to Christ. Taking Jesus  as our Shepherd-king involves becoming shepherds in some way ourselves for his work of justice and salvation goes on