Lector's Notes

 To the home page

of Lector's Notes

Feast of Christ the King, Year C, November 21, 2010
Lectionary index # 162

Twenty-second digests for the congregation: Arrange with your liturgy committee to have these brief historical introductions read to the assembly before you do each reading.

Who should announce these before the first and second readings, and before the gospel acclamation? They're not Scripture, nor homiletic, so they shouldn't be delivered from the ambo. They're a modest teaching. So let the presider say them from the chair. Let the lector turn toward the presider and listen.
Print this page, cut it at the blue lines, and give the introduction paragraphs to the person who will speak them.

Feast of Christ the King, Year C, November 21, 2010
Before the first reading:

This describes the choosing of Israel's second king, the great David. His successful 40-year reign became the model for the hoped-for Messiah (that is, anointed one) in later Judaism.
Between psalm and second reading:

Some ancient peoples believed in complex hierarchies of angels, demigods and other spirits, mediating between humanity and God. Paul, without saying whether these exist or not, asserts that Christ is superior to them all.
Before the gospel acclamation:

The old notion of Messiah was of a king after the model of David. To apply that title to Jesus required deep re-thinking of the royal model.
To pay for use of the words above, please subtract an equal number of optional words from other places in the liturgy (click here for some suggestions).

On a new website, read a new essay about these readings for a community responding to the Word as a community.

First reading, 2 Samuel 5:1-3 [Jerusalem Bible translation]

Our Liturgical Setting: In liturgical years B and C, the gospel on the feast of Christ the King comes from a passion narrative, where the contrast between Jesus' way of being King and earthly kingship is most stark. In today's gospel, the people are mocking Jesus over the title "Messiah." The first reading tells the origin of that title in our tradition, applying it to Israel's second king, David.

The Historical and Literary Situation: In the ancient Middle East, kings were ceremoniously given their office not by crowning but by anointing. The Hebrew word "messiah" literally means "anointed." David reigned from roughly 1000 BC to 960 BC, a successful "anointed" one under whom Israel flourished. Later, in harder times, Israel would summon up hope for a new anointed one, a Messiah like David. When Jesus came, he was of the family of David, and as just and pious as David at his best, but unlike royal David in most other respects, certainly in earthly powerlessness. So it was a bit of stretch when his followers gave Jesus the title "Messiah." (The Greek word "Christ" means anointed one, as the Greek word "chrism" names the oil used even today to anoint the baptized, the confirmed, and the ordained.) Ancient notions of what it meant to be a king had to be re-thought by those applying these categories to Jesus.

In the scene described in today's first reading, Israel's first king Saul is dead. There's no precedent for replacing him. David had been a successful military commander under Saul. This is what the text means when it says "It was you who led the Israelites out [led out our army on campaigns] and brought them back."

The Lector's Proclamation: When you read this and the following sentence, you're repeating words of desperate people imploring someone to take on a great responsibility. Sound persuasive! Say the final sentence with finality, "and they anointed him [pause] King of Israel."

Second Reading, Colossians 1:12-20 [Jerusalem Bible translation]

This Reading in Liturgical Context: Interestingly, we read most of these verses only a few months ago, on the Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. In today's context, this illuminates Jesus' kingship from another angle. In earthly terms, as we saw in the gospel, he was anything but kingly. But in cosmic terms, Paul persuades us to rank him highest of all.

The Historical, Theological Origins of the Text: But why is Paul so emphatic? Among the early Christians at Colossae there were people promoting a detailed belief in angels and their mediating role in our relationship with God. Paul, neither affirming nor denying the existence of these "thrones, dominations, principalities or powers" simply states that Christ is superior to the whole lot. He'll reiterate this throughout the letter, and explain how our salvation comes through Christ alone. But today's passage is only about the superiority of the person of Christ.

Here in paraphrase are Paul's assertions about Christ:

This last point, besides making this the perfect second reading for the feast of Christ the King, takes Paul's theology out of the clouds. Jesus took on the earthly and earthy human condition, where even the pious suffer and die, hoping for resurrection. No creatures with fierce names like "principalities, dominations and powers" are going to be found sharing human weakness. Nor will the market allow today's pop-culture cherubs ever to appear crucified. You don't need any angels, Paul would say (nor do you need an earthly king, says the Church by her choice of readings today (although a few church leaders still seem to prefer royal governments to republics and democracies)). You need a divine-human partner in the struggle to know God and be faithful in a hostile world. Get Christ.

Your Proclamation: So, as lector, deliver this piece as a polemic. Your listeners probably won't know the context, but they should know that Paul and you are emphatic and uncompromising about Christ's place in the universe, in all of history, and in your hearts. You might emphasize the gift of "redemption, the forgiveness of our sins," in verse 14, because it ties this reading to a theme in the day's gospel.

Several other commentaries on these passages. All are thoughtful, all quite readable, from the scholarly to the popular.
Links may be incomplete more than a few weeks before the "due date."
Father Roger Karban of Belleville, Illinois, USA, writes a newspaper column about every Sunday's readings. Here are his essays for today's passages, from: courtesy of The Evangelist, official publication of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, New York, or of The Belleville Messenger, of the Diocese of Belleville.

Read all of Father Karban's recent columns here, at the site of FOSIL, the Faithful of Southern Illinois.

Saint Louis University's excellent new liturgy site
Most welcome here are Reginald Fuller's commentaries.

(Caveat lector. As of October 14, 2010, Lector's Notes' author is speculating about the exact URL of SLU's offering, since it's not yet posted. If you get a 404 Not Found, try here).

Lutheran pastor and college teacher Dan Nelson's notes for a study group
Dan covers Jeremiah 23:1-6 today, plus the same second reading and gospel passage as in the Catholic lectionary.
The Text This Week; links to homilies, art works, movies and other resources on the week's scripture themes Archived weekly column of Father Francis X. Cleary, S.J. (Log in using 0026437 and 63137.) This column is probably from 2001.

The Lectionary selections in the frame at the left, if any, are there for your convenience. The publishers of the page in that frame have no connection, except for membership in the one Body of Christ, with the publisher of this page. Likewise the publishers of the pages on the links above.
Return to Lector's notes home page

Send email to the author.

Last modified: November 19, 2010