🙏 SUNDAY INSIGHTS - CHRIST THE KING 🙏

First Reading - 2 Samuel 5:1-3 

Second Reading - Colossians 1:12-20 

Gospel - Luke 23:35-43

There is something deeply human about the longing for a leader who brings unity, peace, and purpose to our lives. We look for someone who can guide us, protect us, and lift us beyond the things that divide or diminish us. Today’s readings all point to the One who fulfills that longing—not through force or display, but through love poured out to the very end.

In the first reading from Samuel, the tribes of Israel come to David and say, “We are your bone and your flesh.” They recognize him as the one who has guided them, fought for them, and brought them together. They anoint him king, not simply because of his strength, but because he is one of them, sharing their life and their struggles. His kingship is rooted in closeness.

Then Paul, in the letter to the Colossians, lifts our eyes to a far greater King. He describes Jesus as the image of the invisible God, the One through whom all things were created and in whom all things hold together. He speaks of a King who heals what is broken, who makes peace through the blood of the cross, and who draws us into the inheritance of the saints. This is not a distant ruler but one who rescues us, forgives us, and brings us into light.

And then the Gospel takes us to the throne of this King—an unlikely, heartbreaking throne: the cross. As Jesus hangs there, mocked and rejected, the crowds demand that He prove His kingship with power. But Jesus reveals a different kind of kingship, one that does not save Himself so He can save us. One of the criminals beside Him joins the mockery, but the other sees something deeper. With simple courage he says, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus responds with a promise that only a true King can give: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Dear friends, Christ is a King who reigns not by domination but by compassion; not by taking life, but by giving His own; not by separating Himself from us, but by entering our suffering and transforming it.

This is the kind of King every heart longs for—One who knows us, heals us, and offers us a place in His kingdom. And that kingdom is not far away. It begins wherever Christ is welcomed, wherever mercy is chosen, wherever forgiveness is offered, wherever love triumphs over fear.

So today, we might ask ourselves:

Where do I need to let Christ’s kingship guide my life?

Where do I still cling to control, fear, or resentment?

Where is He inviting me to trust, to surrender, to begin again?

The good thief shows us that it is never too late, and we are never too lost, to turn toward Christ. Even with all his failures, he opened his heart, and Jesus opened paradise.

May we have the same trust.

May we recognize Christ as the King who is close to us, who walks with us, and who leads us into life.

And may we allow His kingdom—His peace, His mercy, His love—to take root in our hearts today.