Around this time of the year, as we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States, the Church points us to the end of time. The Church celebrates her Lord and King calling this day The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI and celebrated as the last Sunday of the liturgical year.

What meaningful impact does this feast have for us? This feast points us to the kingdom and sets firm the most important request of life.

Right under four minutes, Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus is recognizable across the globe. It carries within it the playful fanfare, an acclamation of Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. His dominion shall rule forever. A popular legend suggests that during the premier of this masterpiece, King George II stood and since then the audience has stood as they all sing this masterpiece.

If Jesus is a king then he has a kingdom. Where is this kingdom? Jesus taught us to search for the kingdom as he taught us to pray Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. The kingdom allows us to say yes completely to God, a yes that refuses sin and injustice. The kingdom is not a geographical place, it is a person.

Jesus is the kingdom. The kingdom is the actual, true, living presence of God in our midst. We say this in our prayer, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” This kingdom, while it is here and now, has yet to be fully realized – the wheat and weeds are to be judged on the final day.

If Jesus is this kingdom and if he reveals mercy and love, what do we dare ask him as we acknowledge his awesome presence?

It must surprise us that this Sunday’s Gospel account is far from the image of royalty or military might. We see Jesus on his cross and it is on his cross that he is king! We see the king who allows the good thief to steal his kingdom, to posses paradise.

A dying man asked a dying man for eternal life. The man with no possessions asked the poor man for his kingdom, the Penitent offered the most important prayer of his whole life to the Great High Priest. 

There is a natural human desire in all of us to be remembered. We want to be remembered for our achievements, our value system, our cherished morals, our contribution to society. Yet, is this enough? 

The beauty of this moment on the cross is not that the thief wanted to be remembered for his sinful life on earth, but that he was infused with the mercy of God. He was being drawn to the heart his Creator, who was undergoing the same agonizing death. 

In this moment, we witness a king who remembers us. He knows our name and desires to thrusts open paradise for us. Do we ask Jesus to fulfill that most innate need? Remember me, Jesus.

At the Cross of our Lord we behold the enfleshed love that moves the suns and stars, we see a love that assures us that we are not lost in the billions of cosmos in which God holds in his hands. To be remembered is to be grafted into God’s life. From the love nailed to the cross, we are etched into God’s enfleshed memory.

There is a common expression used at my place of ministry. Every prayer throughout the day ends, “Live Jesus in our hearts forever.” The sentiments plead that Jesus reigns in our hearts forever. Our heart is the place where his kingdom is actualized.

Jesus is King of my heart. My only desire is that he remember me when I stand before his awe-filled presence. Our salvation is brought forth through our utter human desire to be remembered. Live in my heart forever, Jesus.