Please read this passage before reading the homily.
What do refugees have in common with the Colossians of the second reading? The Christians were once refugees from the darkness of sin, and today’s refugees live in the darkness of refugee camps, in the darkness of hunger, in the darkness of poverty, in the darkness of great hardship, in the darkness of homelessness, and in the darkness of having no privacy.
The Colossians, on the other hand, once were living in the darkness of sin and in the darkness of being separated from God and others through their sin, and the darkness of being separated from God is stronger than the physical darkness of today’s refugees.
Today’s refugees look for a homeland, they need safety, food, water, and medicine for themselves, their families, and their friends.
Christians have been called out of their darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God, while today’s refugees are waiting for a homeland.
Today’s refugees have no leaders to take them out of the camp to the freedom others enjoy. For them, there is no president, prime minister, general or other hero who could give them freedom. Christians on the other hand enjoy the King of the universe and the community of all the saints in heaven.
Today’s refugees are grateful for their new beginnings in other places with new neighbors and the new challenges of their new life.
We Christians, freed from the power of darkness, are citizens with the Son and the angels in his universal kingdom. Our redeemer is Christ, the King of the Universe. Christ is our country, our light, the head of our body, the first-born of the whole of creation. In Christ the king, we have our hope, our joy, our homeland, our freedom. In Christ we are not refugees, but chosen ones.
In this feast of Christ, the King, we ought to remember today’s refugees from terrorism, from war, from every danger and from poverty. God has called us to eternal life with the Son. God likewise has given us gifts so that we can share with others our faith in God and our material wealth. Long live Christ, the King of the universe and may we live with him and with all other people in the freedom of the heavenly camp.