Homily – O Rex Gentium “The King Who Reigns by Gift”

As Advent reaches its final days, the Church gives Christ one of His most surprising titles:

O Rex Gentium — O King of the Nations.

Not a conqueror.
Not a ruler backed by armies.
But a King whose reign looks very different from the world’s.

Today’s readings show us exactly what kind of King He is.

In the first reading, Hannah does something extraordinary.

She has waited years for a child.
She has prayed through sorrow and humiliation.
And when God finally gives her a son, Samuel, she does not cling to him.

She brings him to the Temple and gives him back to God.

This is not loss.
It is recognition.

Hannah understands something deeply true:
God is King, and everything belongs to Him.

Real authority does not grasp.
It receives — and then offers.

That is the first lesson of O Rex Gentium.

The Gospel answers Hannah’s action with Mary’s song.

Mary does not sing about power.
She sings about reversal.

God lifts up the lowly.
He fills the hungry with good things.
He sends the rich away empty.

This is the Kingdom of Christ.

The King of the nations does not reign by domination.
He reigns by truth.
By justice.
By mercy.

Mary’s Magnificat is not sentimental.
It is revolutionary — because it reveals reality as God sees it.

Those who trust in themselves lose their grip.
Those who trust in God are raised up.

The O Antiphon names Christ King of the nations — not of one tribe, not of one culture, not of one age.

This King gathers what is scattered.
He unites what is divided.
He rules hearts before He rules structures.

And notice this:
He is King before He is recognised as such.

The nations do not crown Him.
God does.

His throne is not yet visible.
But His authority is already real.

Christ reigns wherever trust replaces fear.
Where gratitude replaces grasping.
Where obedience replaces control.

Hannah lets go of her son.
Mary lets go of her future.

Neither loses anything.
Both are drawn deeper into God’s plan.

This is how the King of the nations establishes His Kingdom —
one surrendered heart at a time.

As Christmas draws near,
O Rex Gentium asks us a direct question:

What am I still holding as if it were mine alone?

Time.
Plans.
Relationships.
Control.

Christ does not take these from us.
He invites us to place them under His kingship.

And when we do,
His rule does not diminish us —
it frees us.

Today the Church prays:

O Rex Gentium, come.

Come and reign — not by force, but by truth.
Come and unite — not by power, but by love.
Come and rule our hearts, that Your Kingdom may grow.

Like Hannah, may we offer back what God has given.
Like Mary, may we rejoice in the King who lifts up the lowly.

And may we recognise, even now,
that the King of the nations
is already among us.