Scripture Readings: Book of Daniel 7:13-14; Book of Revelation 1:5-8; Gospel According to Saint John 18:33-37
In the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, this Sunday we celebrate the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, dedicated to Christ the King. Next Sunday a new liturgical year begins with the First Sunday of Advent, leading up to Christmas and the celebrations surrounding the mystery of God becoming man so that we might share in divine life.
As Christ is the origin and end of all creation, the Church never tires of worshiping God as our Creator, Redeemer and Advocate, Whom we profess as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, One God, Three Persons. Our God is ever near and always ready to receive glory and honor at all times and everywhere.
“The Lord is King, with majesty enrobed,” says Psalm 93, the responsorial psalm for this Sunday’s Mass. In our times we are much more familiar with democracies than kingdoms. As such we are more accustomed to the notion of a president than a king. In fact, we usually think of presidents as more powerful than kings. This is illustrated in a perhaps not too politically correct story that goes something like this: A man had told his friend many times that he was king of his house. The friend came to visit one day and found the man doing the dishes. “I thought you were king of the house,” said his friend. “I am,” replied the man, “but my wife is the president.”
In ancient times, the figure of the king as leader was much more important than it is today. Sacred Scripture, the Bible, is filled with stories of both kings as queens, some of them good and some of them bad. There is no mention at all of presidents in the Bible, only kings and queens. Continuing in the same tradition, each year the Church proclaims and celebrates Jesus Christ as the King of kings.
In the readings for Mass for Christ the King Sunday, we reflect on this theme with words applicable to our Lord in his role as King of kings. The prophet Daniel had a vision of one, who, like a son of man, comes on the clouds of heaven and receives power, glory and kingship. All peoples serve him and his rule over all things and peoples will never end or be taken away. We easily see these words applied to and fulfilled in Christ the King.
In the Gospel assigned for this Sunday, we hear a description of Jesus as King, unafraid before his accuser Pontius Pilate to announce God’s kingdom, which is not of this world, but of the next. Christ came not to condemn but to save the world, and Sacred Scripture always rotates around this fundamental belief and theme.
The second lesson assigned for Christ the King, from the Book of Revelation, speaks of Jesus Christ as “the first-born from the dead and the ruler of the kings of earth…who loves us and freed us from our sins by his own blood.” To give one’s life for another is the supreme proof of love, and Christ so loved us that he gave his life for each of us, rescuing us from death and making of us a royal and holy people. That is not our doing, but God’s, so we should never be boastful, except to boast of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we are saved and made free (see Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, chapter 6, verse 14).
One of the most important characteristics of God’s Kingdom is the notions that it is eternal, and universal, that it is true and life-giving, bestowing on believers the gifts of holiness, grace, justice, love and peace. Could there be a more attractive description of the essential elements in our multi-faceted relationship with the living and eternal God?
We must never lose sight of what is promised us in belonging completely to Christ. Furthermore, our life in Christ is not reserved to some future date, but is experienced here and now, though brought to completion and perfection in the life to come. The Lord himself has told us, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Gospel According to Saint Matthew, chapter 11, verse 28).
It is Christ the King who strengths the weary, who lifts up those who are broken or falling down. Christ consoles the afflicted, cures the sick and gives food the hungry. We have to see this help as extending beyond the material and physical, to a deeper reality, rooted in the spiritual and eternal kingdom that will never end.
Of course, we all need the daily bread of food and drink, in order to survive. For this we labor as well as receive it from others. Even more, though, we need the Bread from Heaven, spiritual sustenance, which only God can give. The Solemnity of Christ the King is a way of reminding us of this reality and tries to get our attention focused on that which endures forever. A point will come when we no longer need the food and drink this world offers, but we’ll always need divine assistance.
As we worship our God in this celebration of Christ the King, we recognize our worth as human beings, redeemed in the blood of Christ who suffered and died that we might live, through the power of Christ’s resurrection. The Eucharist, Holy Mass, is our Church’s principal means of bestowing the needed grace for us to go to God. We rejoice with holy joy in our call to become for the world signs of God’s goodness and love. God who cannot be outdone in generosity invites to the banquet of the kingdom.
Abbot Christian Leisy, OSB