Thomas Griffin 11/24/24
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The last Sunday of the Catholic liturgical year is the Solemnity of Christ the King. Every year, this important celebration takes place the Sunday before the beginning of Advent. Directly before we spend weeks meditating on the birth of the savior we are invited to ponder the significance of Jesus’ reign over the entire world.
The proper name of this celebration is: The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Some might view this as an outdated feast. We no longer have kings and kings are often viewed as pompous and out of touch with the common experience of the human person. They are synonymous with worldly wealth, fame, and the glory that comes from ordering others around.
Nothing could be further from who Jesus is and from what this day is about. Celebrating Christ as King means that we recognize that he is the center of the universe.
Pope St. John Paul II once commented in a Christ the King homily on the back and forth between Jesus and Pilate. It is Christ’s response to Pilate that sheds light on his style of kingship. The pope said:
“At this point in the dialogue, Christ states: ‘My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world’ (Jn 18:36).
Everything is clear and transparent now. Faced with the priests’ accusation, Jesus reveals that his is another kind of kingship, a divine and spiritual kingship. Pilate asks for confirmation: ‘So you are a king?’ (Jn 18:37). At this point, excluding every erroneous interpretation of his royal dignity, Jesus indicates his true kingship: ‘I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice’ (Jn 18:37).”
Christ is enthroned as king on Calvary. His throne is the cross. His rule is that of sacrificial love. While there are some kings that are only concerned with their own desires, Jesus is solely concerned with conveying the depth of his love for each and every single one of us. He holds the entire world in his hands because it is through the nails in his hands that he saves us.
Unlike a worldly king who might use his power to belittle his subjects, Jesus sees us as friends – not as insignificant instruments in his empire. While we are more than subjects, we do owe him everything. While we have infinite dignity as made in the image and likeness of God, the only proper response to being in the presence of the king of the universe is to kneel. This is a king that deserves our utmost attention, respect and love because he is the king of Holy Communion.
The celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass is the perfect place to witness his kingship. People gather from far and wide to bring their worries, fears and challenges to the king. They proclaim his name out of reverence and awe for what he has accomplished. They sing his name and champion his deeds.
At every Mass we are able to gain access to the one moment in time when the king was enthroned on the cross. Our king was humiliated, beaten and killed in our place. We deserved to be punished severely but he stood in our place. Our king endured the worst pain possible. While he endured it, you were the only one that he could think of in the entire universe. He deeply desired to communicate his love to you so that you would know that the all-powerful King was willing to appear powerless for your sake.
Finally, Jesus allows us to gain daily contact with him. He is not a distant king but one that can be seen at any moment. He is one that is willing to get so close to us that he literally becomes a part of us when we receive him in the Eucharist. It is this intimacy that makes him the greatest king. He can be worshiped as the true king with all confidence because he saved us and paves the way for us to live in the Kingdom of Heaven for the rest of our days.
Thomas Griffin is the chairperson of the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island where he lives with his wife and two sons. He has a masters degree in theology and is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Empty Tomb Project: The Magazine. He is the author of Let Us Begin: Saint Francis’s Way of Becoming Like Christ and Renewing the World.
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