The "New" Feast of Christ the King On This Final Sunday of the Liturgical Year
In the traditional Liturgical Calendar, it's the final Sunday of the Liturgical Year. In the newfnagled calendar, it's the Feast of Christ the King. The traditional calendar observed this at the end of October.
So we've been given a kind of double shot at contemplating the awesome reality of Christ the King.
It's not some title that just sounds good. It's not a merely spiritual matter that won't touch the natural secular world surrounding us. It's a fact. Christ is our King.
In the Middle Ages - Medieval times - this was accepted. Yes, they had kings. But in Christendom, their power was second to God, indeed in different understandings, derived (if that's the right word) from God. Christ was thus the King of kings. (Remember the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah: King of kings and Lord of lords?)
And the Pope was the Vicar of Christ the King. Thus the various kings owed obedience to the Pope.
Now, these folks didn't always act as they should. Popes abused their power. Kings ignored the popes to some extent. Then again, sometimes they did not so ignore, and did indeed take seriously their duty towards the pope. Like all things perpetrated by fallen human nature, it was complicated.
Nevertheless, we need to know this: When Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925, it was not some invention. It was simply a formal recognition of Christ as King, something believed and preached going back to ancient times in the Church.
But back to today: In recognition of Christ the King, we might consider whether we truly live according to our belief that Jesus is indeed King. Nothing else stands between Him, His Commandments, and our desire to follow Him. Anything that gets in our way must be addressed and cut away.
The fact that our post-Christendom world no longer recognizes Jesus as King - certainly not formally, but, sadly, generally not eve informally, should not deter us from being His loyal followers.
On the subject of the world's relationship to Christ the King, this from a well-known Cardinal:
We face a globalist program of a world without God, in which a
power elite proclaims itself the creator of a new world and ruler of the
disenfranchised masses. That program and power elite cannot be
countered by a “Church without Christ,” one that abandons the Word of
God in Scripture and Tradition as the guiding principle of Christian
action, thought, and prayer... (Cardinal Gerhard Muller)
If
resistance is your cup of tea, go for it. Do what you believe might be
effective in opposing what we can certainly cause forces of evil. But
just remember that the only real answer is our belief in and
understanding of not just the notion, but the reality of Christ the
King. All our thoughts and actions about all this will make the most
sense in that light.
Here are some exceprts from the Divine Office for this Sunday from the 118th Psalm that would seem to fit our theme today:
Thy truth unto all generations: * thou hast founded the earth, and it continueth.
118:91 By thy ordinance the day goeth on: * for all things serve thee. (Psalm 118: 90-91)
And...
118:97 How have I loved thy law, O Lord! * it is my meditation all the day.
118:98 Through thy commandment, thou hast made me wiser than my enemies: * for it is ever with me.
118:99 I have understood more than all my teachers: * because thy testimonies are my meditation.
118:100 I have had understanding above ancients: * because I have sought thy commandments.
118:101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way: * that I may keep thy words.
118:102 I have not declined from thy judgments, * because thou hast set me a law.
118:103 How sweet are thy words to my palate! * more than honey to my mouth.
118:104 By thy commandments I have had understanding: * therefore have I hated every way of iniquity.
Next Sunday, we begin a new Liturgical Year on the 1st Sunday of Advent. If we know Christ is our King, then we soldiers can use that Holy Season as a good training ground to hone our spiritual lives for the struggle ahead. "The Holidays" may suit the taste of the secular children of the Enlightenment. But we Catholics who follow Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ won't allow the world they've created to dissuade us from paying homage to our King and living as His subjects.
If you haven't put together a plan of prayer and mortification to properly observe the penitential Season of Advent, today's as good a day as any to get on with it.
Comments