CHRIST THE KING
21 November 2004
Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
Dear Friends in Christ,
The sovereignty of Christ is a disputed sovereignty. Not everyone acknowledges Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior, and many people deliberately organize their lives and their loves in complete contradiction to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And yet the Church boldly sings in the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer for this Solemnity that "As king (Christ) claims dominion over all creation." So, which is it? Is Christ the universal King of all creation, or is He the helpless victim who was nailed to a cross and was taunted by wicked men?
The answer, of course, is: He is both. The Scripture lessons appointed for today remind us that Christ is the universal King because He is also the eternal Priest who offered His life on the altar of the cross and redeemed the entire human race from sin and death by His own perfect sacrifice. But they also teach us that He is the eternal Word by Whom, through Whom, and for Whom all things were made. And the solution to the puzzle posed above is found in grasping that these are one and the same Person; the Lord Jesus is both the suffering servant and the triumphant savior, and in the Providence of God it is not given to us to have one without the other.
This is but one of the many paradoxes revealed in the Gospel, and allowing this truth to change us is the work of many years. Immature Christians often expect the all powerful God to make them sleek, healthy, prosperous, and satisfied in all their needs because He is all powerful. But the power and wisdom of God’s Kingdom are revealed primarily in salvific suffering and self-denial, and this solemn end of the liturgical year reminds us in the most pointed way that the sovereignty of Jesus Christ is revealed not in worldly power and might but in a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.
Father Newman
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.