Christ, the King
Today, we celebrate the solemn feast of Christ the King. This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI one hundred years ago at a time when the rise of authoritarianism, fascism, and dictatorship brought about great distress and social imbalance in many parts of the world. The Holy Father’s intention was to proclaim that Jesus Christ alone is the King of every nation, that absolute sovereignty belongs only to him, and that unless His kingdom reigns in the hearts of men, “real and lasting peace will remain out of reach” (cf. Quas Primas, 1).
A century later, Pope Pius XI’s words still speak to us. True and lasting peace remains elusive. Christ has not yet fully reigned in the hearts of every person. Greed continues to thrive, corruption has become systemic, and our nation drifts steadily into moral decline.
That Jesus is a king is clear and obvious. In today’s second reading, St. Paul cites the many reasons why Jesus is king. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” He holds dominion over all creation for “all things were created through him and for him.” “He is the head of the Body, the Church.” And finally, he is the savior, not only of humankind, but of the universe, who “reconciled all things for him, making peace through the blood of his cross.”
Before Pilate, he revealed himself openly as a king. But he also made it plain that his kingdom is not of this world.
What kind of kingdom is the kingdom of Christ then? The Preface of today’s feast describes it as a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, and a kingdom of justice love and peace.
Such kingdom is what we all want for the world and for our country. There is so much fake news, lies and deception which sow only confusion and division among our people. Communications is exploited by men with evil intent to destabilize the present order for their political gain or ideological agenda. Corruption in government and in business has reach an incredible level that greed has caused not only the impoverishment of our people but even the loss of lives and properties as the recent floods demonstrated. The list of our woes can go on and on.
And so, how we wish that Christ establish his kingdom among us. How can we make it happen? Jesus, in fact, came to proclaim the coming of the kingdom as his first message.
What is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is where God is king – where he rules, where his word is obeyed, where his will is done. In the prayer Jesus taught us we pray, “Thy kingdom, come, thy will be done.” These petitions are one and the same thing. God’s kingdom comes where and when his will is done. Thus, to welcome the kingdom among us is to seek his will, not ours; to execute his plan, not ours. In short, it means to follow Christ and his teachings.
While the kingdom of God is meant for the whole world, it starts with each one of us. “The kingdom of God is within you,” Jesus tells us.
As I have repeatedly said in the past, the present problem of corruption we now face is systemic. We can change our leaders every election and we’ll experience the same problem all over again if do not change our ways of thinking, valuing and behaving. Until we change ourselves as a people and make Christ’s ways our own, the cycle of corruption, plunder and destruction will continue.
The kingdom of God starts in each of us. It starts with personal conversion. It starts with an awareness that we are all sinners and that we all need salvation which comes only from Christ.
The Jews and their priests and leaders did not recognize the king in Christ hanging on the cross. They even mocked him saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” Only the thief recognized Christ as a king because he admitted his sinfulness in front of Christ, “We have been condemned justly for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.”
We are all sinners in front of Christ. In a way, we are all thieves, some big time, some petty. Until we recognize our true self in front of the Christ, we can never say with Dismas, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And much less will we be able to hear the Lord say, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”