Christ the King 2018

Celebrating Christ the King in the liturgy, in the Church, is of its very nature an expression, an
acclamation, of His victorious reign as sovereign over the universe. Of necessity there’s the
evocation of the pomp and ceremony of the royal court of heaven where He is envisioned as having
made conquests over all His opponents, both men and the wicked angels who have attempted to
dethrone Him. Today the Church reminds us of the final chapter of history wherein Christ will be
manifestly victorious. Accordingly, the liturgy is adorned with some signs, however faint, of regal
splendor. At times the Church has been criticized for such display as unbecoming for a Church
representative of God’s poor. I find however in this rebuke a suspiciously Marxist note, that is, a
deceptive ruse to deprive Christ of His due honor by outward display and true ceremonial worship
which represent the desire of devout souls to pour out their sentiments of gratitude and adoration of
the Redeemer for their deliverance and rescue. More often than not it is the lowly and the materially
poor who more readily display the royal supremacy of Christ in visible signs of their votive offerings,
processions, pageantry, songs, assemblies, acclamations–and even their individually small but
collectively great monetary offerings which helped build great churches and impressive shrines to
the glory of God. The sincere believer has in his heart a desire to show his affection to God in these
outward ways, which must surely be the envy of the devils.

As impressive as the kingship of Christ undoubtably is both in His heavenly habitation (which we
can only vaguely imagine), as well as in His many splendid temples on earth, I’d like to give a
thought to Christ the King today in the abject circumstances of His earthly life, especially during the
Passion, for it is there that He may guide us to know how we ought to conduct ourselves in this
present time. I’m referring to our Lord’s willing acceptance of His sufferings when He released to
His enemies control over Him so as to make Him their sacrificial Victim for the slaughter. I’m
deeply impressed by Christ’s unflagging determination to proceed to the most horribly imaginable
human suffering which He had anticipated all throughout His life in His foreseeing mind down to
the minutest detail. Yet He went forth eagerly to His Passion as much as one goes avidly to his
pleasures. I think of our Lord’s rebukes to Saint Peter when he tried to defend our Lord and prevent
Him from suffering. Who could blame Peter for his love in wanting to protect His Lord from this?
And yet Christ rebuked him sharply for trying to thwart the progress of the Passion. “Get behind me,
you Satan!” He said to Peter, shocking in consideration of Peter’s valiant and noble intentions. And
again later, in the Garden of Gethsemani, Peter boldly stepped forward and drew a sword that
severed the ear of the high priest’s slave–only to be rebuked once again by our Lord for his valorous
act of defense. Christ allowed nothing and no one to stand in the way of His insistent desire to suffer
punishments on His body and in His soul, punishments that our sins merited. In this He showed that
He was in full command of His destiny. When Judas impressed his filthy, treacherous lips upon our
Lord, he was given only the most meek and loving words, “Friend, why have you come here?”
Friend!...while Peter, the zealous defender, was a “satan!”

We like to think of Christ the King in terms of His eschatological reign, that is, of His glorious,
definitive dominion. But we ought not to overlook as well His regal majesty during His Passion,
when He was taken captive by evil men and seemed helpless and defeated. Neither His friends–His
apostles and disciples–nor His enemies in both religion and the state, no one could deter Him from
pursuing His goal of redeeming us by suffering and death, of becoming the innocent Lamb who takes
away the sins of the world; the Lamb led to the slaughter who opened not its mouth in protest. This
too is Jesus our king.

Attempts to hinder the redemption were made both by the ruling authorities of the day (the Romans
in this case) and by the Old Testament ‘church’ (that is, the synagogue and Temple). Through these
oppressive forces secular and ecclesiastical set upon destroying Christ, subverting His truth, and
nullifying His redemptive mission, our Lord and King persisted, asserting His royal dominion by
these most unlikely ways. Put another way, nothing impeded the accomplishment of the Lord’s will,
not even all the aggregated maliciousness of men in the positions of governmental power nor the
corrupt place-holders of the Old Testament church. Our Lord maintained His dignity and asserted
His absolute supremacy over them all in peace and with meekness. “A bruised reed He shall not
break” was the prophecy concerning Him. Our Lord pursued His divine plan, moving forward
steadily with determination and tranquility amidst the shouting, cursing, reviling, submitting to the
blows He received with humility while having charity towards those afflicting Him. This is a manner
of being king that truly is “not of this world.” I believe that through the maintenance of His majestic
countenance while He was being beaten and ridiculed He was offering us an example of how to live
in this sorry time for our country and for our beloved Catholic Church. “Christ suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. When He was reviled, He did not
revile: when He suffered, He threatened not: but delivered Himself to Him that judged him unjustly.”
(1 Peter 2)

By contrast, the rules of the game of the world are to strike back at an enemy back with hatred,
violence, and the sword. So-called ‘justified anger’ is sometimes invoked as the “right” response to
the immense evils of our cultural wars and in our conflicted Church. But they are the plots of demons
which side with violence, disturbance, revolt and revolution, and bloodshed. There is nothing of this
in the doctrine of the New Testament, nothing of it in the teaching of Christ. But there is found
beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers. Return not injury for injury. Forgive your enemy, even unto
seventy times seven. Pray for your persecutors so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
These things I read and believe.

The native, instinctive, reflexive action to injury is return injury, re-action. This is understandable
from the standpoint of our fallen nature, of the unregenerated man, the unspiritual, the unchristian
man; but it is not of God. We have a great challenge to our Christian profession at this time due to
the very excited political and moral upheaval taking place in our country at this time. And there is
a similar crisis before us in the Church where so much betrayal, infamy, and sacrilege have caused
the deep wounds of scandal for the faithful. What should our response be? Take up the sword? Is
anger, violence, and fighting, or yet abandonment and r defection our response? I think of our
beloved Lord who prophesied to His disciples, “You will all fall away from Me this night;” and
“scandals will inevitably arise, but woe to him through whom they come.” We need to listen to our
own voices as we say the familiar prayer, “Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like
unto Thine.”

Kindly note that I’m not proposing that we do nothing when our beliefs are scorned, our morals
derided, our Catholic Church dragged through mire to the delight of her enemies. But we must not
use the tactics of our enemies by retaliation. We need real and effective weaponry, as Saint Paul
instructed us precisely for times such as these. I quote:

Put you on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil.
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against
the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.
Therefore take unto you the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and
to stand in all things perfect. Stand therefore, having your loins girt-about with truth, and
having on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace: in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the
fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword
of the Spirit (which is the word of God). By all prayer and supplication praying at all times
in the spirit; and in the same watching with all instance and supplication for all the saints:
and for me, that speech may be given me, that I may open my mouth with confidence, to
make known the mystery of the gospel. For which I am an ambassador in a chain, so that
therein I may be bold to speak according as I ought. (Ephesians 6:11-20).

Take up your rosaries. Do works of penance. Fight sin mightily when it beckons. Be loyal to the
Catholic faith. Pray unceasingly and be at peace. Christ is King, never more glorious, never more
beautiful than in His Passion, no matter how disfigured His holy face, how many His wounds, how
great the revilement against Him. He is in total, absolute control of all history, of all events. And He
will triumph, without a doubt. But He looks for our fidelity in observing and imitating Him in His
way of achieving his victory, of making “our hearts like unto Thine!”

Christus vincit. Christus regnat. Christus imperat.

Christ conquers. Christ reigns. Christ rules.