CHRISTUS VINCIT, CHRISTUS REGNAT, CHRISTUS IMPERAT
CHRIST CONQUERS, CHRIST REIGNS, CHRIST RULES.
YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW
INTRODUCTION
We have been on a journey the past twelve months as we traveled through the Christian Church Year. The Liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent, and ends today with the Feast of Christ the King.
During the Liturgical year, we re-live the life of Christ. We follow in His footsteps as he walked the dusty trails of Galilee, gathered disciples, opened blind eyes, made the lame to walk, taught the multitudes, was crucified, rose again and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.
Is Christ the King, King of my life?
The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to assert the sovereignty of Christ and His Church over all forms of government, to remind Christians of the fidelity and loyalty they owe to Christ, who by his Incarnation and sacrificial death on the cross makes us adopted children of God and future citizens and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven
The title “Christ the King” has its roots both in the Old Testament and New Testament. In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, the Messiah is represented as a King.
“I saw in the night visions, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:13-14
From the very beginning of the New Testament at the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel says to Mary, “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,* and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:32-33
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray: “Thy Kingdom come . . .” immediately followed by “Thy will be done.” In the Semitic style of parallelism one sentence explains or expands another. And so, the definition of the Kingdom is “a community of people who do God’s will on earth as perfectly as it is done in heaven.”
REFLECTION
The Kingdom of God is a space. It exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It exists in every region and country that cares for its weak and vulnerable. It exists in every parish that reaches out to the needy. It exists in every work place where one is kind and patient with their fellow workers.
The Kingdom of God is a time. It happens whenever someone feeds a hungry person, shelters a homeless person, or shows care to a neglected person. It happens whenever we overturn an unjust law, or make peace instead of war
The Kingdom of God is a condition. Its symptoms are love, justice, and peace. Jesus Christ is king! We belong to his Kingdom when we try to walk with him, when we try to live our lives fully in the spirit of the Gospel and when that Gospel spirit penetrates every facet of our living.
At our Baptisms we hear these words of anointing, As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so too may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life.
As priest we offer sacrifice, as prophet we offer witness, and as King we offer service to others.
“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.” Matthew 20:28 We too are called to be a people of service who reach out to embrace the enemy and the stranger, a people who will endlessly forgive, a people who will reach out in compassion to the poor and to the marginalized….
PRAYER
To Jesus Christ our Sovereign King
who is the world’s salvation,
All praise and homage do we bring
and thanks and adoration
Your reign extend O King benign,
to every land and nation;
For in your kingdom Lord divine
Alone do we find salvation
To you and to your Church, great King
We pledge our heart’s oblation;
Until before your throne we sing
In endless jubilation
Christ Jesus, Victor!
Christ Jesus, Ruler!
Christ Jesus, Lord and Redeemer
COME FOLLOW ME, YOUR SOVEREIGN KING