Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. When Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in his encyclical, Quas Primas on December 11, 1925 he said, "This kingdom is spiritual and is concerned with spiritual things. It demands of its subjects a spirit of detachment from riches and earthly things, and a spirit of gentleness. They must hunger and thirst after justice, and more than this, they must deny themselves and carry the cross" (Quas Primas, 15). In today's gospel, John 18:33b-73, Jesus himself tells us that his "kingdom does not belong to this world" (vs. 36).
The spiritual kingdom over which Christ has "dominion, glory, and kingship" is enduring, as we heard in the prophetic first reading from Daniel 7:13-14, "His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away; his kingship shall not be destroyed." It is enduring because it is built on truth. In John 14:6 Jesus tells the disciples and us "I am the way and the truth and the life." He also tells us that the truth he gives us will "set us free"(John 8:32). So it is not surprising that in his confrontation with Pilate, Jesus says, "For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37).
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are people of the truth. And each of us is called as Jesus Christ himself was called to be a "faithful witness" to that truth. This is our challenge. If we are faithful witnesses "to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father" (Rev. 1:5-6) then we must reflect the truth established by Christ our King to the whole world. Pope Pius XI gave us some good guiding principles for doing so. "He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God." (Quas Primas, 33).
Lord God,
you have anointed Jesus as the Christ -
not to rule a kingdom won by violence
but to bear witness to the truth,
not to reign in arrogance
but to serve in humility,
not to mirror this world's powers
but to inherit a dominion that will not pass away.
you have anointed Jesus as the Christ -
not to rule a kingdom won by violence
but to bear witness to the truth,
not to reign in arrogance
but to serve in humility,
not to mirror this world's powers
but to inherit a dominion that will not pass away.
Remove from us every desire for privilege and power,
that we may imitate the sacrificial love of Christ our King
and, as a royal and priestly people,
serve you humbly in our brothers and sisters.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
that we may imitate the sacrificial love of Christ our King
and, as a royal and priestly people,
serve you humbly in our brothers and sisters.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Amen.
