Sunday 25th November
(Solemnity) Christ the King • Luke 23:35-43
The celebration of the feast of Christ the King is the climax of the liturgical year. The feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quas primas in reaction to the powerful undercurrents of atheistic communism and the rise of secularism at work in the world at the beginning of the twentieth century. The fruit of these philosophies was a turning away from Christ as the Lord of human history and a rejection of the authority of the Church. The new feast was originally celebrated on the last Sunday of October but after the liturgical reforms of Vatican II it was moved to the last Sunday of November.
Jesus is truly a king – the King of Kings in fact – but not a king with a kingdom that belongs to this world: he is a heavenly king with a heavenly kingdom. Jesus is the servant King, and the cross is the throne from which he demonstrated his regal love for us.
The idea of someone of royal status serving as opposed to being served is completely foreign to our thinking but it is integral to the kingship of Christ. A king conquering by humility and service is anathema to human nature.
The kings of old ruled by force, often wielding their power with great show and pomp. Jesus lived his life in abject poverty and obscurity. His death was not a state occasion marked by national mourning, but rather an occasion of great suffering and ignominy, after which his body was buried in a borrowed grave. He had no riches, no treasure, no jewels, no palace.
However, as King there was one final act which he did reserve for himself and to himself alone, and that was something no human being or angel could do – he conquered sin and death, and thereby the devil and the powers of hell, and by his death and resurrection he has saved the world. Because of this he is truly the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. In heaven and on earth we praise him and lift up our voices as we confess on this holy feast:
‘Heavenly Father, you exalted Jesus to the highest place and his name is above every other. At his name every knee will bow and every tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ is our Lord and our King.’
2 Samuel 5:1-3 • Psalm 121(122):1-5 • Colossians 1:12-20
Luke 23:35-43
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