KING OF KINGS

The Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe marks the end of the liturgical year of the Church. It is to celebrate the hidden and steady kingship of Christ. In the Gospel of Luke (23:35-43), Jesus is presented as Shepherd King but crucified on the Cross. No earthly king would ever choose to be on the cross. The King of kings is powerless on the Cross, crowned with thorns, naked, despised, rejected, disfigured, mocked, spat at, bleeding and dying. He is the Suffering Servant. He is our Savior who saves us through His self sacrificial actions on the Cross revealing His total self giving love. True love involves sacrifice. On the Cross, Jesus revealed God’s excessive, extravagant, endless and steadfast love for us. We don’t need sign and proof of God’s love. The Crucified Christ is the manifestation of God’s perfect love for the whole universe. He did not spare Jesus from death. A sensible parent would not put his child in harm’s way. Yet Jesus died a violent death because God withholds nothing to us not even His only Begotten Son to lead us to the goodness He desires for us. Jesus inaugurates the Kingdom of God, an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, peace and love. He is the Kingdom of God in person, a kingdom not of this world because He creates new heavens and new earth. He established a new and eternal Covenant on the Cross sealed by His blood. It means that God’s love is irrevocable, irreversible, infinite. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. In our baptism we are prophets, priests and  kings. Like Jesus we are called to be warriors, to defend and protect our lives and souls from the temptation of the enemy. Like Jesus we are called to stand against evil and defend the lives of others with the weapons of God. We are called to listen to a higher voice so that we can see the great pattern of things from the standpoint of God. We are called not to give in to petty temptations that keep us from the being the person God wants us to be. We are called therefore to submit ourselves to the reign of Christ, the King of the Universe so that we learn to give all and love to the end. We are called to be the physical presence of Christ in our tormented world today. Viva Cristo Rey!