Christ the King
On the day of the Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel told our Blessed Lady that the child she was to bear would “reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there would be no end”. To reign forever and to have a kingdom which will not end are two different ways of expressing the same truth: Jesus is King, and unlike other kings, there is no limit either in time or in space to His reign.
Our Lord’s kingship begins at the moment of His conception. By virtue of the hypostatic union, Jesus is king as soon as He exists as man in the virginal womb of Mary. His kingship comes directly from God the Father, and it is not dependent on any creature. We know through faith that Our Blessed Lord now reigns eternally in Heaven where all the angels and saints render to Him the regal honours which are His strict due. We know that at the end of time, all creatures without exception, including the damned, will bend the knee before Him. The Church tells us that the kingship of Christ is such that He should receive royal honours from all individuals and all nations, privately and publicly. But we know that this is certainly not the case.
When we go back to the Gospel, we see that the only crown Jesus ever wore was a crown of thorns. The world does not want a king like Christ because Christ does not flatter its passions and give in to its whims. And yet, Christ reigns. He reigned in Bethlehem when His mother was constrained to give Him birth in a stable surrounded by animals. He reigned in Nazareth when he was considered to be the son of a simple carpenter and when they tried to kill Him by throwing Him off a cliff. He reigned in the midst of the Pharisees who attempted various ploys to convict Him of crime. He reigned when, crowned with thorns, the crowd of the Jews cried out “Crucify Him”.
This, it seems to me, contains a most valuable lesson for us all. It’s not when all is well and our talents are acknowledged, that we reign. We reign when we are able to overcome our vices and do not succumb to them; we reign when we are criticised for our faith and are able to take it without grumbling; we reign when we are called upon to serve the humble needs of others. We reign when we are able to hold firm to the truth in spite of pressure that might be put upon us. A mother reigns when she is able to care for her sick child in spite of her own fatigue. A father reigns when he perseveres in providing for his family and taking the lead even though it’s hard to make ends meet and his authority does not find much support. Servire Deo Regnare est, goes the saying: To serve God is to reign. Therefore, to fulfil one’s duties in every situation is to reign, it is to be king or queen.
It is only by such day to day fidelity that we find ourselves in a position to make a substantial contribution to the social kingship of Christ. Indeed, it is pointless to promote the kingship of Christ in society if He does not reign in our families, and He cannot reign in our families if He does not preside over the movements of our minds and hearts.
This seems to be what St Paul is trying to get across in today’s epistle: We give thanks to the Father, who has made us worthy to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins…. (Col. 1:12-14). To receive the forgiveness of sins is to be redeemed, and to be redeemed is to be in the kingdom of Christ.
It’s also what St Benedict means when, from the very first page of the Rule, he writes: “To thee are my words now addressed, whosoever thou mayest be that renouncing thine own will to fight for the true King, Christ, dost take up the strong and glorious weapons of obedience” (Rule, Prologue). To obey God’s commandments is to be well armed to stand as a knight in the army of Christ the King.
If all this sounds rather austere, it is. In an interesting commentary on the parable of the king who counts his troops before going to war or the man who counts his resources before beginning to build a tower, philosopher Jacques Maritain wrote: “Which means to say, before setting to work for God and to fight against the devil, first calculate your forces; and if you consider yourself well enough equipped to begin, you are a fool, because the tower to be built costs an outrageous price, and the enemy coming out to meet you is an angel, before whom you are no account. Get to know yourself so well that you cannot contemplate yourself without flinching. Then there will be room for hope. In the sure knowledge that you are obliged to do the impossible and that you can do the impossible in Him who strengthens you, then you are ready for a task which can be performed only through the cross.”
Indeed, we are like hobbits before the Dark Lord, having received the impossible mission of conquering him in the very heart of his own kingdom. It is an impossible task for frail human shoulders to overcome the Prince of Darkness. And that is precisely why we fight under a King who has conquered him already and who empowers us to do the same. Our strength comes not from ourselves, we have none. But if we rely entirely on the grace that comes through the redemption He wrought on the cross, when the Good Thief proclaimed to the whole world His kingship, then we are strong, and all the forces of hell combined are powerless against us. Just as they were powerless against the martyrs like St Miguel Pro, who at the very moment of facing the firing squad, shouted out with his last breath: Viva Christo Rey! Long Live Christ the King!
For one who has made progress in true humility, it is sweet to feel powerless before the enemy, for then we know that He Himself, the eternal King is our strength. I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me (Ph 4:13).
