We had a terrific homily today for the Feast of Christ the King that really set me thinking. Father emphasized the Latin phrase, Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat, Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands. Here's the translation of the hymn which is based on Psalm 117:
Christ conquers,
Christ reigns,
Christ commands.
O praise the Lord, all ye nations:
praise ye Him, all ye people.
For His mercy is confirmed upon us:
and the truth of the Lord remaineth forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As in the beginning, is now and always and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Father began by pointing out the conqueror Christ in the Book of Revelation who sits astride a white horse with a crown on His head and a bow in his hands:
The First Seal: Rider on a White Horse
1And I saw that the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures, as it were the voice of thunder, saying: Come, and see. 2And I saw: and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and there was a crown given him, and he went forth conquering that he might
conquer.
He is the conqueror Christ. What does His bow signify? The instrument with which he shoots arrows of love. Christ conquers through love; but not through the mush love of the world that likes to portray him as a combination of the Jolly Green Giant (JGG) and the Pillsbury Doughboy (PD). No, he reigns as a powerful king who commands. For those who love Him, the arrows will enflame their hearts; for those who hate or ignore Him, hopefully the arrows will get their attention. (Just to be clear, Father did not mention the JGG or the PD; that's my interpretation.)
There were two things in the homily that particularly interested me. The first was Father's discussion of the Israelites in the Old Testament book of Samuel (1 Samuel 8) demanding a king like the other nations had. The prophet grieved that the people were rejecting God's kingship over them in preference to a man. He warned them that a human king would be a tyrant taking their sons and daughters to serve him as his cup bearers and ointment makers. But God instructed Samuel to give in to their request. "Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them."
And so began a long series of kings beginning with Saul many of whom were wicked and betrayed God and the people. Rejecting God always brings sorrow and disaster! Sin is the cause of all unhappiness!
The second point that intrigued me so much was Father pointing to the fact that through Jesus Christ, God gave us a perfect man to rule over us, the God-man. Unlike the kings of Israel, He commands, not from a golden throne wearing a golden crown, but from a cross of wood wearing a crown of thorns. He reigns from the cross.
What food for thought that offers. The one who rules is called to conquer, reign, and command from a throne of suffering! The true king bleeds for his subjects, even dying for them.
What does that mean for us? That any of us who exercise authority whether on a big stage like a ruler of a country or a bishop in his cathedral or the pope himself at St. Peters; or, on the contrary we rule from the little domestic church of the family, we are called to suffer. We most imitate Christ as conqueror, king, and ruler when we embrace the way of suffering as we carry out the duties of our state in life. It is no surprise that we will be falsely accused, betrayed, and persecuted just like Christ was. The challenge is to imitate his response to cruelty and injustice -- silent suffering. "He opened not His mouth."
The homily gave me a lot to think about on this feast of Christ the King. May He give us the grace to conquer the sin in our lives and exercise our duties with courage and perseverance, embracing the cross with a heart full of gratitude for the opportunity to make satisfaction for past and present sins.
Christ Jesus, Priest, Prophet, and King; have mercy on us.
I thought Christ reigns from the right hand of the Father. He's not on the cross anymore. Or is this some weird a Calvinist thing? I have seen at least one major anti-calvinist say that Calvibists believe Christ is eternally on the cross because God is outside time or something totally moronic like that.
ReplyDeleteOn earth Christ reigned from the cross. One reason Christ became man was to show us what we need to do to get to heaven/win our crown (halo). In this life we must pick up our cross daily and follow Him to Calvary: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it " [Matthew 16:24-25]
ReplyDelete"And He said to all: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. [24] For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; for he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall save it." [Luke 9]
"But if doing well you suffer patiently; this is thankworthy before God. [21] For unto this are you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. [22] Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. [23] Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly. [24] Who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed." 1 Peter 2
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, unto whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen (Angelus Prayer)