24 November 2019
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Well, we made it. The Thirty-fourth or last week in Ordinary time. We have completed another liturgical cycle in the Church Calendar. This liturgical year consisted of four weeks of advent, three weeks of Christmas, forty days of Lent, fifty days of Easter, and thirty-four weeks of ordinary time. And, to mark the culmination of this liturgical cycle, we celebrate Christ, King of the Universe. However, what the Church is trying to tell us with this year-ending feast is that the only way to appreciate who Christ really is, is for us to have gone through the whole life of Christ, from birth, through his childhood, as a witness to all of his miracles, as one who wrestles with all of his parables about the Kingdom of God, and even to walk with Christ through his passion, death, and resurrection. Naming Christ King of the Universe has to be based on solid evidence. Who is he? Where did he come from? What did he do? What is his Kingdom really about? Now, this examination of who Christ is does not mean anything unless each of us looks into each of our hearts and finds what it is we have in our hearts that allows us to say, “Christ is King, King for me, King of all of humanity, King of all of the Universe.” So the challenge for us all today, and this last week of the entire liturgical year: why is Christ King of the Universe? For the Jesuit Martyr Blessed Miquel Pro, whose feast we just celebrated yesterday, November 23rd, Christ is King for him because Christ is the sustainer of life and the one who gave him the reason and the courage to stand in front of a Mexican Army firing squad in 1927. And, just before the shots were fired, Fr. Pro yelled, “Viva Cristo Rey!” So, again, who is Christ for you? Is he King of your life and if so, why? To answer this question requires an examination of our lifes, to look back at what we did this past year, who we have become through the challenges and joys, the grief and the laughter that happened in each of our lives this past year. And through all of our lives this year, how has Christ been present? What kind of priority did we give to Christ? Did we base our decisions and actions on the desire to praise, reverence, and serve this King, Christ?
As we come to the end of this liturgical year, it is a very good time to do an examination of conscience of what we have done this year, what we have given priority to with our energy, time, and talents. As we stand under the cross looking up at Christ crucified, as depicted in today’s Gospel, try these three questions: What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I be doing for Christ? Maybe today, this great Solemnity of Christ King of the Universe, the last Sunday in ordinary time can be the moment when Christ brings us back to what it means to truly love. What are we doing with our life? Can we say, as Fr. Pro did at the moment of his death, “Viva Cristo Rey!”