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Fr. Joseph’s Weekly Missive for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe Year A
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November 22, 2023“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (Matthew 25:31-32)
The major theme for this Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, focuses on the kingship, authority, governance, and power of Christ, our Divine Savior overall.
This feast is a relatively recent addition to the western liturgical calendar, having been instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, in response to growing nationalism and secularism and in the context of the unresolved Roman Question (a political dispute between the Italian Government and the Papacy from 1861 to 1929). In 1970 its observance was moved to the last Sunday of Ordinary Time by Pope Paul VI to make clear the eschatological importance of this Solemnity. The Protestants (Anglicans, Lutherans) and the Russian Orthodox Church also adopted it as the last Sunday of the church’s liturgical year, the Sunday before the First Sunday of Advent.
Pope Benedict XVI, on Nov. 25, 2012, in his Angelus urged the faithful to "prolong God’s saving work by converting us to the Gospel and placing ourselves with conviction in the footsteps of that King who came not to be served but to serve and to bear witness to the truth.
Pope Pius XI declared: “Christ must reign (1) in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and doctrines; (2) in our wills, which should obey God’s laws and precepts; (3) in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires to love God above all; (4) in our bodies and members, which should serve as instruments for the sanctification of our souls, ‘as instruments of justice unto God’ (Quas primas, 33).
God does not want us holding a relationship of Transaction but Transformation. Therefore, Dynamic Christian disciples are those who (1) BELIEVE, (2) GROW, (3) SERVE, (4) LOVE and (5) LEAD others to Jesus. Today’s topic invites us to recognize and appreciate Christ’s kingship, authority, governance and power, to follow Jesus Christ more closely, to repent our sins, to exercise our Christian stewardship, to use our time, treasure, and talents to love God above all and to love our neighbors as ourselves, participating in the works of mercy, to accomplish God’s will in our lives to glorify God.
How can we help each other acknowledge Christ’s kingship, serve Him in the poor and needy…?
Wishing everyone a blessed week in the Lord.
