The last Sunday of the liturgical year is dedicated to Christ the King. Even if He is not acknowledged in the secular world today, we can be sure that He will be sooner or later. Meanwhile, within the Church, it is for us to proclaim Him from the rooftops. But do we do it?
Sad to say, nowadays, even in the highest echelons of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, many bend over backwards to please the world. As if to justify such an approach, they say that we must move with the world. To them, G. K. Chesterton has fittingly said, ‘We do not want a Church that will move with the world. We want a church that will move the world.’ This is a self-respectful, dignified, spirited, and inspiring position.
In the First Reading (2 Sam 5: 1-3), we see how the tribes of Israel pleaded with David to lead them as their king. Saul, the first king of Israel, had left the kingdom in a shambles. After his death in battle, the kingdom split between his successor, Ish-bosheth, and David. After a civil war, David defeated Ish-bosheth and unified the northern kingdom of Israel with the southern kingdom of Judah, establishing a new united monarchy.
David instructed his successor, Solomon, to follow God’s law at all times and be sure of success. Despite his reign beginning with prosperity, wisdom, and major construction projects such as the First Temple, Solomon’s later years were marked by excessive taxation and the introduction of idolatry through his many foreign wives. This led to unrest and the eventual division of the kingdom after his death.
Idolatry is a nuisance of our times as well. Do you remember the glorification of Pachamama (a goddess of Earth and fertility from Andean cultures, primarily Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Argentina) during the Amazon Synod at the Vatican? Catholics around the world were indignant not only to see the pagan statues present in various ceremonies but also to see the then Pope bless one of them. He was also present when the statue was carried into the synod hall at the beginning of the Synod, accompanied again with pagan rituals.[1] While top prelates looked on, thankfully, three cardinals and three bishops separately voiced opposition to paganism in the church ceremonies.[2]
The Gospel (Lk 23: 35-43) reminds us that when Our Lord was on the Cross, the people stood watching, and the rulers derided Him, saying: ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the elect of God.’ When we bow to other gods and seek their favour, not only are we complicit in idolatry, it is a clear sign that we do not believe that Christ alone can save us. The soldiers also mocked Him, and one of the robbers blasphemed Him, as some of us do today. In such situations, we would do well to say to the perpetrators of the crime, ‘Neither dost thou fear God…?’
However, it takes faith to say those words, and faith to believe! Perhaps we would ask God for pardon at the hour of our death, as the robber did by saying ‘Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom.’ But then, will we have the time or the occasion to repent? Therefore, it is better to give up wrongful ways while it is still time. Let us take courage and call them out, no matter who or what. We shall have done our duty, and when our time comes, Jesus will say to us, as He said to the repentant robber: ‘Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.’
In this matter, no one could be more seasoned than St. Paul. In the Second Reading (Col 1: 12-20), he who weathered many storms tells us of Christ’s supremacy: all things in heaven and on earth were created through Him and for Him. God the Father has made us worthy to be partakers of the company of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
Do we still dare not acknowledge Him as King? Are we going to exchange eternal salvation for petty trinkets here on earth? Those who have the responsibility to lead the faithful will have to give an account of themselves, and so will the faithful, who can tell the difference between true and false, right and wrong, and good and bad. So, let us hasten not only to proclaim but also show through our actions that Christ is King.
Banner: https://www.usccb.org/Christ-the-King-2024-novena
[1] https://www.corrispondenzaromana.it/international-news/six-cardinals-and-bishops-who-condemned-pagan-pachamama-rituals-at-vatican/
[2] Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke from USA; Cardinal Robert Sarah from Guinea; Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Bishop Joseph Strickland of USA; Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan, and Bishop Peter Chukwu of Nigeria.