As we close our liturgical year with the celebration of Christ the King, we do so looking at the shining example of our patroness, St. Cecilia, who truly put Christ as the center and king of her life to the point of offering and shedding her blood for his Kingdom.
The gospel for this weekend shows a very radical and different picture of kingship.
Oftentimes, kingship is associated with pomp, pageantry, and being served. But the kingship of Christ is the total opposite of the world’s understanding of it. At the heart of the kingship of Christ is the greatest poverty of all, yet the richest, in the ways of God’s kingdom: self-donation, the giving of his very life so that we might all prosper and that our joy may be complete.
The kingship of Christ, then, is best seen on the cross. This is why the gospel for this weekend is the story of the crucifixion. The seat of power of our greatest and unparalleled King is on the cross. The cross is his throne. It isn’t a sign of defeat, but of victory. It is on the cross that the greatest battle was waged by the King to protect the life of his people! As
St. Paul proclaims in the second reading today: God delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And, that victory is not just celebrated, but continues to take place at every Eucharistic celebration. What a gift for us, his people!
To celebrate the Kingship of Christ is to remind us that we are truly part of his reign. We are part of his reign whenever we uphold and live out the values of his Kingdom. Are we truly part of his Kingdom because our very lives, using the words of the collect, “render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise”? –Fr. Cary