Bishop's Column - The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

This Sunday we celebrate the culmination of the liturgical year with The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This great celebration of the Church is an annual reminder of God’s divine authority in our lives. As we wrap up another year in the history of God’s saving love for us and prepare to begin a new year of grace with the Advent season, I wanted to reflect with you on the Kingship of Christ.

While as citizens of this great country we are not ruled by a monarchy, the Church invites us to see Christ as King. This title, “King of the Universe,” is all encompassing. While the territory of earthly kings is defined by borders and national boundaries, the Kingship of Christ is “universal”—that is, everywhere. It is not limited to space and time. In fact, we read this in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 17:21): Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

In baptism, we became heirs to the Kingdom of God. Indeed, “the Kingdom of God is within us” because in baptism the Blessed Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit —came to dwell in our souls. Indeed, before Christ can reign in the world he must reign in our hearts.

Therefore, the Kingship of Jesus Christ supersedes our citizenship and all earthly loyalties. Nothing, therefore, must be given loyalty if it compromises our loyalty to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Indeed, we should be proud citizens of this country and support every effort to build up the common good. We can belong to political parties and civic groups who advocate for the rights and dignity of the human person in our world. Nevertheless, if our loyalties to these groups and organizations cause us to compromise our faith and our loyalty to Jesus Christ and his Church, then we are to choose the Kingship of Christ and loyalty to him over everything else.

The choices that require loyalty to Christ over what is either more popular or easier are neither simple nor without consequences. They can be very complex and cause many to misunderstand or to disagree. In order for Christ to be King anywhere, he must first be given Kingship over our own lives: our hearts and minds, over our thoughts, our conversations, and our activities. Christ must reign over the use of our time, our work, our daily activities, over the sexual dimension of our lives, how we use our financial resources and how we care for the poor and marginalized people in our midst.

Permitting the Lord Jesus Christ to be our King and Lord means that we surrender every aspect of our lives to His Holy Will and all that he desires for us. This sounds like a great idea, but actually doing it is a tremendous challenge. In my experience, it all comes down to faith. Faith is the ability to trust God without knowing how everything is going to turn out. Faith is believing in God’s grace and surrendering my worries and fears, my plans and my way of seeing things, to his loving providence. When we do this, then Jesus becomes our King! When we entrust ourselves to God, then He reigns in us, over us and through us!

This is, after all, the goal of the Christian life, to live for God, seeking to honor him and please him in every way. In previous generations, Catholics were taught to begin each day with their “morning prayers.” (It would be a great idea to begin or renew this practice in our lives.) One of those prayers is known as the “Morning Offering.” In this prayer, we offer to the Lord, “all our thoughts, words, actions and sufferings of this day.” This means that we would start each day with what we now call great “intentionality.” The goal of our daily lives as baptized sons and daughters of God is to focus on pleasing God every day. While some may think the goal should be to avoid sin, the fact is that if we are intentionally striving to honor and please God, avoiding anything that offends him, the focus and direction of our lives will be going in the right direction—that is, seeking his Kingship over us.

As we celebrate Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe this weekend, let me encourage you to pray for a new desire to honor our Lord and please him in all things. Perhaps we might also examine our lives and admit to him where we have dishonored and offended him. Then, with great humility and total confidence in his love and mercy, we might enter into the Sacrament of Reconciliation—to “come clean” with God and receive his forgiveness and the grace to submit to his Kingship over us. In all things, may Jesus Christ be Praised!