The Solemnity of Christ the King

THIS Solemnity marks the end of a liturgical year, somehow reminding us that as long as we are still in this temporal world, we have to go through a cycle of beginning and ending, until we spin off to the world of eternity where our definitive life and home is.

With this ending of the liturgical year, we are reminded that we are presented year after year with the whole life and mystery of Christ who is actually everything to us, for he is our “way, the truth and the life.” We are given a chance not only to know him, but also to love and serve him, which is what is most important to us, the ultimate purpose of our life.

Many things come to mind when we try to consider the significance of the solemnity of Christ the King. Christ is our King because in the first place we come from him and we belong to him in the strictest sense of the words “come” and “belong.”

As God the Son, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, Christ is the very pattern of our humanity, which happens to be the masterpiece of his creation. As God who became man, he is our Savior who redeemed us after we spoiled our original creation. How Christ is should also be how we should be. We are supposed to be “alter Christus,” if not “ipse Christus.” That is actually our radical identity.

There could therefore be no greater king than him. His kingship is not merely political or social. His kingship penetrates the very core of our being and covers the whole range of our humanity in all its aspects, conditions and circumstances. His kingship rules us in our entirety, both body and soul. And He is king to each one of us individually as well as to all of us collectively.

His kingdom is already with us. That’s why at one time, Christ said: “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Lk 17,21) At the same time, it is still to be perfected in some other time, place or, better said, state of life. Thus, he also said: “My kingship is not of this world.” (Jn 18,36)

The Solemnity of Christ the King should also remind us that whatever we begin in life we should also end well, that ending well ultimately means making Christ our king, the “all in all” in us, the be-all and end-all of our life, and that the way to achieve it is to learn to love the way Christ has loved us and continues to love us.

Learning the art of ending well the things in general is not a matter of solving all our problems and perfectly achieving all the earthly goals we have set for ourselves. That will never happen. When we die, there will still be unfinished businesses, let alone, problems unsolved, challenges not yet tackled.

Rather, ending things well is a matter of reconciling ourselves with God and with everybody else. Thus, everyday, before we go to bed, we should make sure that we ask forgiveness from God for any weakness, fault or sin we may have committed during the day, as well as asking forgiveness from anyone whom we may have wronged in some way.

We have to make sure that we end the day with Christ always, and not just with some work accomplished and achieved. That’s how we would really make Christ our King!