Today,
we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King.
It is noteworthy that our Lord manifests His kingship precisely in His
passion and cross. In what the world
would consider weakness, He manifests His power. He overcomes all things. He even overcomes Himself. He, of course, was sinless, and had no concupiscence. But in the garden of Gethsemani, He
experienced human frailty and the dread of death. Even this, out of love, love of the Father,
love for each of us, He overcame.
It is a tenet of our faith that God first loves us. It is interesting to note that our Lord never commanded us to love Him. He commanded us to love one another. He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” But even this was for us. We do not always know how to love as we should, so He gives us His commandments so that we may know the loving thing to do. It is not that He does not want us to love Him. But, since love is freely given, no one can command it, even God. If we love Him, it is a shortcut to heaven. St. Therese of Lisieux found the great Carmelite mystics beyond her comprehension. In a moment of inspiration, she writes, “I will do small things with great love.” She called it her little way, not because it was any small thing. On the contrary, it is greatness. But because it was her shortcut. Love of God, and of our neighbor because of God, will get us to heaven.
What our Lord does ask is faith. He always stops when He sees faith. He looks for faith before He does His miracles. He even looked for faith in Pilate. When he asks, “Are you king of the Jews?” Our Lord answers, “Do you say this of yourself, or have others told you about me?” Love unites, but faith gives assent. Faith realizes that I cannot save myself, and so surrenders to the Savior, in that great exchange which is His cross and resurrection, a sacrifice, in which one stands in the place of another. He stands in our place, in his blessed humanity, taking upon Himself the weight of our sins, overcoming them in the resurrection by His power as God, so that we may stand in His place, beloved sons and daughters of the Father.
The Lord says of His kingdom that He came to bear witness to the truth, and this is the truth, man’s need of God. In the world, people seek fulfillment in power, power over others, and all we need to do is to read the headlines every day to know that this gets them into trouble. But in the kingdom which is not of this world, we overcome ourselves, or rather, we allow Christ to overcome us, in the assent of faith. He says, “Everyone who is in the truth,”—this truth of our need of God— “hears my voice.”‘ And then He reveals Himself. In faith, love deepens, our love for the God, Who first loved us.
His kingdom is not of this world, but in this world. His power is from above, and bears witness to the truth, that all people, all lands, all institutions, all creation, is in need of God. The last frontier is the human heart, which, overcome by faith and love in Christ, is the pathway to the Kingdom of God.
It is a tenet of our faith that God first loves us. It is interesting to note that our Lord never commanded us to love Him. He commanded us to love one another. He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” But even this was for us. We do not always know how to love as we should, so He gives us His commandments so that we may know the loving thing to do. It is not that He does not want us to love Him. But, since love is freely given, no one can command it, even God. If we love Him, it is a shortcut to heaven. St. Therese of Lisieux found the great Carmelite mystics beyond her comprehension. In a moment of inspiration, she writes, “I will do small things with great love.” She called it her little way, not because it was any small thing. On the contrary, it is greatness. But because it was her shortcut. Love of God, and of our neighbor because of God, will get us to heaven.
What our Lord does ask is faith. He always stops when He sees faith. He looks for faith before He does His miracles. He even looked for faith in Pilate. When he asks, “Are you king of the Jews?” Our Lord answers, “Do you say this of yourself, or have others told you about me?” Love unites, but faith gives assent. Faith realizes that I cannot save myself, and so surrenders to the Savior, in that great exchange which is His cross and resurrection, a sacrifice, in which one stands in the place of another. He stands in our place, in his blessed humanity, taking upon Himself the weight of our sins, overcoming them in the resurrection by His power as God, so that we may stand in His place, beloved sons and daughters of the Father.
The Lord says of His kingdom that He came to bear witness to the truth, and this is the truth, man’s need of God. In the world, people seek fulfillment in power, power over others, and all we need to do is to read the headlines every day to know that this gets them into trouble. But in the kingdom which is not of this world, we overcome ourselves, or rather, we allow Christ to overcome us, in the assent of faith. He says, “Everyone who is in the truth,”—this truth of our need of God— “hears my voice.”‘ And then He reveals Himself. In faith, love deepens, our love for the God, Who first loved us.
His kingdom is not of this world, but in this world. His power is from above, and bears witness to the truth, that all people, all lands, all institutions, all creation, is in need of God. The last frontier is the human heart, which, overcome by faith and love in Christ, is the pathway to the Kingdom of God.
