Solemnity of Christ the King
Readings:
Daniel 7: 13-14
Revelation 1: 5-8
John 18: 33b-37
Reflection:
Today, we celebrate the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year by triumphantly proclaiming Christ as King. Historically, the Church added this solemnity to the liturgical calendar to remind us of the dominion invested in Jesus and the eternal reign that is bestowed upon him through the triumph over death. The original date this feast was celebrated was the Sunday prior to All Saints Day. But with the liturgical reform of 1969, it was moved to the last Sunday of the liturgical year, thus highlighting that Jesus Christ, the King, is the destination of our earthly pilgrimage.
Jesus has many titles, and Christ the King is one of the most significant. Even though Jesus Christ was not a king in the earthly sense, he is the divine king who unites all of creation with the Father, and John’s Gospel emphasises that Jesus’ followers should be witnesses for God and truth.
The first reading shines a spotlight on the kingship of God. Daniel 7:13-14 describes the Son of Man as the final king of the earth, whose kingdom will last forever. As Daniel says, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.” This is a very different kingdom from that of humankind.
Today’s Gospel speaks to us about this kingdom recounting the humiliating situation that Jesus is in after being arrested in Gethsemane and led before the authorities of Jerusalem. And then, he is presented to Pilate, the Roman prosecutor. Pilate conducts his inquest and, in a dramatic interrogation, twice asks Jesus if He is a king.
Jesus initially responds that his kingship “is not of this world.” Then he states: “You say that I am a king.”
Pope Francis stated in a reflection on this Gospel: “Today Jesus asks us to allow him to become our king. A king who, with his word, his example and his life immolated on the cross saved us from death, and — this king — indicates the path to those who are lost, gives new light to our existence marred by doubt, by fear and by everyday trials.”
So, will we take this invitation from Jesus to allow him to be our king?
Joanne McGrath is a parishioner of St Brigid’s Marrickville and a Passionist Companion.
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