Showing posts with label Christ the King. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ the King. Show all posts

Sunday, November 21, 2021

Christ The King - A Sunday Sermon

 


It's the Feast of Christ the King today and the readings at Mass present us with a glorious vision of the majesty of God. In Daniel's prophecy we see the Ancient of Days, mystically enthroned in fiery power and the Son of Man given "dominion, glory and kingdom," everlastingly. St. John the Divine takes up the theme,  "Jesus Christ" is "the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the prince of kings of the earth," the Alpha and Omega. Triumphant, then everything changes.

In John's Gospel we find Jesus in the Praetorium, on trial for his life before Pilate, before the power of the idolatrous Roman state. We know what comes next, Christ, the King, is scourged, crowned with thorns and crucified. And this jars, it doesn't seem right. Surely Pilate should be whipped as a pagan usurper in the Holy City, and aren't the false prophet Caiaphas along with his followers the ones deserving execution for blasphemy and treason?

Yes, according to the logic of the world, of the Beast, of Caesar, and the math of Satan. But Christ's kingship is not of this world, he says as much to Pilate. No, his is the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of love, and he witnesses this truth to the full with his sacrifice on Calvary. There, on the Cross, Christ manifested his kingship as the God of love, defeating the ruler of this world and inaugurating the kingdom, establishing his dominion over sin and death and reconciling us to the Father.

It is a kingdom which will be fully revealed at the end of time, when our sovereign returns as he left, in clouds of glory. At that point,  "every eye will see him, every one who pierced him; and all tribes of the earth will wail" as the beast is burned with fire while the righteous shine like the sun.

But this is for the future. In the meanwhile, the Pilates of our age, of the godless state, to say nothing of false prophets, wax large. As it was in the Praetorium so it is now, Antichrist appears ascendant. And as foretold, they come with lying signs and wonders, "Look, we can conjure money out of thin air, from nothing. We are Gods." A satanic parody of creation, and that's just our financial system; enough to deceive the very elect.

Do not be fooled. They're not gods and neither are we, "It is he that hath made us and not we ourselves." He, Christ, is our true Sovereign, the king of kings and lord of lords who, on his return at the end of the age will blow wickedness away like smoke before the wind and the Beast along with Satan and his apostate angels will be cast into the lake of fire.

Wait for this in confident hope and as we do, as we watch and pray, ask God to fill us with great faith and love such that when he comes our savior and king who reigns from the Cross will recognize us as his own, as his faithful soldiers and servants, sheep of his pasture, sinners redeemed by his precious blood, and will raise us at the meeting to glory.

Christus Rex,

LSP

Saturday, November 21, 2020

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Vivo Cristo Rey!



We celebrate the Feast of Christ the King tomorrow. Sorry, Puritans, there's a lot of feasting in the Church and this puts me in mind of Fr. Miguel Pro.

Fr. Miguel was martyred in Mexico during the suppression of the Church, stretching out his arms as if crucified before his firing squad and exclaiming, "Vivo Cristo Rey!" Long live Christ the King. Before that, this happened:

“[T]he policeman…turned, and with tears in his eyes, begged Father Pro to forgive him for leading him to his death. Miguel put his arm about the shoulders of the shaking man and told him, “You have not only my forgiveness but my thanks.” He also softly told the members of the firing squad, ‘May God forgive you all.’”

I'm inspired by that and I hope you are too. Remember, the gates of Hell shall not prevail.

God bless,

LSP

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Christ the King

Viva Cristo Rey!

Christ's kingship is exemplified in the sacrificial love of the cross and it's frightening to see the irrational rage that can evoke in people.  Why? Perhaps because deep-seated wickedness hates to be exposed and reacts first with derision and then with a kind of brute fury against its opposite.

Christ the King

The Church, which is inevitably drawn to the cross, will have to expect more of that as we get further into our brave new secularist experiment. 

Viva Cristo Rey.

LSP