Christ Jesus, Victor!

Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, CMI

Celebrating Jesus as king and marking a special day to venerate him as such has been a rather late development within the church. In 1925, Pope Pius X1 promulgated the encyclical Quas Primas and formally set forth the doctrine of the kingship of Christ. According to that document, Christ is recognized as king by virtue of his (1) birthright as the Son of God; (2) right as the world’s Redeemer, and (3) the power that is his as legislator, judge and executor (Acts 10:42). First commemorated on the last Sunday in October, the feast of Christ the King is now celebrated on the last Sunday of the Liturgical year.

The praying assembly today marks the passing of one year and prepares to welcome another, and is reminded in our liturgy that our King has chosen to exercise his reign as a shepherd like David. In telling of David’s anointing as king, the author of 2 Samuel represents the Israelites as claiming David as one like themselves: “Here we are, your bone and your flesh”. Jesus, our shepherd king, became like us – bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh – so as to know fully and to be known fully by us. That privilege is ours to remember and to celebrate today.

Giving expression to our celebration is the Christological hymn quoted by the author of today’s second reading to the Colossians, (Col. 1:12-20). This hymn establishes Jesus’ primacy over all while reminding his followers of the power of his death to reconcile everything in heaven and on earth, and to make peace through the blood of his cross.

Today’s Gospel (Lk 23:35-43) presents Jesus as the king whose true identity and whose power and sovereignty are proclaimed with great irony through the mocking words of the people, their leaders and the soldiers. Henri Nouwen (Sabbatical Journey, NY 1998) was correct in affirming that the greatest humiliation and the greatest victory are both shown to us in today’s liturgy. It is important, wrote Nouwen, to look at this humiliated and victorious Christ very carefully before we start the new liturgical year with the celebration of Advent. All through the year, we are to stay close to the humiliation as well as to the victory of Christ because we are called to live both in our daily lives. We are small and big, specks in the universe and the glory of God, little fearful people and sons and daughters of the Lord of all creation. Christ Jesus, Victor! Christ Jesus, Ruler! Christ Jesus, Lord and Redeemer!