Dear Parishioners,
Here in the United
States we are not used to having royalty as part of our system of
governance, as are the United Kingdom
and various European nations. We, as
Americans, declared our independence
from a nation ruled by a king.
Moreover, we as a people have just been though a seemingly endless
and (sometimes brutal) democratic election
process in which we elected our president and other civic officials. Democracy
is part of the fabric of our nation.
So how do we in our society understand and react to this
concept of Christ the King?
First of all, I have continually reminded people that truth is not subject to a democratic vote or to a popularity poll. For example, if we were to take a vote and popular opinion decided that there are
now four persons in God and God is
not a Trinity, would it make it
so? Absolutely not. Our opinion
of this matter is really insignificant because it can never supplant Divine Revelation.
When we call Christ our King,
we acknowledge that He has absolute
sovereignty over us as His people and we
are subject to what He commands of us.
While we always retain our free-will
and can choose to be obedient or not,
God is still ultimately in charge. Jesus
the Christ announced to us that “The Kingdom
of God is at hand.” (Mk. 1:15)
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The
kingdom of Christ (is) already present in mystery", "on earth, the
seed and the beginning of the kingdom." (669) The Catechism continues: Though
already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be
fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth.
(671)
Our understanding
and our attitude as the People of God have ultimately to conform
to the will of God—not the other way
around. From the very beginning, we as creatures
seemed to think that we knew better
and can do better than God,
the Creator. This is the essence
of the original sin. Various ongoing effects of this sin continue
to manifest itself over and over again throughout history, right up to this
very time: “Nobody is going to tell me what to do!”—to some, not even God Himself,
I’m afraid.
May this Solemnity of the Church—Christ the King—remind us of the need to be humble, respectful and obedient to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ the King.
It is utter foolishness to do otherwise.
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor
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