Christ the King

By Lisa Greey —

Today is the end of the year for us as Catholics.  Our “New Year’s” is actually the first Sunday of advent.  Just many people take the end of the year to reflect and make goals for their lives in the New Year, the feast of Christ the King is a good opportunity for us to reflect and make spiritual goals for the new Church year. It has always fascinated me that we end the Church year celebrating the feast of Christ the King – giving us images of Christ’s power and authority over our lives.  Then we begin the year with Christ in Mary’s womb during advent, and as a vulnerable infant at Christmas.  What a paradox – that Christ the King becomes on of us in order to save us from sin!

In the first reading God says he will “judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.”  God has the ultimate authority to decide who is going to heaven and who is not, just as a king has the ultimate authority to decide who stays in his kingdom and who gets kicked out.  Someone who terrorizes his people, stealing, cheating and causing destruction is going to get kicked outside the city walls.  Yet those who are loving, share with others, contribute to the good of the kingdom will be allowed to live inside the city gates.  The same is true for entering heaven – or not.  How we live our lives on earth will affect where we spend eternity.

This may seem a little dark and heavy, but that is why we must look at all the readings as a whole and not single out certain parts.  At the same time that our readings today establish God’s authority and kingship, God also reveals he is a king of love.  He wants to find the lost lambs and “rescue them from every place … when it was cloudy and dark.”  God desires the lost, the sinners, and the broken.  This means were are never a lost cause, and we are never outside God’s mercy.

Today, let’s take an inventory of our year.  Where and when did we allow Christ to reign as king of our lives and hearts?  When did we choose to love others? When did we choose to put God first in prayer and receiving the sacraments?  When did we reach out to the poor and needy?  When did we help out a little extra around the house?  We also should consider where and when we failed to allow Christ to reign as king of our hearts and lives.  What are the sins I continuously committed that I can try harder on this new Church year?  Where are the places of temptation for me that maybe I should avoid in the future?  Are there movies, websites, certain activities that bring me away from Christ, that make me more like a ram than a sheep?  Of course in our assessment, especially of our failures, we can’t forget God’s mercy!  He speaks to our weakness in the reading and assures us he seeks the lost!  Don’t be discouraged, but instead be firm in your new resolutions to allow Christ to be King of your life in this upcoming year, which begins next Sunday!