Let us take advantage of Honouring Christ the King, King of kings, and to also honour Holy Mother Church, which is Queen of the World.
Newsroom (15/12/2022 18:00, Gaudium Press) “Long live Christ, the King! And his Most Holy Mother, Queen!” This is the cry that echoes through the streets and squares through which the Catholic processions pass. Yes, Christ is King: King of men and King of the universe.
The absolute Kingship of Christ
Christ is King, in the first place, by right of inheritance: “He is the only-begotten Son of God and by this He was constituted the universal heir, receiving power over every creature on the very day He was begotten (cf. Heb 1:2-5).”[2]
However, the quality of “King” is not commonly applied to the Father and the Holy Spirit, although, with the Son, both form one undivided Trinity. Why?
One of the almost indispensable characteristics of a king is to have been born in the same nation he wishes to lead. We can imagine how unreasonable it would be, for example, for an Argentinean, a Mexican or a Bolivian to govern Brazil. On this premise, then, although the title “King of men” can be applied analogously to all three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, it is more properly applied to the Son, since He became incarnate, becoming Man like us, except in sin. Therefore, He is also King by being Man-God.
Moreover, when we acquire an object at the cost of money, we say that we possess it by right. In a similar way, we were rescued from the clutches of the devil by Christ and “bought” by His most Precious Redeeming Blood, as St. Paul says: “You were bought at a great price” (1 Cor 6:20). Therefore, Our Lord is also King by right of conquest, by His sufferings.
Finally, Christ is King by acclamation, King of all things exterior as well as King of the interior of men. Through His superabundant grace, we elect Him to reign in our hearts. We have received Holy Baptism, we reaffirm it on the occasion of our Confirmation and we renew it solemnly every Easter. He governs all exterior things: by the overwhelming power of His example, His maxims and parables, His revelations, advice and teachings, His dominion and influence extend to the peoples of all times and over His Church.
In our interior life, the Reign of Christ is established by participation in His divine life. Only in Him is the fullness of grace found, and since we are part of His Mystical Body, all the graces we receive have their origin in Him. This is the primordial point of His rule in this world: the supernatural reign, realized, in its essence, through grace and holiness.
Therefore, in the fullness of the term, we can say that Christ is King: King of men and King of the universe!
Naturally speaking, there should be a coronation ceremony for kings. When was our Lord’s crowning ceremony held?
A unique coronation
“At that time the leaders mocked Jesus” (Lk 23:35). The continuation of this Gospel passage is nothing other than the account of the Passion. It would seem to be completely at odds with our celebration of Christ as King, since it is more fitting for a king to dominate, to overcome and to triumph.
In reality, those who have supernatural eyes can see that, by His sufferings, Christ dominated, conquered and triumphed over sin, death and the devil. What is more: Christ’s kingship reached a fullness that we cannot conceive of – infinite – at the hour of His Death. The Passion was therefore the crowning ceremony of Our Lord.
But how peculiar, unique and one-of-a-kind this coronation was. His crown was not made of gold, but of thorns. But what crown in history contained more brilliant precious stones than the very Blood of the Redeemer? His sceptre was a simple reed. His royal robe was, in truth, a robe of derision, a robe that covered His nakedness. Finally, His throne was the Cross!
How many other coronations there have been throughout history; however, none has marked minds and hearts as deeply as this one. Since that day, whoever wishes to be remembered by future generations, whether king or not, must know how to handle the helm of suffering and of the Cross of Christ.
Let us also commemorate the Queen
We cannot close these comments without saying a few words about the Spouse of this King. The beautiful, noble, holy and immaculate Queen who was born from the open side of the Lord: the Holy Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church.
She lives, terrorized, in these terrible days of her existence. They are fighting Her with a fury never before seen; they are persecuting Her with an unheard of cunning, they are deforming Her, they are mocking Her and outraging Her.
But we must not look at this situation with eyes of tragedy and anguish alone. Like her Divine Spouse, this is the hour of her triumphant coronation. The moment of her “Resurrection” is fast approaching, for She cannot die.
We find ourselves before this grandiose situation. We, the children of the Church, children of Christ… what position shall we take? The same Gospel reading offers us two paths: that of the good thief or that of the bad thief.
The second, although suffering and on the verge of death, joined in the insults of those who crucified the Good Master.
The first, on the other hand, repentant, did not accept such outrages and set out to defend the Saviour; he asked forgiveness for his sins and said to Him: “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Lk 23:42). The Lord answered him: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43).
It is said, jokingly, that this thief – St. Dismas – was so expert in his profession as a thief hat he stole entrance to Heaven. In fact, something else happened: his repentance was so sincere that he did not content himself with asking forgiveness, but took the defense of Our Lord. This is exactly what we should do.
Let us also celebrate the Church, who is Queen of the World. Let us learn to see in Her, despite the many blows she receives, her true immaculate face. Let us love Her with all our hearts and remember that anyone who stands at her side and takes her defense against her enemies will be able to hear, in peace, the same promise that Jesus made to the good thief: “Even today you will be with me in paradise” (cf. Lk 23:43).
By Lucas Rezende
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
