Deacon Steve's Homily: Christ is our King Now and Forever, Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – B

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King.

This is the last Sunday of our liturgical year.

The official title is ‘The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe’

It was established less than a hundred years ago by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

Pope Pius saw the need for this Solemnity because of current events.

World War I had recently ended and the world, especially Europe, was trying to recover from the ravages of war.

The Russian Bolshevik Revolution had given birth to the world's first openly atheistic regime and Soviet communism was born.

Everywhere the pope looked, he saw humanity abandoning Christian values and trying to build paradise on earth through other means.

These other means didn’t work; their results were tragic.

Pope Pius XI wanted to remind the world that Christ is the only king that truly matters for all humanity.

Following Christ in all areas of our lives will bring about the paradise that all of us long for and were created for.  

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Our readings today remind us of the kingship of Jesus.

In our first reading, we hear Daniel prophesy:

‘the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.’

We then hear in our second reading from the book of Revelation:

‘Jesus Christ is the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.’

That would make Jesus the King of all kings.

And this theme of kingship continues in John’s gospel:

‘So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?"
Jesus answered, "You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’

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My friends, our readings remind us that Christ is King and He has a kingdom.

And the prayers from today’s liturgy invite us to fix our eyes and our ears on Christ, the King of the Universe. 

Have you ever noticed that each Sunday and feast day we have different prayers that we pray during our liturgies?

-       the Collect or the opening prayer

-       the Prayer over the Offerings

-       the Preface

-       the Closing prayer.

They are unique to the feast, they’re beautiful, and they remind us of our Catholic beliefs.

There is a principal in Catholicism known as ‘Lex Orandi Lex Credendi’.

 This is Latin and it means: ‘The order of prayer is the order of belief.’

In other words, ‘we pray what we believe and we believe what we pray’.

Fr. Steve will pray these words in today’s Preface that remind us that Christ is King and what that kingdom truly is:

“ For you anointed your Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the oil of gladness as eternal Priest and King of all creation … a universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace”. 

So this prayer reminds us that we believe that Christ is our King.

And His kingdom sounds pretty good to me, wouldn’t you agree?

-       A kingdom of truth and life rather than lies and death.

-       A kingdom of holiness and grace rather than sinfulness and despair.

-       A kingdom of justice, love and peace, rather than injustice, hatred and war.

By placing Christ in his proper place as king of the Universe and by following him in all areas of our life, we join his kingdom now and forever. 

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Today I completed a novena to Christ the King.

 A novena is 9 days of prayer leading up to a feast or an event.

The first novena was 9 days of prayer by Mary and the apostles before Pentecost. 

I’d like to share a beautiful prayer from this novena:

Christ, our Savior and our King, renew in me allegiance to Your Kingship.
- I pray for the grace to place You above the powers of this world in all things.
- I pray for the grace to obey You before any civic authority.
- I pray for the grace to fervently bring about Your Kingdom in my family and community.
- I pray that You will reign in my mind.
- I pray that You will reign in my heart.
- I pray that You will reign in my will.
- I pray that You will reign in my body.
- I pray that You will reign throughout all the world.
- I pray that You will reign in every area of my life.

O Prince of Peace, may Your reign be complete in my life and in the life of the world.  Amen.

My friends, Christ is our King!

May we follow Christ our King now and forever!