Dear beloved sisters and brothers in Christ,

This Sunday the Scripture readings and prayers strengthen our hope. Paradoxically, the hope is born in trial. All three Scripture readings for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, take place during times of persecution and trial.

The first reading from the Book of Daniel came into its present form during the second century BC when the Seleucid Empire persecuted the Jewish people.

The second reading from the Book of Revelation was written when the Roman Empire under the reign of Domitian persecuted the early Church.

In the reading from the Gospel of John, the Roman ruler Pontius Pilate put Jesus on the witness stand. “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus was on trial for his life.

In a trial, the truth comes out. The witness swears to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Through these trials of the Jewish people, the early Church, and Jesus himself, the truth has come out: Our Lord Jesus Christ is King of the Universe.

He is not only king of consolation to whom we turn in our grief at a funeral. He is not only king of Sunday morning when we stop what we are doing for a couple of hours to come to Mass. He is the King of Everything.

The aquarium in Chattanooga had a sign reminding us that the oceans are a loan to us from our children. Or as scripture tells us, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). All creation belongs to Christ the King.

He is King of kings, the “ruler of the kings of the earth.” His rule is the standard by which to measure the rule of all other rulers. He rules their wealth, landholdings, investments, legislations and deliberations. He is King of life and death, “the firstborn of the dead” (Revelations 1:5).

The Book of Revelation continues. He “loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, [and] has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father.” Notice the tenses. As Peter Wallace points out, his love for us is present here and now, while his offering on the altar of the Cross has freed us and made us holy. Christ makes all created things subject to his rule and presents the kingdom to God.

We live under the authority of our city councils and school boards, state legislatures and federal government. Our final allegiance however is to God. Even our own lives belong to him. We neither live nor die as their own masters; rather, “if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). The Lord Jesus Christ is King of Everything.

Belonging to Christ and his kingdom, how do we live? We live in obedience to his commands, for “your decrees are worthy of trust indeed” (Psalm 93:5). We proclaim his praise, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mark 11:9).

Look what happens when we live this way. The Preface describes his kingdom as “an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace.” Violence has no place in his kingdom. Neither do injustice, abortion, racism, division, half-truths and domination. Who would not want to live in such a kingdom?

Every Mass, we make our Profession of Faith: Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. “To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen” (Revelations 1:6).

To take to prayer: Pray the “Our Father” for the coming of the kingdom, adding the word “Today!” at the end of each phrase.

In Christ,

Father David