WHAT IS IN A NAME?

Why do we call Christ the king?  He never gave this title to himself; nor was it one his followers asked for.  Rather, it is the title that was given to him at the time of his crucifixion; and so I cannot help but wonder what are we to make of a feast that recognizes Jesus Christ as King?

Admittedly, I have always struggled with this feast and feel that it betrays a thought we usually don’t like to admit – that we want a king.  Someone to take care of us, to protect us, to rule us.  We want someone to defend us in battle, to build up walls around those who are like us and keep others out.  Ultimately, we want someone to save us from ourselves; to take responsibility so that we don’t have to.   I know it sounds a bit cynical, but this reality that plays out even to this day. Even though our leaders keep failing us, we still keep putting the responsibility of our problems and solutions on them more often than ourselves.

That said, Pope Pius XI, who when he established the feast was not all ill-intentioned.  For he said, “If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.”