Daniel 7:13-14
Revelation 1:5-8
John 18:33B-37

Solemnity of Christ the King

The Responsorial Psalm Response points to the core belief of today’s feast of Christ the King. “The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.” For us Americans the idea of a king is foreign to us. We know from history and current day monarchies that loyal subjects offer their full allegiance to their ruler. Our experience living in a democracy is very different. And yet, we celebrate an important feast that calls us to give our full allegiance to Christ.

Our first reading from the Book of Daniel foretells what we believe of Christ today. “As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, 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.”

In the gospel, the question of kingship is addressed to Jesus as he stands before Pilate. “Pilate said to Jesus, ‘Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus answered, ‘Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?’” Jesus goes on to say, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” We know the results of Pilate’s interrogation. Jesus will be put to death. The choice of the crowd wins.

What about us today? Would we be one of the crowd who chooses to reject Jesus? Would we be one of his faithful followers like the women who remained with him until the moment of his death? We have a choice every single day to live as committed, faithful followers who live our lives to the best of our ability or to follow the materialistic, violent values of our society. The cost of our discipleship is not easy. Saying we give our whole selves to the Christ is one thing, but living out our faithful allegiance day in and day out is what marks us as true followers of the God who loves us and longs for our love in return.

In what ways do you show your allegiance to Christ?

How do you react to temptations to do your own thing rather than being faithful to your commitment to Christ?