Christus Rex
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
OLR, NOLA
Every
year on this solemnity I ask you the same question: who or what
sits on the throne of your heart? Who
or what rules you? Someone or something has always ruled you and will
always rule you. Christ sacrificial death on the cross, his
resurrection and ascension makes it possible for us to choose who or
what that someone or something is. We are free to choose our master.
My annual question may seem an odd one to ask of a church filled with
Catholics for a Sunday Mass. Isn't it obvious, Father, that
we have all chosen Christ? We're here, aren't we?
Well, in my long experience, even Mass-going Catholics can choose
someone or something else to rule them when their lives in faith
become too easy, or too difficult, or too routine. Christ can easily
become second, third, or even fourth fiddle when the powers of this
world offer us shinier, newer, cheaper, better-looking options.
Therefore, the Church – in her wisdom – gives us this solemnity
to reawaken in us the zealous need to place no one and nothing on the
throne of our hearts other than Christ Jesus, and him crucified! He
is the King of the Jews, and King of the Universe!
What
does it mean to say that Christ is the King of the Universe? Turn to
Colossians: “. . .in
[Christ] were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible
and the invisible [. . .] all things were created through
him and for
him. He is before all
things, and in him all things hold together.” IOW, Christ is the
principle of creation, the design; he is the blueprint and the final
result; the logic, the reason, and the Word of reality. He is king
not just in terms of power and influence but king in terms of
fundamental matter and energy, of space and time; the Alpha and the
Omega, first and last. Choosing Christ to rule from the throne of
your heart is much more than just a moral choice or a
religious/spiritual choice; it's a metaphysical choice. That is, to
choose Christ is to choose to accept and live in a universe created
to reveal God to human reason; a universe created to be observable,
knowable, and explicable; it means understanding yourself as a
person, a rational animal, a body+soul composite gifted with a
supernatural end; it means accepting freedom from sin and death so
that you can grow in holiness toward that end. Most importantly, it
means choosing to become Christ for others by choosing to live and
die in sacrificial love.
What
does it mean to say that Christ, King of the Universe, rules from the
throne of your heart? While Jesus hangs on the cross btw two thieves,
the Roman soldiers mock him, saying, “If you are King of the Jews,
save yourself.” One of the thieves reviles Jesus with, “Are you
not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” What the soldiers and the
thief fail to understand is that Jesus can save himself. . .but he
chooses to save us instead by dying on that cross. That's what good
kings do. They not only rule justly and wisely but they die for their
people if necessary. They die to protect, preserve, and give their
people whatever they need to flourish. Christ died to free us from
sin and death, giving us the choice of who or what will rule our
hearts. He gave us the apostolic faith, the Church, the sacraments.
He gave his life – body and soul – so that we might have life
eternal with his Father. He gave us the Holy Spirit to bind us
together as One Body, offering one sacrifice through his priests to
bring heaven to earth and to show us what's possible in faith. How do
you choose Christ to rule your heart? Remember the Good Thief and
repeat after him: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdom.”
I
could spend a solid week listing the someones and somethings that we
regularly choose to rule us: food, drink, sex, politics, careers,
revenge, despair, cynicism. The big ones: pride, envy, wrath, you
know the rest. Any one of these or some combo is deadly to the
follower of Christ precisely b/c – given
your permission –
it will usurp Christ from his throne in your heart and corrupt
everything you think, say, and do. And we know: we
become what we worship.
If you worship a created thing, an idol – alcohol, porn, food, a
movie star/athlete, a politician – if you worship an idol, you
become that idol, a thing of this world. . .blind, deaf, mute, and,
inevitably, dead. For good dead. The way you keep Christ on the
throne of your heart is simple: daily prayer; regular fasting; good
works done for the greater glory of God; regular and worthy
celebration of the sacraments, esp. confession and Mass; reading the
Scriptures and other good religious books; and making sure that every
morning upon rising and every evening going to bed, you give God
abundant (extravagant) thanks and praise for all of the blessings He
poured out on you that day AND for every blessing He is going to pour
out on you tomorrow. “Today, Lord, I want to be with you in
Paradise.”
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