Today is the Feast of Christ the King, the last feast of the church year before we begin the cycle all over again with Advent. Always before, when we came to this Feast, I would think of Christ the King of all Nations, of a world finally at peace because of His Divine Rule. Today, though, I am humbled with awe as I read through the brief lives of all the "saints," -- canonized or not -- in my daily book of prayer. I realize that these men and women were those in whom Christ reigned as king.
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) prays that the Lord would remove from his soul the stumbling blocks to the reign of Christ therein: greed, which claims a throne in us; arrogance which dominates us; pride which does not allow us to bend; comfort and pleasure which claim first rights to our souls; ambition, detraction, envy, anger -- all fight for supremacy within us, and which seem to have us in their power. Most of us think that we have to conquer these kingdoms through our own willpower and self-control. (I, for one, learned a very long time ago how helpless I was to overcome any negative power or energy within myself.) Like Therese of Liseux, I have to trust that Jesus, seeing my helplessness to "climb the rough stairway of sanctity" will graciously descend to lift me up Himself and carry me to heaven.
If we are the conquerers of evil tendency within ourselves, we have no need of Christ. But He, knowing human weakness, came not only to live a good life, as an example to us, but in order to enter forever into human weakness, crucifying our flesh so that the Spirit of God reign in our lives. Who of us is "like God?" The answer should be fairly obvious -- only Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Only He can transform our human weakness into the Image of God on earth. Christ must reign over the evil in our flesh and in our egos if He would be king.
There is no sense negotiating peace with our enemies, whether personal or political, if bitterness and anger and natural pride are still reigning over, or dominating, either party. There IS NO PEACE ON EARTH without the reign of Christ in us. When we meet others in whom Christ is at work conquering the flesh, we immediately know it -- not because they are perfect people, but because He has established peace in their hearts. These are people who are not afraid, who are not threatened, who need no defenses -- because they know Who is their King, Lord, and Protector. Only then can we relax and enjoy "the other" in their weakness and imperfection -- because we know the same Lord who is at work in us will also conquer the evil in them.
More tomorrow on this theme.
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The co-opting of the Christ position on earth by the hierarchy of the RC church has perverted the example of Jesus as the Christ, possibly beyond redemption.
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