The Solemnity of Christ the King

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THIS Solemnity marks the end of a liturgical year, somehow

reminding us that as long as we are still in this temporal world, we

have to go through a cycle of beginning and ending, until we spin off

to the world of eternity where our definitive life and home is.

          With this ending of the liturgical year, we are reminded

that we are presented year after year with the whole life and mystery

of Christ who is actually everything to us, for he is our “way, the

truth and the life.” We are given a chance not only to know him, but

also to love and serve him, which is what is most important to us, the

ultimate purpose of our life.

          Many things come to mind when we try to consider the

significance of the solemnity of Christ the King. Christ is our King

because in the first place we come from him and we belong to him in

the strictest sense of the words “come” and “belong.”

          As God the Son, the second person of the Blessed Trinity,

Christ is the very pattern of our humanity, which happens to be the

masterpiece of his creation. As God who became man, he is our Savior

who redeemed us after we spoiled our original creation. How Christ is

should also be how we should be. We are supposed to be “alter

Christus,” if not “ipse Christus.” That is actually our radical

identity.

          There could therefore be no greater king than him. His

kingship is not merely political or social. His kingship penetrates

the very core of our being and covers the whole range of our humanity

in all its aspects, conditions and circumstances. His kingship rules

us in our entirety, both body and soul. And He is king to each one of

us individually as well as to all of us collectively.

          His kingdom is already with us. That’s why at one time,

Christ said: “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Lk 17,21)

At the same time, it is still to be perfected in some other time,

place or, better said, state of life. Thus, he also said: “My kingship

is not of this world.” (Jn 18,36)

          The Solemnity of Christ the King should also remind us that

whatever we begin in life we should also end well, that ending well

ultimately means making Christ our king, the “all in all” in us, the

be-all and end-all of our life, and that the way to achieve it is to

learn to love the way Christ has loved us and continues to love us.

          Learning the art of ending well the things in general is not

a matter of solving all our problems and perfectly achieving all the

earthly goals we have set for ourselves. That will never happen. When

we die, there will still be unfinished businesses, let alone, problems

unsolved, challenges not yet tackled.

          Rather, ending things well is a matter of reconciling

ourselves with God and with everybody else. Thus, everyday, before we

go to bed, we should make sure that we ask forgiveness from God for

any weakness, fault or sin we may have committed during the day, as

well as asking forgiveness from anyone whom we may have wronged in

some way.

          We have to make sure that we end the day with Christ always,

and not just with some work accomplished and achieved. That’s how we

would really make Christ our King!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com