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
