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

The Solemnity of All Saints

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THIS Solemnity is not only an occasion to celebrate the success stories of

holiness of those who are already in heaven, and are recognized and canonized by the

Church as saints. It is also a strong reminder that all of us are called to holiness. And

the way to holiness is clearly spelled out by Christ himself when he preached about the

beatitudes. (cfr. Mt 5,1-12)

Everyone can be a saint because God calls all and empowers all to be so. Ever

wondered why Christ chose his apostles practically randomly? He, for example, would

just pass by Matthew in his tax collector’s table and say, “Come, follow me,” without as

much checking on Matthew’s background.

Same with brothers Peter and Andrew, and James and John. Christ would just

call them, and without asking any question they simply left their nets, for they were

fishermen, and followed Christ.

In the end, he would also call Judas Iscariot who would later betray him. Christ,

being God, would have known that Judas would turn him in. But that did not deter him.

He called Judas just the same to be one of his 12 apostles.

The only reason I can find for this behavior of Christ is that he has the right to call

anyone and everyone to follow him. And that’s simply because, as God, he has that

right since all of us come from him and belong to him. As redeemer, he calls everyone

to follow him.

Yes, everyone is called to holiness, because everyone is a creature of God, and

as such is therefore created in the image and likeness of God, adopted a child of his,

and meant to participate in the very life of God.

There is a basic and inalienable equality among all of us insofar as we are God’s

creatures and children called to holiness. Regardless of our position and state in life,

whether we are priests, religious men and women, or ordinary lay faithful, we have the

same calling and purpose in life.

Corollary to this truth is that there is also a basic and inalienable quality of

everything in the world to be an occasion and means for our sanctification. To be holy

does not mean that we only spend time praying, going to church, availing of the

sacraments, etc.

To be sure, prayer, the sacraments, the doctrine of our faith, obedience to the

Church hierarchy are important and indispensable, but these would hang on thin air if

they are not supported and made as the goal and expression of a sanctified life that is

consistent to the teachings and the spirit of God as lived in the middle of the world.

And given our wounded condition, we have to understand that the road to

sanctity will always pass through the ways of suffering in this life. Thus, Christ preached

about the beatitudes where what we usually consider as human disasters or clear

disadvantages and inconveniences according to worldly standards are converted into a

source of joy, a means of our redemption, a path to heaven, narrow and difficult though

it may be.

They expand our understanding of what would comprise as our true happiness

by including those situations which we normally regard as unsavory and therefore to be

avoided as much as possible and hated.

We need to study well the content and spirit behind the beatitudes by looking

closely at the example of Christ. There we will have the reassurance that all the

suffering and sacrifices that we have to go through would be all worth it.

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com