LIVING THE ROYAL LIFE
Christmas is here!
No, of course it’s not. But the relentless advertising has already begun, and it’s easy to get caught up in the bustle of the season. There’s anticipation in the air, but for us – it must be for the real celebration. Our real preparation is for the advent of the King of the Universe. This Sunday’s exactly 1 month before we become part of the silent, holy night on which Christ the Saviour will be born. And this Sunday, Jesus assures us, as He does Pilate, that yes, He is a king (Jn 18:33-37).
But not just any king.
Certainly not the tyrannical, self-centered, prone-to-human-failure kings of the Jews then and further back in the past, when the elders of Israel rejected God as their king and demanded that Samuel appoint a king over them, like all the nations, to rule them (1 Sam 8:5,7).
Read that passage: can you hear the hurt and disappointment in God’s voice? He says to Samuel, “They are acting toward you just as they have acted from the day I brought them up from Egypt to this very day, deserting me to serve other gods.” (1 Sam 8:8).
But, being a God who gives free will to His people, He says, “Now listen to them; but at the same time, give them a solemn warning and inform them of the rights of the king who will rule them.” (1 Sam 8:9). And then follows a series of rulers who all fail, each and every one, to fully redeem God’s people whom He still (amazingly!) loves so deeply.
Until Jesus stands in front of a wary Pilate who’s concerned that the Roman empire might be facing a political takeover by a rebellious Jew. We know what’s coming – the full, once-and-for-all redemption, price paid in blood and suffering on a cross, that saves a people, a world. A universe. All, Jesus says, who are on the side of truth and listen to His voice (Jn 18:37). A redemption free and forever.
But Pilate doesn’t understand. Actually, neither do most of the Jews, or even His apostles. Jesus was exactly the type of king Israel needed, but they were more concerned about their lives under Roman rule, and the day-to-day worries that came with it. The Messiah they were looking for wasn’t ‘coming on the clouds of heaven’ (Dan 7:13). How could they reconcile a carpenter’s son with a God-appointed King on whom the Father would confer ‘sovereignty, glory and kingship’ served by ‘men of all peoples, nations and languages’ (Dan 7:14)? There He stood: a prisoner, condemned as a blasphemer. About to undergo execution. An enemy of the people He was supposed to rule over.
The kings they were used to were nothing like Jesus.
“The kingship of Jesus,” Pope Francis says, “is completely different than that of the world: He did not come to dominate but to serve. He did not come amid signs of power, but with the power of signs. He is not like other kings, but he is King for the others.”
It was timely that Pope Pius XI instituted this Solemnity in 1925. With the world in spiritual disarray after World War 1 and with communism rising in Russia, he wanted to address the growing secularism and atheism he saw. In his encyclical Quas Primas he wrote that ‘these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and His holy law out of their lives’. (Para. 1). The only solution, he said, was for humanity to find its peace and restoration in the ‘Kingdom’ and the ‘Empire’ of Christ the King. (Para. 1).
Jesus came for this very reason: to bear witness to the truth, to rule our hearts, to bring us to the holiness that is fitting to God’s house. In The Lord’s Prayer we pray that God’s kingdom will come with His reign through Christ’s return (CCC. 2818). That is strong motivation for us to use Advent wisely, because we’ve inherited the sacred task of helping Jesus build His kingdom.
Earth’s royals are eagerly watched, followed, imitated. Any time there’s a coronation, a royal wedding or funeral, millions of eyes watch and headlines flash around the world. We easily forget we’re part of a royal family, too! One that has an eternal sovereign with ‘majesty enrobed’, ‘girded with power’, whom ‘everyone will see, even those who pierced Him’. No matter what secular ruler we live under, we’re royals by spiritual birthright. No matter the state of our lives or the world, by faith we’ve been set free from slavery and returned to the King of the Universe. Not only that: He ‘made us a line of kings, priests to serve His God and Father’ (Ap 1:6). How we live as royal children of God is important because we, too, are watched, as witnesses for Christ, our Monarch.
And our royal task is to expand this kingdom of which we’re the heirs, by bearing witness to the truth. Just like our brother-King, Jesus. None of Israel’s kings could restore them holiness with God the Father. This was the King who could.
Faithful witness. First-born from the dead. Ruler of the kings of the earth.
Despite the long years of Israel and the modern world turning away from God, hurting and disappointing Him, He ‘loves us and has washed away our sins with His blood’ (Ap 1:5). Ending the liturgical year with this passage must make us reflect in wonder on the fact that God our Father has an endless capacity for faithful love, generous forgiveness, and a burning desire to pull us back to Him, even at the cost of His only begotten Son.
How can we reject such a love? How can we not want to heal God’s heart, or refuse to worship at the manger and the Cross? As Advent approaches, how can we prepare to honour the King of the Universe and the King of our hearts?
Commit to living by His example. Turn our hearts and wills to His rule. Speak His truth in word and action. Spread His joy and peace. Keep His commandment to love God and one another. Earth’s monarchs are showered with love, admiration, and devotion. Even more should we give the same to our Sovereign King, with fragrant offerings of prayer, penitence, acts of sacrificial love for all His citizens. Living the royal life means abiding faithfully and loyally by the precepts of our Monarch, and showing the world our unity as brothers and sisters of His family.
Christ has already defeated death. We have nothing to fear. Alpha and Omega, He is there at our beginning and end. That thought should give us comfort, when we find it challenging to relinquish control to Him in the course of our everyday lives. Perhaps this, too, is what we must try to do in the weeks ahead. If today we prepare spiritually, mentally, and emotionally to hand over our lives to King Jesus, this Advent season we’ll experience His peace and joy growing within.
Then we’ll bring to fruition Pope Francis’ prayer for all God’s faithful:
“It is my hope and prayer that each of you can joyfully say: ‘With Jesus, I too am a king’. I too reign: as a living sign of the love of God, of His compassion and His tenderness.” (Homily of the Holy Father on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, 22.11.2021)
May Jesus, King of us all, fill you with grace and courage to step into the coming season of Advent with a spirit worthy of the royal family of God!
Article by Joyce Norma, HFC Blog Contributor