Fr Antonio Pineda
ith the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, we arrive at the last week of the liturgical year. Pope Pius XI instituted the feast in his encyclical letter Quas Primas in 1925 in response to the growing secularism and to emphasise that Christ has dominion over all creatures. The feast reminds us that Christ should reign in our minds, wills, hearts and bodies, but all too often it is tempting to let other individuals and other things reign over us and dictate how we conduct our lives.
Many of us idolise certain actors, sports personalities, and artists and we resolve to imitate them. We want to look like them, act like them, and possess what they have. Before we know it, our worldly desires become our false idols. We allow ourselves to be enslaved by our addiction to gadgets, success, wealth and material acquisition. These false idols demand much from us for so little, and only for temporal gain. We also pay more attention to the laws of men rather than the laws of the divine King, resulting in much of the unhappiness in the world. We do certain things because it is “normal” and we don’t wish to look out of place.
Consequently, we forget Christ the King’s great commandment to love God and our neighbours as ourselves. Therefore, as this liturgical year ends, and as we welcome the new one with the season of Advent, let us make the resolution to detach ourselves from the false gods of the earthly kingdom and serve the King of the Universe with love and humility.
This Sunday as you worship the King of kings at Mass, think about what you most value and what you are most anxious to achieve. Then see if these things are more in line with God’s kingdom or with the kingdom of the world. We are all tempted at times to straddle both kingdoms at the same time. But over and over again, we are faced with choices to serve one or the other. May we always choose to serve Jesus, our King and Lord!