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December 2, 2020One of my favorite ministerial things to do as a priest is holding marriage prep meetings. They are time-consuming, and it is sometimes difficult to coordinate three busy schedules to find sufficient time to talk about the work that goes into a successful marriage, but it is also one of the places where it is easiest to see the Holy Spirit at work in people’s vocations. One of my favorite occurrences in these meetings is when we stumble across unknown discrepancies in the couple’s understanding of their relationship. Perhaps the most common is seeing the difference in how much money they feel comfortable spending without telling their future spouse. Ultimately, all of these discrepancies come down to the question of how much control over their lives the spouses are prepared to cede on behalf of the good of the relationship.
Of course, much more significant than learning that one cannot spend $100 on cigars without telling their wife (a fictional example that I likely would have run into in a different vocation) is the slow realization that we must surrender the entirety of our lives to our true Spouse, Jesus Christ. Today marks the annual celebration of the Feast of Christ the King. It is a feast that started with a very clear purpose but has become less and less clearly understood in our current democratic understanding of the world. In between the two great wars of the age, Pope Pius XI instituted the universal Feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe as a testament to the complete and total power that Jesus holds. To contextualize our path to holiness we have to first recognize the absolute sovereignty of Jesus in our lives.
Coming out of yet another tumultuous election season, it is easy to see the appeal of a democratic system. If we don’t like our leaders, we have a chance to replace them in two, four, or six years. A monarchy provides no such safety valve. So while we might hold on to some implicit or explicit forms of social protest against leaders and policies in this life that do not uphold our values, there is the much more germane question as to what we can do when we find that our lives do not reflect the Kingdom of Jesus Christ into which we were baptized. There is no voting God out, and even though protesting against Him can be done, it should be noted that this is the very definition of sin. Our choices, then, are either to steadfastly dig in our heels in our own sin, or to undertake the painful process of conversion.
It has been fashionable for some time now, especially in the increasingly secular West, to define ourselves as Catholic, or Christian, with some asterisks. “Yes, I am Catholic,” one might say, “but I don’t really believe in (insert contentious doctrine here).” Even more damaging might be the mentality that mentally accepts Church teaching while living our lives in an inconsistent fashion and not taking the steps necessary to overcome these patterns of sin. It is one thing to consistently try and fail, and another thing entirely to throw up our hands and despair that God could ever lead us out of our faults. To do the latter is to insist on continuing to live in defiance, sin, prejudice, or slavery to our passions. The difference between Saints and sinners is whether or not we take up the Cross that Jesus offers us.
So, as we celebrate this great solemnity, it is a beautiful opportunity, at the end of another liturgical year, to examine how we can more completely submit to Jesus Christ as both our Savior and our Ruler. Today is a both recognition of the fact that Jesus is King, whether we behave like it or not, and an invitation to examine the weak points of our lives in order to hand them over to Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and offers us every Grace necessary to follow Him perfectly. Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, and of my life, have mercy on us.
Prayers always,
Fr. McC
