This feast was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Often, in the midst of this world's chaos and questions, we ask "Who is in charge here?" The Feast of Christ the King proclaims that Christ is in charge. Christ reigns as King over all that exists. Yet, again the paradox: his throne is not of gold and silver; he reigns from a cross.

Christ does not embark on this final journey to his kingdom weighed down with suitcases and trunks containing the possessions and acquisitions of his earthly life. Rather, he enters his kingdom naked and helpless, nailed to a cross, surrounded by criminals.

If ever there was optimism in the face of a gray day, hear the words of the criminal who asks "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." (Luke 23:42) He asks for a remembering that is not merely the recalling of a past event, but an effective remembering, a remembering that makes present. "Lord, let me be present with you when you come into your kingdom." It is the effective remembering that we do at Eucharist when we "Do this in memory of me" and experience already here on earth, the banquet of heaven.

This optimism in the face of death roots the spirituality of this season. "In the face of death, the Church confidently proclaims that God has created each person for eternal life and that Jesus, the Son of God, by his death and resurrection, has broken the chains of sin and death that bound humanity." (OCF, 1)

Again, the paradox of letting go and receiving all. Christ emptied himself and was nailed to a cross. "Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name." (Philippians 2:9) The Paschal Victory is the icon of our life. All of life is a practice for death-the great letting go.

It's never too late or too early to begin. What are the things in your life that you need to let go of: prejudices, relationships, sins, ideas? We should start letting go now so that death will find us already poor. Then death will not be a great leap into the unknown but simply one more gentle step into the loving embrace of God.