TO WHAT EXTENT IS CHRIST KING OF OUR LIVES

Reflection for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Cycle C

On this final Sunday of the Liturgical Year, the church celebrates the Feast of Christ the King, a feast instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. If we truly believe and accept that Christ is our Lord and King, we must also say that we will listen and respond to our King not with our pious thoughts, but with deeds.

Fr. David Knight in his book His Way challenges us to respond to the question: "What difference does Jesus our King make in our lives?" He further asks the challenging question: "If we stopped believing in Jesus today, how would my life change?" Fr. Knight challenges us to write down five concrete ways the absence of belief in Jesus today would change our lives tomorrow. How we respond to the above question will give us a measure of what difference Christ our King really makes in our lives.

In the first reading today, our King is portrayed as a loving shepherd who tends his sheep. In the second reading, we are told that those who follow Christ the King will know redemption, forgiveness of sins and peace. Today's gospel tells us that our King reigns not from a throne but from a cross. The promise of the scriptures is that if we follow this King he will lead us into the kingdom of eternal life, peace and glory.