Feast of Christ the King

When we think of the horror and scandal of the Cross today's reading from the Letter of Paul to the Colossians is made all the more extraordinary. How is it that he who was thought to be the son of a tradesman from Gallilee can have such claims made for him?: "Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (Col. 1: 15), and, "Christ is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col. 1: 17) True, we can have Jesus as our brother, a teacher, a miracle worker, a sage and many other things, however, we should never forget that he, indeed, is Lord and master. When we feel outnumbered, dispirited and afflicted by our sufferings, our sins or the sins of others we can take comfort from the knowledge that, in his pre-existence and through his resurrection, Christ is King of the Universe - past, present and future. In the Book of Revelation he reassures us: "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades." (Rev. 1: 18-19) Nevertheless, the Kingdom of God is only present to us now in sacrament and mystery. We need to be patient to see the full glory of Jesus and the harvest of the Spirit. To do this we must strive to live in the truth and respond to it: "Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.' Pilate asked him, 'So you are a king?' Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice'." (Jn 18: 36-37)