By Father Rich Tomkosky
This past Sunday was the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year. How appropriate to celebrate Jesus Christ as the King of the Universe and of the Church, and that He wants to be King of our life.
The last dimension of His kingship is up to us. We must freely invite Him into our life, each day, in receptive love. He beckons us through our Catholic faith, in the daily events of our unique vocation, and mysteriously through the trials and tribulations of earthly life to come into deeper communion with Him, to be filled with the truth and love which will set us free, and to give us ultimate meaning, purpose, and inner peace. We should go to meet this divine King with all the yearning of our soul.
He presents Himself to us in such a human, loving, and welcoming way. Just look at the Crucifix where He shows His Kingship, not through brute power and strength, but in self-sacrificing love. He stretches out His arms on the Cross to invite all to come to Him, showing us the wound in His side as the symbol of His love.
Far from trying to escape His dominion, which sadly many try to do in their spiritual blindness, we should beseech Him to be the sole ruler of our mind and heart, and to completely unite our will with His. We are called to freely submit ourselves and all that belongs to us to His most gentle rule (p. 1163, in the book Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year by Father Gabriel of Mary Magdalene, O.C.D.).
How do we see this occur in each part of our being? The following prayer from a Carmelite sister sums all this up, and so I re-produce it here to reflect upon as a good way to invite Christ to be King of our life.
O Divine King, most amiable Jesus, my Redeemer, my Savior, my Master and Model, I renew today the total consecration of my being to You, begging You to take absolute dominion over me. Be my Sovereign, my Ruler, and my Guide. Direct and govern me entirely, so that everything in me may be for Your greater glory. Be King of my memory, of my intellect, of my will, and of my emotions. I wish all to be completely subject to You and I invite you to reign in me. Your Kingdom is a kingdom of truth, of love, of justice and of peace. Grant that your reign of Truth may be established in my mind, destroying all error, deceit, and illusion. Enlighten me with Your Divine Wisdom. Grant that Your reign of Love may be completely established in my will, to move it, to draw it, and direct it always, so that I may no longer be moved by self-love, or by human respect, but by Your Holy Spirit alone. Make this weak, mean, rebellious will of mine strong, generous, and constant; make it stronger by the persevering exercise of virtue, and by the gifts of your Holy Spirit. Grant that Your reign of Justice may be established in all my actions, so that all I do may be a work of holiness, accomplished with purity of intention and with the greatest fidelity to give you grateful love and accomplish your holy will. Grant that Your reign of Peace may be established not only in the depths of my soul, but also in my sensible nature, so that in harmony with my intellect and will, it may give you glory and not stunt me or be an obstacle to union with you. Amen. (From Sister Carmela of the Holy Spirit, O.C.D., pp. 1163-64 in the book Divine Intimacy).
May this beautiful and profound prayer to Christ the King remind us to invite Jesus to become increasingly the King of our life. It’s truly amazing how God calls us to cooperate in this noble process of holiness through more generous acts of charity in our relations with other people, spending more quality time on prayer and spiritual reading, repenting of our sins and amending our life by the devout reception of the Sacrament of Confession, daily embracing a more penitential life of mortification and self-denial, and finally by bearing more patiently with perseverance the Crosses of daily life and in our vocation.
As we move toward the Holy Season of Advent, may we look inward for what areas of our life which we can invite Jesus to be King in a deeper way — the spiritual, the moral, the family, the work, and the social, so He can reign over us in this life, mold us into saints, and lead us by the Holy Spirit on the narrow path to everlasting life in His eternal Kingdom in Heaven.
Also, remember to invite at least one person back/or to the Faith in the holy season of Advent. May the Christ the King reign over our life forever! God bless you.
Father Rich Tomkosky is the Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Bedford and the Pastor of Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Beans Cove.
