Yet in our Gospel, instead of the authorities recognizing him as King and Lord, Jesus is tortured and abused. In fact, they mock him with the title, “King of the Jews.” We would expect to see a king revealed in royal dignity and seated upon a throne with a royal scepter.
Christ’s crucifixion reveals a profound mystery. The cross has become his throne. His enthronement is his death upon the cross. In ancient Israel, upon his enthronement, they anointed their king with oil and called him the Lord’s ‘anointed one’ or Messiah. The Greek equivalent was the 'Christ.'
The psalmists later understood the messiah as the son of God (Psalm 2:7; Ps 89:27). During this earthly ministry Jesus revealed a deeper meaning for this title by equating himself as ‘the son of man’ in Daniel who is ‘coming on the clouds of heaven’ and who has been given dominion, glory and kingship over all peoples (Daniel 7:13).
Although Jesus is tortured, crucified as criminal, and dies upon the cross, in the mystery of God’s plan of redemption, this very act becomes his enthronement as King. Jesus then conquers death, rises from the dead, and ascends to the right hand of the Father in heaven where he now reigns for all of eternity as King of the Universe.
Christ reveals all of the essential truths of the faith in his enthronement upon the cross. Yet, what does this mean to each of us personally?
When Pope Pius XI instituted this Solemnity in 1925, he was concerned that some Catholics were misunderstanding Christ's reign and rule in their lives. Some people were compartmentalizing their lives into sacred and secular parts and were excluding Christ from their private lives. Pope Pius XI was encouraging us to live our faith authentically not just at Mass or in our devotions, but also in our private, public and political lives.
While the graces of our sacramental life initially create and then inspire our faith, St. John Paul II has noted two dangers in our understanding of the sacraments. On the one hand the “sacramental life is impoverished and very soon turns into hollow ritualism if it is not based on serious knowledge of the meaning of the sacraments” and on the other, “catechesis becomes intellectualized if it fails to come alive in the sacramental practice” (Catechesi Tradendae, 23).
As the fathers of the Council reminded us, “The Sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church. Before men can come to the liturgy, they must be called to faith and conversion” (AG 9) [cf. CCC 1072]. This is what it means for our sacramental life to “come alive.” Evangelization needs to precede catechesis. Then catechesis must continually bear witness by the Spirit to living faith.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church discusses our cooperation with grace through an act of submission to the lordship of Christ called Interior repentance,
Similarly, our own bishops have noted conversion is, “the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one's life to his. (National Directory of Catechesis, p. 48).
Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, with renewed vigor, I offer you my heart this day. May your Spirit bring my heart to life daily in union with you. Help me to continue to journey deeper in conformity to your will, walking always in your grace every day, in every little way.
Christ’s crucifixion reveals a profound mystery. The cross has become his throne. His enthronement is his death upon the cross. In ancient Israel, upon his enthronement, they anointed their king with oil and called him the Lord’s ‘anointed one’ or Messiah. The Greek equivalent was the 'Christ.'
The psalmists later understood the messiah as the son of God (Psalm 2:7; Ps 89:27). During this earthly ministry Jesus revealed a deeper meaning for this title by equating himself as ‘the son of man’ in Daniel who is ‘coming on the clouds of heaven’ and who has been given dominion, glory and kingship over all peoples (Daniel 7:13).
Although Jesus is tortured, crucified as criminal, and dies upon the cross, in the mystery of God’s plan of redemption, this very act becomes his enthronement as King. Jesus then conquers death, rises from the dead, and ascends to the right hand of the Father in heaven where he now reigns for all of eternity as King of the Universe.
Christ reveals all of the essential truths of the faith in his enthronement upon the cross. Yet, what does this mean to each of us personally?
When Pope Pius XI instituted this Solemnity in 1925, he was concerned that some Catholics were misunderstanding Christ's reign and rule in their lives. Some people were compartmentalizing their lives into sacred and secular parts and were excluding Christ from their private lives. Pope Pius XI was encouraging us to live our faith authentically not just at Mass or in our devotions, but also in our private, public and political lives.
Living a Unity of Life
We call this act of allowing Christ to be Lord of every part of our life, living a unity of life. Since the act of faith involves the full submission of our intellect and will to God, the unity of life is essential to our faith.
As Pope Pius XI notes, “not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire.” Christ must reign in our minds, in our wills, in our hearts, and in our bodies “as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.”
Just as Christ was treated in our Gospel, Pope Pius XI says that Christ, “has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored” (QP, 32). This problem is still highly relevant today. For many people, faith has become a purely personal and private matter.
Some forty years later, the fathers of the Second Vatican Council characterized the “breach between faith and daily life” as “one of the more serious errors of our time” (GS 43). “Let there be no false opposition,” they admonish us “between professional and social activity and the life of religion. The Christian who neglects his temporal duties neglects God and risks his eternal salvation” (GS 43). This is a very solemn warning. While God’s abundant grace and mercy are available to all, our cooperation is necessary.
Practicing a unity of life means that we must allow Christ to be lord of every aspect of our life, including even our daily life and our professional life. The Council urged the faithful to follow the example of Christ who engaged in the secular work of carpentry in order to “fuse all human effort, domestic, professional, scientific and technical in a vital synthesis with religious values, which coordinate everything in the highest way to God’s glory” (GS 43).
Through the lordship of Christ as King, we can transform our daily lives into occasions where we experience God’s grace through our daily work. We can follow Jesus and allow our daily work to be seen “as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.” In fact, as Christians we should say, “Thank God it’s Monday.”
As Pope Pius XI notes, “not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire.” Christ must reign in our minds, in our wills, in our hearts, and in our bodies “as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.”
Just as Christ was treated in our Gospel, Pope Pius XI says that Christ, “has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored” (QP, 32). This problem is still highly relevant today. For many people, faith has become a purely personal and private matter.
Some forty years later, the fathers of the Second Vatican Council characterized the “breach between faith and daily life” as “one of the more serious errors of our time” (GS 43). “Let there be no false opposition,” they admonish us “between professional and social activity and the life of religion. The Christian who neglects his temporal duties neglects God and risks his eternal salvation” (GS 43). This is a very solemn warning. While God’s abundant grace and mercy are available to all, our cooperation is necessary.
Practicing a unity of life means that we must allow Christ to be lord of every aspect of our life, including even our daily life and our professional life. The Council urged the faithful to follow the example of Christ who engaged in the secular work of carpentry in order to “fuse all human effort, domestic, professional, scientific and technical in a vital synthesis with religious values, which coordinate everything in the highest way to God’s glory” (GS 43).
Through the lordship of Christ as King, we can transform our daily lives into occasions where we experience God’s grace through our daily work. We can follow Jesus and allow our daily work to be seen “as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.” In fact, as Christians we should say, “Thank God it’s Monday.”
Two Dangers: Between Scylla and Charybdis
While the graces of our sacramental life initially create and then inspire our faith, St. John Paul II has noted two dangers in our understanding of the sacraments. On the one hand the “sacramental life is impoverished and very soon turns into hollow ritualism if it is not based on serious knowledge of the meaning of the sacraments” and on the other, “catechesis becomes intellectualized if it fails to come alive in the sacramental practice” (Catechesi Tradendae, 23).
As the fathers of the Council reminded us, “The Sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church. Before men can come to the liturgy, they must be called to faith and conversion” (AG 9) [cf. CCC 1072]. This is what it means for our sacramental life to “come alive.” Evangelization needs to precede catechesis. Then catechesis must continually bear witness by the Spirit to living faith.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church discusses our cooperation with grace through an act of submission to the lordship of Christ called Interior repentance,
Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart…it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace (CCC 1431).
Similarly, our own bishops have noted conversion is, “the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one's life to his. (National Directory of Catechesis, p. 48).
Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, with renewed vigor, I offer you my heart this day. May your Spirit bring my heart to life daily in union with you. Help me to continue to journey deeper in conformity to your will, walking always in your grace every day, in every little way.
No comments:
Post a Comment