Christ the King (illumination),
Jean Bourdichon,
The Great Hours of Anne of Brittany,
1503-8

Translation of the Epistle for the Feast of Christ the King

Brethren, giving thanks to God the Father, Who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins; Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for in Him were all things created in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: aIl things were created by Him and in Him. And He is before all, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the Church. Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may hold the primacy: because in Him it hath well pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell; and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in Heaven, in Christ Jesus Our Lord.

Continuation of the Holy Gospel According to St. John

At that time: Pilate said to Jesus: Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered: Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of Me? Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered thee up to me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now My kingdom is not from hence. Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a King. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth, everyone that is of the truth, heareth My voice.

The Saving Words of the Gospel.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Transcription of Audio

We have redemption through his blood, says Saint Paul.

Well, with elections upon us, it’s tradition to go over the non-negotiables for Catholic voters. Catholics may not vote pro-abortion, pro-human cloning, pro-euthanasia, pro-embryonic stem cell research candidate, or pro-sodomenical marriage. And I was going to talk about that, but I won’t because you all know all of that.

So, let’s discuss this beautiful Feast, which is relatively new, 99 years old today founded by Pius XI; given to us by Pius XI in 1925 in very dark circumstances. The Bolsheviks had taken over Russia. Marxism had taken over Spain and Mexico, and the Church was suffering greatly. There were many martyrs already in the years of the Marxist Revolution. And all of this was on the fruit… it was just the logical consequences, so to say, of the Reformation, where the Reformation sought to make the Church superfluous. And the Reformation then brought about the Enlightenment, which sought to make God superfluous, which then paved the way for materialist philosophies, such as Marxism, socialism, which really makes man superfluous. Man is a widget in service of a system, and the Church was the odd man out in all of this, obviously, and therefore made to suffer greatly. 

Most people don’t know it, but in the Spanish Civil War, 12,000 priests and nuns were killed. In Mexico, many priests were shot in sight in the 20s. The Cristero Rebellion was about that. You don’t need to say anything about how many suffered in the Soviet Empire, in Chinese Communism, in Vietnam, and Cambodia.

And so, seeing this materialist tyranny encroaching over such huge land masses, Pius XI said this all has to do with the rejection of legitimate authority. And so, the real authority is Christ the King. And so, since October was the month that the communists celebrated their revolution and the last Sunday of October was their big day, he decided to make the last Sunday of October the Feast of Christ the King, to show them no, man is not the ultimate arbiter of world history. It is Jesus Christ; Lord and Savior, the King of the World. And that’s the beginning of this Feast, a relatively new feast. He also wanted it to be right before the Sunday before All Saints, so that there would be that connection.

Well, we heard in Paul’s beautiful letter… This is just really, for me, one of the most moving passages in Scripture. This is called the Christological Hymn of St. Paul in Colossians. He has another similar one in Ephesians. I recommend them both. They’re both in Chapter 1. They’re kind of like the Prélude, if you know Bach’s cello suites. Well, you know, the prelude, that’s kind of what sets the tone for everything that’s coming afterwards. And well, his hymn, his Christological Hymns in Colossians, which we heard from just now, and in Ephesians are really hymns to Christ the King. They’re beautiful. The theology is so profound. There’s so much going on.

And he says, He is the head of the body, the Church. He who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may have the first place. You can now see why the Church wanted this reading to be on this feast day in light of all the historical context as a reminder of the truth of Christ’s authority.

And in the Gospel itself, we saw Christ in all of His silent dignity standing before Pilate, knowing what was coming. He was about to be scourged. He was about to be crowned with thorns. He was about to be crucified and shed His Blood for us. And with great calm and majesty and dignity, He responds only to the questions that will ensure His death. He is a king who gladly goes to death for His subjects, to save us. St. John Henry Newman writes, The Cross has put its clear value upon everything which we see. It has given a meaning to the various shifting courses, the trials, the temptations, the sufferings of this earthly state… In the Cross, and Him who hung upon it, all things meet: all things subserve it, all things need it. It is their center and interpretation.

Notice how the Cross then relativizes everything. When we meditate frequently on the Cross, it puts our own trials into proper perspective. When we meditate habitually on the Cross of Christ, on the wounds of Our Savior, we start to understand that our own suffering, our own difficulties, are not lost on Him. They’re real, but they’re also relativized. They’re relativized in as much, they’re not diminished, but they’re relativized in as much as they’re united to the wounds of Christ. So, for the true subject of such a great King as this, we unite our sufferings to His, so that He can elevate them and make of our own trials and crosses something beautiful for the Father.

And, you know, in a Protestant nation as this, where we are tempted to think of material blessings as a sign of God’s favor, right?, that’s kind of in our DNA, right? That’s what the Puritans thought that material blessings were proof of God’s favor. We follow Paul, who says that for those who Our Lord loves, He tries, He puts to the test. We suffer. And so, suffering is no longer a curse. Suffering then becomes a mission, not a goal, but a mission. It becomes a means, a sanctifying useful means that makes us similar to our King.

In this Christological Hymn of Colossians, he says that Christ has purchased our redemption. Ἀπολύτρωσις (Apoluptosis). Ἀπολύτρωσις is an interesting word because it regards buying a slave. So, this is the Greek word for purchasing a slave in order to free him. In other words, we were slaves of sin. We were slaves of darkness, of a fallen world, and Our Lord, paying the price of His precious Blood, purchased us to give us freedom, as Paul will call it elsewhere, the freedom of the children of God. And so, this was a word when Paul used this word redemption, ἀπολύτρωσις, his hearers are hearing this concept that explains exactly what Christ has done for them. They were slaves of their passions, they were slaves of the old Law that was broken, they were slaves of a system that was corrupt, and Christ purchased them with the price of His own Blood. And so, this is the analogy that Paul uses to express this majestic act of Christ going to His death to save our souls.

In the other Christological Hymn, and I really recommend them both for today’s meditation at some point, Colossians and Ephesians, Paul says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places… Who has predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will… in the dispensation of the fullness of times, to re-establish all things in Christ, that are in heaven and on earth.

Now the word re-establish here is really not a felicitous translation. Ἀνακεφαλαίομαι (anakephalaiomai) is the word that, perhaps you’ve heard it, ἀνακεφαλαίομαι is the word that Paul uses. Ἀνα means again. Κεφαλα is head. So, to re-head something, what does that means? What is to re-head something? Well, to be decapitated is when a head is chopped off, and that’s kind of what happened in original sin, when the original head, Adam, right, severed the bond of the children with the Father, and we lost everything, this recapitulation – that’s a better word I would say because caput means head – so recapitulation, the re-heading of the Mystical Body, Christ, who is the Head, is joined to the Body. We are, better said, we are joined to Him as members of the Body. And He’s not only life-giving, but He transmits it. He transmits it, and he makes it grow.

And so, Paul is kind of grasping for a term to express this reality of a body re-receiving its head that gives it life. Now in the Hymn, it also says that the Church, who is the Body, who is the Bride, has been given to the Son by the Father as a sort of a reward for His braving the Passion.

Sometimes I wonder if He looks at the gift and says, “I was expecting more.” When He looks at us, as Members of the Body, “We’re the Church,” we would say, “Hi, I’m your reward.” Well, when I look in the mirror in the morning, I certainly don’t feel like Christ’s reward. When I do my conscience exam, I don’t feel like I’m worthy of calling myself Christ’s reward, to be sure. 

So, what do we do? Do we throw our hands up? Do we despair? Well, that’s not going anywhere good. In Revelation, or Apocalypse, Chapter 19 we see the Marriage of the Lamb and His Bride, the King and the Church, and it says the Church is dressed in the wedding garment beautified by the good deeds of the saints. So, notice what that means, that how beautiful the Church is in Heaven, to a certain extent, depends on us. We are the ones who decide how beautiful the Church will be through our choices. So, it’s up to us to live up to our vocation as subjects of this King, as children of the Father, as children of the Queen of Heaven, and to live up to that vocation; to see it as unmerited, as a gift, and as a mission.

And then, living up to that, we start to question our thoughts, our words, our actions. Are these worthy of You? Are these worthy of a gift to You? You who paid the price of my redemption with Your Blood and I’m supposed to be Your prize. Well, I’m gonna make it as beautiful as possible, and that’s the choice we have. Each one of us to make our lives as beautiful as possible as a gift to Christ in thanksgiving for His saving our souls.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

~ Fr. Ermatinger