Solemnity of Christ the King
November 22nd, 2020
Dear Regnum Christi members in Christ,
There’s something especially poignant in this year’s celebration of the Feast of Christ the King. As we near the end of a year full of unexpected events and uncertainties, our motto, “Christ our King, thy Kingdom come!” is both a prayer for our world in its current circumstances, and a declaration of hope, a firm hope that knows that God is sovereign. Christ is our King. His Kingdom is among us, and his providential saving love is poured out to a world in need. He is the cause of our hope and our joy.
Does God have something to say to the world we live in today? Not only does he have “something” to say to us, he has “someone” to say to us, one Word, his Son. The Word made flesh is present here and now, and goes out to meet us, and to meet others through us. In Lumen Gentium, the Church tells us, “the Kingdom is clearly visible in the very Person of Christ, the Son of God, and the Son of Man,” (LG 5) and so when we say “Christ our King, thy Kingdom Come!” we are asking him, the Kingdom incarnate, to be present.
When we as Regnum Christi members welcome Christ and his Kingdom into our hearts and lives, he enters in ways we don’t expect. Just as the Jews expected the Messiah to enter in triumph and majesty, but were surprised instead by the humility of a God who would serve them, befriend them, and die for them, he enters each of our lives as a healer, a friend, and a savior. He enters our weaknesses and fragilities and sees them not as obstacles but as opportunities to extend his reign in us. That is why the Statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation remind us that “we live our condition as creatures, and as sons and daughters in need of mercy and grace, with simplicity and an unshakable confidence in his love in every moment” (SRCF 25). Neither our individual weaknesses and concerns, nor the problems the world faces right now, should disturb the trust and firm belief we have in the sovereign love of Christ, whose kingdom is among us. This is the good news we carry through our lives, and words, and works to a world Christ wants to go out and touch.
Our Lord asks us to be apostles of his Kingdom in a special way today. The more consciously and deliberately we choose love in each moment, the more our hearts will be under the liberating dominion of the One to whom all power in heaven and on earth has been given (cf. Mt 28: 18). Christ our King makes us a sign of his Kingdom in a divided world, through charity. “Charity entails universal and thoughtful self-giving to one’s neighbor; creative and selfless service; treating people with kindness and simplicity; being merciful with people’s weaknesses; speaking well of others; forgiveness and reconciliation” (SRCF 23.2).
As we celebrate the feast of Christ the King this year, we want to renew our desire to live as vibrant communities of apostles (SRCF 54). We ask the Holy Spirit to ignite our hearts that we may see the needs of the world, discern through the lens of our charism, and step out boldly in mission. As followers and collaborators of Christ the Apostle, we know that prayer, participation in his cross, generosity in the service of others, trust in the action of his grace, and the witness of an authentically Christian life must precede and accompany all our apostolic action” (SRCF 9).
Christ doesn’t just present us with a pathway to hope in our present world. He is that pathway and he is our hope. Keeping our eyes on him, we celebrate this beautiful feast day and the reign of his Kingdom in our lives, and in the world around us, even as we work to collaborate with him in making it present. Looking through his eyes, we will see past our differences, so the other is no longer a threat or an enemy but a beloved child of God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this feast of Christ the King, let’s again pray together the prayer we have been using in our leading up to this day, and let us ask Our Lord to complete the work he has started in each of us and in our beloved Spiritual Family.
Lord, open my heart and transform it.
Help me to welcome the gift of your Kingdom in my life so that every day I can repeat:
Lord Jesus,
I give you my hands to do your work.
I give you my feet to follow your path
I give you my eyes to see as you see
I give you my tongue to speak your words.
I give you my mind so that you can think in me.
I give you my spirit so that you can pray in me.
Above all, I give you my heart so that, in me, you may love your Father and all people.
I give you my whole self, so that you may grow in me until it is you, Christ, who lives, and works and prays in me.
Amen.
Christ our King, thy Kingdom come!
Yours in Christ,
The Territorial Directive College of the Regnum Christi Federation in the North American Territory
