Feast of Christ King of the Universe

First Reading

Daniel 7,13-14

I was gazing into the visions of the night, when I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, as it were a son of man. He came to the One most venerable and was led into his presence. On him was conferred rule, honour and kingship, and all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His rule is an everlasting rule which will never pass away, and his kingship will never come to an end.

Psalmody

Psalm 93 (94)

Antiphon

Rise up, O Lord, and bring justice.

O Lord, avenging God,
avenging God, appear!

Judge of the earth, arise,
give the proud what they deserve!

How long, O Lord, shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked triumph?

They bluster with arrogant speech;
the evil-doers board to each other.

They crush your people, Lord,
they afflict the ones you have chosen.

They kill the widow and the stranger
and murder the fatherless child.

And they say : 'The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob pays no heed.'

Mark this, most senseless of people;
fools, when will you understand?

Can he make the ear, not hear?
Can he who formed the eye, not see?

Will he who trains nations, not punish?
Will he who teaches men, not have knowledge?

Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord,
whom you train by means of you law :

to him you give peace in evil days
while the pit is being dug for the wicked.

The Lord will not abandon his people
nor forsake those who are his own :

for judgement shall again be just
and all true hearts shall uphold it.

Who will stand up for me against the wicked?
Who will defend me from those who do evil?

If the Lord were not to hemp me,
I would soon go down into the silence.

When I think : 'I have lost my foothold';
your mercy, Lord, holds me up.

When cares increase in my heart
your consolation calms my soul.

Can judges who do evil be your friends?
They do injustice under cover of law;

they attach the life of the just
and condemn innocent blood.

As for me, the Lord will be a stronghold;
my God will be the rock where I take refuge.

He will repay them for their wickedness,
destroy them for their evil deeds.
The Lord, our God, will destroy them.

Second Reading

Revelation 1,5-8

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the highest of earthly kings. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a Kingdom of Priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. Look, he is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. Indeed this shall be so. Amen. 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 18,33-37

So Pilate went back into the Praetorium and called Jesus to him and asked him, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' Jesus replied, 'Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others said it to you about me?' Pilate answered, 'Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?' Jesus replied, 'Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom does not belong here.' Pilate said, 'So, then you are a king?' Jesus answered, 'It is you who say that I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

With the feast of Christ, King of the Universe, we close the liturgical year. It is a recent feast in the Latin Church. It was instituted while the totalitarianisms of the twentieth century were asserting themselves, violently subduing the history of Europe and other parts of the world. But the roots of this feast are in the Gospel, we could say in the most dramatic moment of Jesus' life. The Gospel passage for this Sunday presents us with the Roman governor who turns to Jesus and asks him, "So you are king?" "You say that I am a king," Jesus answers him.
Of course, to human eyes Jesus does indeed appear as a strange king: for a throne he has a cross, for a crown a crown of thorns, and for a court two thieves crucified with him; there are then only a few women with a young man who, grieving, huddled under the gallows. Yet, this is the image that has always marked every Christian community. The cross stands out in every church and especially appears when Christians are persecuted, outraged to the point of being killed. Today, that cross seems to take root strongly in several countries around the world. Not a few Christians continue to suffer the very passion of Jesus. Like that small group of women who clung to the cross of Jesus, we want to cling to all those who are still on the cross today, to all those who are affected by violence. Faced with so many tragedies, faced with the spread of violence, we are invited to look up at the cross of Jesus and contemplate his kingly power.
The Gospel tells us that it is from that cross that the prince of evil is defeated. Jesus from the cross frees men and women from the dominion of sin and death. The Apostle Paul conveyed this conviction to all the Churches, aware of the scandal it would cause: "But we proclaim Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles"" (1 Cor 1:23). It is as a crucified that Jesus exercises his kingly power.
While nailed to that wood an identical invitation came to him from all: "Save yourself!" Enclosed in these three simple words is one of the dogmas that most firmly underpin human existence, even today. Self-love is a doctrine that is learned from childhood, and is so firmly rooted in hearts that it is difficult to eradicate. It is the gospel of the world, an alternative to the gospel of Jesus. And each of us knows well how insidious and penetrating this gospel of the world is.
This feast of Christ the King shows us the royal love that transforms the hearts of men and women and the life of the world. Let us gather around this weak and poor king. It is from him crucified that salvation flows for all. And, in the words of Revelation, let us say to him: "To you Lord, who love us and have freed us from our sins by your blood, who have made us a kingdom of priests for our God and Father, to you be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen."