Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
To be fair, this is a drama series, not a documentary, so, as a fellow priest pointed out after watching the latest season, there are things which certainly were exaggerated or added for cinematic purposes. But, whether exaggerated or not, what came through in Season 4 was how selfish both Prince Charles and Princess Diana were. I don’t want to give away too much, but in the episodes, throughout their rocky marriage, it was clear that each wanted to be the most important in the relationship and wanted the other to have a supporting role, which is not the best approach for marriage.
When we think of queens, kings, princes, and princesses, we tend to think of power. Indeed, we tend to view everything as an exercise of power these days. Modern political and social thought has cast everything in the light of who has power, who should have power, and how more power can be gained by this or that group or cause. So perhaps this idea of power struggle has bled its way into our minds as we approach this Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, our last Sunday in Ordinary Time, which we celebrate today.
But what does Jesus show us time and time again about His reign? Not that He doesn’t have power. In fact, Jesus says at the end of the Gospel according to Matthew, right before Jesus ascends into heaven, “‘All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” It’s not as if Jesus has any equals when it comes to His power, any more than my legos as a child were in a power struggle with me. But Jesus doesn’t use this power as a display of might, but as a commitment of service. Jesus’ kingship is about doing the will of His Father, and helping us to reign with Jesus. Everything Jesus did on earth and does in heaven is done with the goal of helping us to get to heaven and be in communion with the Most Blessed Trinity. This approach a far cry from the self-centered, despotic uses of power that we are most accustomed to these days.
Yes, Jesus’ power gives Him the right to judge the world at its end, to separate the sheep and the goats. But Jesus uses this parable to teach us how we are to use the power Jesus shares with us, as we are baptized into him and become prophet, priest, and yes, king. Jesus shows us that our use of power has to be the same as His, has to be one of service, especially to those who have nothing.
And that’s what we see from the saintly royals in the history of the church. We just celebrated two royal saints last week: St. Margaret of Scotland, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. St. Elizabeth was a Hungarian princess, who was married at the age of 14, widowed at age 20, and died at age 24. After her husband died, she made sure her children were taken care of, and quickly used her power and especially her money to build a hospital where she served the sick. She gave up her royal trappings in order to serve. St. Margaret of Scotland was an English princess who became Queen of Scotland. She helped her husband grow in faith, served orphans and the poor every day before she ate, and washed the feet of the poor, in addition to her own daily habits of prayer. She saw her position and power as an opportunity to show others the love of Christ, rather than lording it over them.
So for us, who have the baptismal dignity of kings because we are part of the Mystical Body of Christ, who is Himself King of kings and Lord of lords, how do we exercise that power that Jesus has given us? How do we exercise control over ourselves, most importantly, and, when part of our life, over others? Is it for self-aggrandizement? Is it to make sure others know who’s the boss? Or is it to assist others to be the best that they can be, to serve them so that they can more easily continue on the pilgrim route to heaven?
So often we think that, if we have power, others need to focus on us and tend to our needs. But the truth, as is so often the case in the Gospel, is that, for followers of Jesus, that’s the exact opposite of the way it should be. Just as it sounds backwards to say that the poor in spirit, the meek, the peacemakers, those who hunger and thirst for justice, and those who mourn are truly blessed, so for those who have power, it is meant to be exercised in a way that focuses not on the self, but on the other. If we use our power to serve, we probably won’t get a crown of gold with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, but we will get an eternal crown that does not rust or tarnish, with jewels that are the evidence of whom we chose to serve. And that sounds like “the crown” that we would want.
