By Fr Antony Christy, SDB.
Through him, with him and in him
November 26, 2023: Solemnity of Christ the King
Ezekiel 34:11-12,15-17; 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26,28; Matthew 25: 31-46
To proclaim Christ as King today is not an easy task – while nations wrestle with each other for supremacy and individuals do anything to keep the crown to themselves! It is a challenge to a true Christian flock today to identify its shepherd as the King, and not just that, King of all kings! The Solemnity of Christ the King reminds of the fact that it is in this King we have the victory.
The King, in Him we have the victory! That is the song on our lips today, but can that be truly meant? This could very well be our reflection today: can we truly and fully mean it, when we say, In Him we have the Victory? If we truly have to, then we need to understand fully what we say by that proclamation.
The King = The Thorns + The Crown.
When we call him the King, we know that he is a king of a different kind; but are we conscious of it? Are we conscious of whom we are proclaiming as king and the consequences of it. He is not a merely a king with a crown and a throne, but a king with a crown of thorns! Yes, it is only through his thorns did he finally win over the kingdom.
If we call him our king, we need to look at the priorities of our life – success, dominance, honour and power: can they be my priorities? They are,… for most of us. Shouldn’t we become a little more conscious of it? Let us not think of some distant political leader or a disdained pastoral minister. Think of you and me – our little successes, our dominance in our own small relationships, our seeking of honour and recognition, our secret lust for power… these are all priorities against our type of the King! This king will ask us to look at not success but justice, not dominance but service, not honour but humility, not power but sacrifice as our priority! Can we? If we accept that we are of his flock, we have to!
In Him = Through Him + With Him.
In Him we have the Victory, we say. But what does it mean – In Him. In Cristo, is a very specific term that we need to understand. We see its depth of meaning in the Paul’s assertion: “There is no condemnation for those in Christ” (Rom 8:1). No condemnation is what we mean by victory! The term can be understood in the other two terms: through Him and with Him.
First of all, we need to understand that we are, through Him. Everything is, through Him. When we declare Christ the King of the Universe, we are affirming the fact that Paul teaches: through him everything was created and for him they exist (see Col 1:15-17). When we feel we are doing everything by ourselves, when we begin to attribute all the good to ourselves and all the ills to God, we forget that fact that we are what we are, through Him. The world is full of that tendency today – anything they achieve they take the credit. A problem crops up, they start questioning God and everything that is related!
Secondly to say we are in Christ, we have to be basically with Him. With Christ, is to make the choices that Christ would make, to speak those words that Christ would speak, to do those actions that Christ would do, in short to have the mind of Christ in us. To be with Christ means to step into his shoes, to follow his footsteps, to step on to his feet and be carried in sync with it.
When we are aware of the fact that we live through him and with that consciousness decide to be with him, we are in him and the victory is certainly ours!
Victory = Righteousness + Salvation
In Him we have the Victory, we say. But what is this Victory? Is it comfort and prosperity? Is it shining lives and glamorous future? Victory we speak of here is righteousness on our part and the gift of salvation that the Lord confers. Righteousness is our life of truth and love, without counting the cost. Yes, at times we think of being righteous as a means to winning something from the Lord – no, it is not!
Being Righteous is our call and it is our very being, because we are created in the image and likeness of the Lord. Salvation comes as we get closer and closer to God and in that intimate oneness with the Lord, salvation happens. Salvation is not to be procured – as some keep asking that dumb question: ‘are you saved’? Everybody is! But I need to make that salvation my lifestyle, my daily experience, my oneness with the Lord! That is the Victory that Christ makes so natural and easy for us, when we are IN HIM.
Yes… we have a wonderful, majestic and compassionate King, in Him we have the Victory!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He has completed his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.