In honoring Christ today as our King, let us especially thank him for all the humiliations and sufferings he endured on our behalf. If our Christian way of living makes some demands on us let us not forget how trivial they are when compared with what Christ's earthly life cost him.
A reflection from Father Tudgay for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
Rightly, we look to people who display qualities that we admire for inspiration and leadership. It affects our judgements in everything from politics to business to sports to medicine and, obviously, many other choices. Occasionally, we formulate caricatures of these people in a way that dehumanizes them, transposing our own desire for order and goodness onto someone in such a way that they no longer reflect their truest self, but who we want them to be. Sometimes, however, the veneer cracks when the inevitability of everyone’s humanity surfaces. And the veneer of our admiration can crack, too. And over and over again, we’re reminded that we’re all human and we all make mistakes.
Whether a monarch, a president, or a prime minister, there is a deep longing not only to trust, but also to admire people in leadership. Again, there is the need to remain realistic about the frailty of the human condition and that despite the gifts and talents that we all have, there are situations and circumstances that arise where we seek wisdom beyond ourselves. True leadership recognizes how delicate the human condition is. Adequate responsibility and leadership demand the virtue of humility, demonstrated both by looking beyond oneself to the source of all wisdom, and realizing that when another falls short, they are to be dealt with mercifully.
The Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe reinforces the proclamation of Christians everywhere about who Jesus Christ is for us. Beyond the values that the Gospel gives to the world, Christ’s active presence within our mind and heart serves as the foundational source of wisdom from within. Christian Faith disposes each and every person toward the humility required to work toward the peace and justice that our world craves. Only in Christ can we find all of the virtues necessary to recognize the infinite dignity of each human life, as well as unlock the mystery and beauty of the human imagination. The example that Christians are invited to set in our world is meant to display the virtue of humility both in forgiveness as well as in a realization that Jesus Christ is the ultimate source of power and wisdom. Looking anywhere else for perfection will inevitably lead to disappointment and despair. Recognizing Christ as the center of all things is the only way that Christians work toward peace in our world today.
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