On this the last Sunday of the liturgical year, many tongues will sing, “Christ Jesus Victor, Christ Jesus Ruler, Christ Jesus Lord and Redeemer.” For the Son of Man is coming in his glory and all his angels will be with him. He will sit on his glorious throne, and all peoples will come before him. Let the trumpets sound!
On this day, we do not look at the little ways in which the Holy Spirit speaks—through the smell of popcorn, the labor of climbing a mountain, or the planting of onions. This feast lifts us to the majestic, toward the awesomeness of God. All those who await us in heaven have vibrated with this glory. They have seen Christ the King.
Have you gotten a taste of that glory—in a dream? On the edge of a song? In the radiance of a sunset? In the joy of a meal? We don’t believe based on nothing. God has spoken. God has spoken to us.
The One we celebrate was so tiny at the beginning of this adventure. Today, he is grand as Christ the King. It is as though the coo of a newborn baby has swelled into the Hallelujah Chorus; the silence of a grain of sand has become the roar of the Pacific Ocean; the whisper of a gentle breeze has become the rumble of an earthquake. Rejoice!
In gathering the nations, the King wants our wholehearted “yes!” Have we been so completely changed into the person of Christ that we act as he acts, forgive as he forgives, and reach out as he reaches out? Have we given a cup of water to a little one? Have we fed the hungry? These actions are not just a garment thrown over our grubbiness. The trumpet blasts to transform our whole being.
Consider/Discuss
- Teresa of Ávila called her beloved in prayer “Your Majesty.” Try using that invocation as you enter into a moment of silence and contemplate the grandeur of God. Have you seen God’s glory? Tasted it? Heard it? Felt it? Share the story of that glory with a fellow traveler on the pilgrim road.
- As we ponder the sovereignty of Christ, it is an act of our will to obey and follow, to serve as he serves, to love as he loves, and to give as he gives. What one grace can I ask for today to solidify my will to serve my King?
Living and Praying with the Word
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you that we are not alone. Thank you for the fellow pilgrims who have walked with us this year. Thank you that we walk with the saints on earth and the hosts of heaven. Secure in that solidarity, we turn ourselves toward the light of the new liturgical year. We do not know what lies ahead. We do not know what will be. But we do know that the alleluias of the heavens will hold us, for with them, we too will to glorify you with our lives.