by Father James Rodriguez

FOR CENTURIES, Catholics have praised Christ as King through the arts. Just last summer, during the World Youth Day festivities in Rio de Janeiro, I heard an a capella masterpiece that continues to resonate with me, and unfailingly brings me to tears every time I hear it. “Crown of Thorns” by Danielle Rose powerfully uses first-person perspective to describe the ignominious crown worn by the truest King the world has ever known. Our Lord is ruler of all, and the greatest example of His power was His loving sacrifice.

Our first reading today describes King David, who was an essential part of the fulfillment of God’s promise to save Israel and, through it, the world. The tribes came to this chosen shepherd and pledged allegiance to him, honoring not only him but the God who chose him. In ratifying God’s choice, they were expressing their faith in Him, whose very house they had become, as our responsorial psalm so joyfully acclaims. Jerusalem is no longer a city like any other.

Awaiting the Anointed One

Now it is the royal city, where God rules through His chosen king – a man whose reign would be marked by tragedy and triumph, sin and repentance. Israel would remember him with deepest reverence, and continue to await the promised Anointed One, the new King David, who would liberate them, once and for all.

St. Paul sings the praises of this new and eternal king in today’s second reading from his letter to the Colossians. Here we see that already, within a generation or so of the Resurrection, Christians were using regal terminology to describe the lowly son of a carpenter. More than that, they were using highly developed philosophical terms, marking Jesus as the Kyrios, the Lord, whose reign not only encompassed a geographic area but all of history and, indeed, the entire universe. In his lifetime, however, Jesus, of the royal line of David, was not regarded as a king. Looking back at the moment on which all of history pivots, the Crucifixion, these early Christians could recognize that “in him, all the fullness was pleased to dwell.”

The torment our Lord endured before ultimately giving His life on the Cross shows us the lengths to which divine love is willing to go.

Rose’s haunting lyrics echo backward through time:

“A purple garment

Hid the torment

None but I could see.

They mocked and laughed,

Gave him a staff,

And bowed on bended knee.

“They bent me round

And wove a crown

And placed me on his head.

My petals found

Crushed on the ground,

Like tears of God turned red.”

This week’s Gospel shows us in full detail the price of our redemption and the King Who happily paid it. It begins with a bit of irony, as “the rulers” mocked Jesus. He, who loved them enough to challenge them to fidelity, is now scorned by the self-styled leaders whose selfishness blinded them from seeing true royalty. The soldiers and onlookers likewise were caught up in the public spectacle.

Lest we think ourselves innocent, the crown in Rose’s song cries out:

“With each small sin

I was pressed in.

I pierced with self-disdain.

In thought and deed

I made him bleed,

My selfishness, his pain.

‘Behold!’ they’d sing,

‘Behold your King!

Hail, King of the Jews!’

With each reed’s blow,

Our pain did grow,

As one we were abused.”

As Christians, we are very much like that crown. Our sinfulness does damage to our relationship with Him who loved us first, and to the end. At the same time, He wears us, as it were, in the world.

“Despite the crown

He did not frown;

He smiled with love instead,

And carried me

For all to see

Upon his tender head.”

It is no small thing for the Church to be called the Body of Christ. You and I, by virtue of our baptism, are spokespeople for the Savior and His Bride. There are many people who love to cite poor Christian witness as an excuse for their own lack of faith. Let us take away this excuse. Let us be like that thief who was so good that, even at the point of death, was able to steal salvation itself, by his humble repentance.

In my work as associate vocation director, I have the privilege of experiencing firsthand the humility of so many people in our parishes. Their love for the priesthood is evident and strong.

Here, in the chapel at Cathedral Prep and Seminary, as I type these words, the young men that fill this chapel every morning likewise inspire me by their humility, seeing themselves as sons in the Son.

Please join me in praying each day for more shepherd-kings, men devoted to the Heart that beats in all the tabernacles of the world, even until the end of time.[hr]

Readings for the Feast of Christ the King

2 Samuel 5: 1-3

Psalm 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5

Colossians 1: 12-20

Luke 23: 35-43

Father James Rodriguez is the associate vocation director for the diocese and teaches at Cathedral Prep and Seminary, Elmhurst.