Let us not be afraid of this King
Fr. IRENEUSZ SKUBIŚ
Today we are experiencing a unique Sunday because it is the feast of Christ the King of the Universe. This is a wonderful feast (you can learn more about it in the liturgical insert) showing the essence of our faith and re-evaluating what absorbs us every day. Speaking about the kingdom of Christ – the kingdom of God, we must realise that we deal with the eschatological reality that we will possibly face at the end of the world, the reality that has been already present and very close, which we are trying to build sometimes like the mythical Sisyphus but above all it is God reigning is us. And this can be achieved thanks to the Decalogue, thanks to the commandment of love for God and neighbour, thanks to some kind of constitution of God’s kingdom embraced in the Sermon on the Mount and finally, thanks to following Christ and becoming like him. By proclaiming Christ the King of the Universe and establishing this feast Pope Pius XI wanted to emphasize what was imperishable in the world shaped by people, what always remained as values, invincible even when it died in the human dimension. And it was the beginning of the 20th century about which Roman Brandstaetter would say ‘it is an evil century’, the period of Bolshevism, then the years of Hitlerism, the time of Catholics’ persecutions, especially in Mexico where especially the Church suffered and where the idea of that feast was very vivid (see p. 38); the time of the war in Spain in 1936 during which thousands of Catholics were killed, including numerous religious people. Jesus Christ the King is a call sign. The world without the evangelical values of God is a world of barbarism and anarchy. And today we are to ask Jesus: May your Kingdom come! Jesus, be our King! Give us graces, give us strong faith, give us the strength to carry love, justice and peace to people. We so often speak about democracy that it is the highest value. But if there is no room for God and values, which people need necessarily, in it, democracy becomes something cruel, taking the form of dictatorship of majority, which is very dangerous from the moral point of view since a referendum or choice of more comfortable life can decide about introducing bills that contradict the natural law. The Kingdom of Jesus Christ is not an attempt on democracy, man and his freedom. Jesus Christ is the King of love. And the teaching he brings does not destroy but builds societies, people’s teams, social order; it introduces harmony and peace. If we all follow Jesus we must be sure that no one will be harmed; no one will be deprived of his/her dignity and personal freedom. We all experienced the visits of John Paul II to Poland. And what did he proclaim? Indeed the kingdom of God! And the whole nation felt happy, more certain of who it was – let us notice that there were no crimes in those mass gatherings; people showed confidence and love for themselves; they filled their hearts with goodness and the whole world became better. Therefore, let us not be afraid of Jesus Christ the King of the Universe. He brings his proposal for man’s good. At the beginning of his pontificate John Paul II said the meaningful words: ‘Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development.’ What dramatic and still valid his appeal is! Do not be afraid of our Lord and King.
"Niedziela" 47/2008