40 — JESUS UNIVERSAL KING

January 5

Presence of God. — O Lord, Your greatnesses are inexhaustible; make me capable of adoring and loving You in a manner worthy of Your infinite majesty.

Meditation

1 — Jesus is our all and rightly, therefore, He is also our King. He Himself proclaimed it: “I am King” (Jn. 18, 37); “all power has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Mt. 28, 18).

Pius XI in the encyclical Quas primas teaches that “Jesus is King by right of nature and of conquest.” By right of nature: “He obtains... sovereignty over all creatures, not seized by violence nor received from another, but possessed by Him through His own nature and essence; that is, Christ’s principate is founded upon that marvelous union called hypostatic union. From this it follows not only ‘that Christ must be adored by angels and men as God, but also that to Him, as Man, angels and men must be subject and obedient.’” Christ as Man fully participates in Christ’s kingship and sovereign majesty as God, since, as Man and as God, Christ is one Person, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity; He is at the summit of creation: the principle, the end, the king of all things. He has “primacy in all things” (Col. 1, 18). Nor what could be sweeter and more beautiful than to think that Christ reigns over us not only by right of nature, but also by right of conquest, by virtue of Redemption? Would that men forgetful should remember how much we have cost our Savior. “Not at a price... of gold and silver have you been ransomed... but by the precious Blood of Christ. Therefore we are no longer our own, since at so dear a price Christ has bought us back” (Quas primas). Jesus, therefore, has every right to reign over us; therefore He must reign: oportet Illum regnare! (1 Cor. 15, 25).

2 — From all eternity God the Father saw in Christ — His Only-Begotten made man for the redemption of sinful humanity — the masterpiece of His hands, and therefore decreed that all creation be made for Him, given to Him as His royal appanage. St. Paul declares that God the Father placed Christ “at His right hand in heaven, above every Principality and Power, Virtue and Domination”—that is, above all angelic hierarchies—“and above every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the future” (Eph. 1, 20 and 21). Behold Christ the King above the angels, also created for His glory.

With regard to men and women, then, we must repeat with the Apostle that “we were chosen and predestined in Christ, so that we might be for the praise of His glory” (ibid., 1, 12). As St. Paul says, so we too were created for the glory of Christ, universal King; and as in heaven angels sing His praises, so we must glorify Him on earth.

To glorify Jesus as our King means to recognize His sovereign rights over us; it means to live docilely subject to His most sweet empire.

His kingdom is a kingdom of love: for a motive of love, that is, to save us, He descended from heaven and became one of us, and for the same motive He died on the Cross, shed all His Blood. Jesus reigns from the manger, Jesus reigns from the cross: He who by His nature was already our absolute Master willed to win at so dear a price our poor hearts. Let us not resist the sweet violence of His infinite love: let us give ourselves entirely to Him, so that He may reign in our mind, in our will, in our hearts.

Colloquy

“Who, O my Lord and my King, could depict the greatness that shines in You? It is impossible not to recognize that You are sovereign Majesty itself. In contemplating You, one remains full of wonder, especially in seeing You also so humble and so full of love for a creature like me.

“After that first sense of dismay that arises at the sight of such greatness, I can remain with You and speak to You freely... Yes, because although You are God, I can deal with You as with a friend, because You are not like the lords of the earth who place all their greatness in an external display of authority... Your kingdom, O King of glory and Lord of all kings,... has no end and, to approach You, so many intermediaries are not needed. To know that You alone among all deserve the name of Sovereign, it is enough to contemplate You, because in You shines such majesty that to show Yourself King You have no need of retinue and escort” (T.G. Vi. 37, 6 and 5).

O Lord, grant that my soul may always recognize You as its King and sovereign Master; everything I have received from You, so how could I fail to understand that You have every right over me? But You are a King who seems to make no account of His sovereign rights. What need was there, in order to win my heart, that You lower Yourself to the hiddenness of Bethlehem, that You humble Yourself to death on the cross, that You shed for me all Your Blood? My heart, all my being, and all my life already belonged to You, because You are my Creator and because I was created for Your glory. But You wanted to forget Your rights and came to me as a beggar, in search of my poor heart.

O Jesus, how can I still resist before Your infinite love? Take my heart, take all my being and make me a living praise of Your glory.