When I was a child living in Plano, we had a creek behind our house. In the creek, we did many things. We fished, we created forts and tree-houses. But we also played a game called “King of the Mountain.” In this game everyone tries to get to the top of the hill and remain there. Everyone else tries to get the each other off. When they get pushed back down the hill, the person on top could say, “I am King.” Of course, I was always the king. No, I certainly was there a few times.

Today is the feast of Christ the King. We celebrate that Jesus is the King of our lives. However, I want to ask you the question. What is your image of a king? Is a king someone who makes other people do what they want and rule over them. Is a king someone who pushes others down to make themselves more superior. The reason why I ask you this question is that in the United States, we tend to have a negative view of kingship. Think about our revolution from the king of England. We even made a parody out of their song, “God save the Queen.” We have this negative view of a king. 

So how are we to honestly look at the feast of Christ the King. We know that Jesus Christ kingship was not like any other in the world. It was not about power and ruling over others. Instead it was one of self-sacrifice. It was one of service, love, and eventually him laying his life down for us. The power of Jesus our King is in His resurrection and in the fact that Jesus is God, the author and ruler of all of creation. The kingdom of Jesus Christ, is about us not cowering under his power, but rejoicing in unity with Him who is all powerful.

Let’s look at the Gospel. Today, Jesus is being interrogated by Pontius Pilate. Pilate was trying to understand the Pharisee’s claim that Jesus is king. So, he asking Jesus Christ if this is true. We know that Jesus is king, but its not the type of kingship that both Pontius Pilate and the Pharisees understood. See they thought that a king meant to rule over others in power. They thought it meant to establish vast armies and to fortresses, wars and boundaries. Of course, Jesus was not talking of such a kingdom. That is why his reply is so strong. He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

Indeed, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is over all of the world. He is not just king over you and me, but over all peoples. He is king over all races, countries, religions. He is king over all creation. He is king over all the cosmos. He is the King of kings. 

In the middle of St. Peter square in Rome, there lies and obelisk. You know that an obelisk is that monument made by the ancient Egyptians that represented their many gods and powers. It represents all that man desires to have power. On the top of this obelisk is the cross. The cross is the symbol of the kingship of Jesus Christ. On the obelisk then is written these words. “Cristus Vincit. Cristus regnat. Cristus Emperat” Christ is victorious, Christ reigns. Christ rules. You see Jesus Christ’s kingdom has no end and is over all things.

There are some in america that says that we should not have today as Christ the King. We should have Christ the President. We believe in democracy that everyone can choose who can rule them. So parents ask children whether or not they want candy or what they want for dinner. They vote and they get. Some people dont want Jesus to be king. King means that it doesnt matter what I want or what I believe Jesus is king. WIth him as president, then I can decide where he should be. I am in charge not him. And so it goes. I will allow Jesus to be president when I am in Church but when I am in my home that is a different story. I will have Jesus as president at Sunday school, but not at work or at my school. I will have him president when it makes me look good, but when I have to stand up for the abused and weak, I will choose someone else. We do this all the time. The reality is that Jesus Christ is king over all these areas of our lives. We just have to see him reign.

During the middle ages, the feudal system had lords and vassals. A vassal was a noble man that would approach someone higher than him and give him his allegiance. He would knee before the lord and clasp his hands together and say the oath of fidelty. He would give himself over to serve the lord and ask in return for the blessing of him. We have taken this gesture over and brought it into our churches. We kneel down and clasp our hands as a sign that Jesus is our King. We offer ourselves completely over to him and will not allow anything to get in the way of this. 

I finally, want to give you a real example of someone who did this. Blessed Miguel Pro was a Jesuit priest in Mexico about 100 years ago during the Mexican Revolution. The government during this time began to persecute the catholic church and began to kill many priests and would walk into churches and shoot those who attended mass. Miguel Pro went into hiding and continued his ministry as a priest in people’s homes. Around this time a movement developed called the Cristero movement and they had the words “Viva Cristo Rey” as their slogan. Viva Cristo Rey means Long live Christ the King. This could be heard throughout the country side. Finally, Blessed Miguel Pro was captured and was placed in front of a firing squad. The last words from his mouth was “Viva Cristo Rey.” Long live Christ the King. 

At the end of our lives, I hope that all of us can have the same last words from our mouths. This can only happen if we say Viva Cristo Rey during the morning, noon, and night. If we live our lives with Christ Jesus as our king then in the end we will naturally have these same words on our mouths. We will be recognizing that Jesus Christ is victorious, rules, and reigns in all parts of our lives.