Prelate: "Christ reigns by giving us his life"

Words from the preaching of Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz on the feast of Christ the King.

Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz stressed that “Christ is the King of the Universe. We rejoice with the whole Church. We realize that we are governed by Him, by his love, by his omnipotence. We belong to an eternal, universal Kingdom, one of peace, which embraces everything. It is also a Kingdom of holiness, because we can be holy; and a Kingdom of grace, because He is the one who sustains us. He is our peace. In Christ we receive all of God’s love through his human heart.”

The Prelate continued: “We can ask ourselves: where is your Kingdom, Lord? How can we make your Kingdom more visible, more present? And He will reply with the same words he addressed to Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world. But it is already present among us, growing as a seed until it becomes a leafy tree.”

“Faced with the experience of difficulties in our life, we need to believe in God’s action, as the second reading in today’s Mass tells us. For Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. If we are faithful, the Kingdom of God will be a reality in all of our life.”

“The first reading today shows us the Lord as a shepherd who cares for his sheep. He reigns as a shepherd who constantly nourishes us with rich pastures, with his Word and the Eucharist. The Word of God that we receive with faith fills us; it gives meaning to our whole life and the strength we need for Him to reign over us.”

“Let us thank Him especially for the Eucharist, this immense gift by which Jesus gives us his own life. Christ doesn’t reign by giving orders, but rather by giving us his life completely on the Cross and continually in the Eucharist.”

Referring to some words of the founder of Opus Dei, he reminded us that “for Jesus to reign in you and me, we need his abundant grace, so that our every breath, our most ordinary word can be praise for Christ the King, as Saint Josemaria said. Lord, we don’t want to have any other freedom than that of loving you, because that is how we will really be free. We can do everything with joy if we do it with the freedom of love. We ask you for this, Lord!”

The Prelate ended his meditation with a reference to today’s Gospel, which “speaks about a King who judges and the Kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world. We possess the Kingdom as the fruit of charity, also now as a foretaste through giving ourselves to the others as He gives himself to us.”