My Dear People,

             Today is the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year. Jesus is going to come as King. The goal of God’s plan is to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth. This will happen when the Divine Will is established on earth the way it is in heaven.

             The Divine Will was on the earth at the beginning of humanity. That lasted until human will entered the earth, and with it sin and death. God’s plan is to have the earth exist in the way it was originally created. This includes, of course, all people, and it means that all the people on earth will be living the Divine Will. This would only be possible through the power of God. This is what it probably means when the scriptures speak of “a new heaven and new earth.” The earth will be new because there will not be the human will of sin, the human will of war.

Jesus speaks to Pilate and tells him in John 18:36: “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews.”

Jesus did enter Jerusalem in triumph, and he did accept acclamation as King-Messiah. Now, in the passion, he acknowledges before Pilate that he is truly a king, making it clear that his kingship is not an earthly one. Thus, those who expected the Messiah to have visible temporal power were mistaken. “The kingdom of God does not deal with temporal affairs of the earth, but it is a kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom 14: 17). The divine activity which saves people will reach its culmination when history ends, and the Lord comes from the heights of paradise to finally judge the people. 

His Kingship is the “Kingdom of Truth and Life, the kingdom of Holiness and Grace, the kingdom of Justice, love and Peace” (Roman Missal, Preface of the Mass of Christ the King).

Happy Thanksgiving Day to everyone.

 Yours in Christ,   Fr. Vincent Clemente