Christ the King 2018 - Allowing Christ to reign in your life

 A few years ago, I came across a wonderful website called praymorenovenas.com. And on this website, you can sign up for a free email service that sends you novenas throughout the year, such as the Pentecost Novena, the Immaculate Conception Novena, the Corpus Christi Novena, and the St. Jude Novena.

Well, Over the past nine days, I have offered a novena, the Christ the King Novena, on behalf of the parishioners of Holy Family Parish, asking God’s blessing upon all of you and your families and upon my priesthood. And I’d like to share with you this beautiful novena prayer.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Christ, our Savior and our King, renew in me allegiance to Your Kingship. I pray for the grace to place You above the powers of this world in all things. I pray for the grace to obey You before any civic authority. I pray for the grace to fervently bring about Your Kingdom in my family and community. I pray that You will reign in my mind. I pray that You will reign in my heart. I pray that You will reign in my will. I pray that You will reign in my body. I pray that You will reign throughout all the world. I pray that You will reign in every area of my life.

O Prince of Peace, may Your reign be complete in my life and in the life of the world. Christ, my King, please answer these petitions if they be in accordance with Your Holy Will…especially for the people of Holy Family and upon my future pastorate of St. Ignatius of Antioch.

As I reflect on Your second, glorious coming and the judgment of all mankind, I beg You to show me mercy and give me the grace to become a great saint. I pray that not only will I spend eternity with You but that You may use me – a sinner – to bring others into Your Kingdom for Your glory. Christ the King, Your Kingdom come! Amen.

The liturgical year ends with this great feast of Christ the King, praying that Jesus Christ might truly be the king of our lives. Let’s think about what this means.

What does it mean to allow Jesus to reign more fully as King in your family life, in your marriage? Do you pray together as a family? Before meals? Before bed? Before road trips? Do pray together during times of challenge, family drama, or tragedy? Are their signs of Jesus’ kingship in your home: crucifixes and religious statues and well-used family bibles? To make him king of a family is to remember him in every chore, every vacation, every meal, every embrace, every family decision, particularly in the decisions of husbands and wives to be generous in bringing new life into the world and raising your children to know, love, and serve Him, as Lord and King.

What does it mean to make Jesus King of your professional life? Firstly, it means that if you are in a job that is fundamentally immoral, you need to quit. We can’t justify doing immoral things just because they bring in a lot of money.  Having Christ as King means spreading his Kingdom, but when we are involved immorality, we are spreading not Christ’s Kingdom, but the Enemy’s. So, if your company is pursuing policies or strategies which are immoral, at the very least, you have to protest and refuse to take part in them.

Secondly, having Christ as King of your professional life means bringing your Christianity into the operation of your business.  Making time for prayer at work, privately and perhaps with coworkers. Invite coworkers to come to Church on the weekends, or to go to Bible Study.  Oftentimes, if a coworker will sees you reading the Bible or the Catechism on your lunch break, they’ll ask you about it.  How many of your coworkers even know that you are a practicing Catholic? Do you share with them the joy and strength you find in receiving the Eucharist, the peace you receive when you go to confession?

To spread Christ’s reign you could say, “hey I’m inviting our priest out to the house to bless it and to have dinner, would you like to come? Or, “hey my family is going to pray the rosary together Friday night would you like to join us?” or "we are going to church for a service project, to feed the poor, would you like to come?" They might laugh at you, they might politely decline the invitation, or that might be the turning point in their life.

What does it mean to make Jesus King of your personal life? I don’t want to sound creepy, but are you comfortable inviting Christ into everything you do privately.  If you have habits that you wouldn’t do if Christ were in the room, you need to reconsider the habit.  Are there television shows you wouldn’t watch if Jesus were in the room?  Are there internet sites you wouldn’t visit if Jesus were sitting next to you? Do you play video games with content which is morally objectionable? In our permissive culture, there are temptations and evils around every corner, on every channel, every website.  And we really need to fortify ourselves against these things, by clinging to Christ Our King through prayer, study, and healthy fraternity with other Christians. 

What does it mean to make Christ the King of your mind? It means you think deeply about the faith, seek to understand not just what the Church teaches, but why the Church teaches it. Catholicism is an intellectually rich faith.  But we aren’t meant to settle with merely an 8th grade understanding of the faith.  Even after 8 years of seminary and 9 and a 1/2 years of priesthood, our last Scripture Study here at Holy Family on the Gospel of Mark was tremendously enriching for me, and I have two masters degrees in this stuff! We aren’t meant to waste our mental energies on trivial superficialities, but the study of our faith is meant to enrich our lives and make us more effective apologists and evangelists. Treasures await you, if you give your mind to Christ.

Finally, what does it mean to make Christ the King of your body? It means you don’t abuse your body, you don’t poison it with excessive alcohol or drugs or excessive snacking or unhealthy dining. Take care of your bodies so you can carry out the mission and work God has for you.

Christ is meant to reign in our hearts, in our minds, in our family life, in our professional life, in our private life, every sphere, every dimension, in every relationship of our life.  When we allow Him to be King, everything changes. 

We renew our love and loyalty for our King today, and pray for the grace to never be intimidated by any earthly power or seduced by any earthly pleasures, but to herald the victory of our King over sin and death in our minds, in our bodies, in our private and public lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.