Christ the King 2019 - Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat

In the middle of St Peter’s square in Rome, there stands a great obelisk. Standing over 80 feet tall and weighing over 325 Tons, this stone spear-like monolith originally stood in the temple of the sun in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis over four thousand years ago, representing the egyptians’ desire to communicate with the divine, like an antenna to the heavens. The obelisk was brought to Rome by the dreadful Emperor Caligula and set in the emperor’s gardens upon the mons Vaticanus, the Vatican Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome. A decade later, the equally dreadful Emperor Nero erected a circus there, an open-air venue for public events, and it was in that circus that St Peter was martyred; the obelisk may well have been the last thing on this Earth that Peter saw.

The obelisk was moved about 1500 years later to its present location by Pope Sixtus V who engraved the following words upon the top of the obelisk, “Christus Vincit, regnat, imperat, ab omni malo plebem suam defendat: Christ conquers, He reigns, He commands; may He defend His people from all evil.” And it was topped with a bronze cross containing a fragment of the True Cross of Calvary.
These magnificent words are certainly part of the message resonating throughout this great feast of the Solemnity of Christ the King. “Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!” – “Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands”

Notice, that these words, are not in the past tense. Certainly, Christ conquered. He conquered death through his resurrection. He fought and won on the field of battle through his self-sacrifice. He conquered the false gods of the worlds and showed himself to be the true victor, the true God. And yes, he issued many commands. He commanded the apostles to teach and preach the gospel and to baptize all nations, he commanded sinners to repent, he commanded his followers to pick up and carry their own crosses, to eat his flesh and drink his blood, to follow him, to rejoice, to let their light shine, to honor god’s laws and to love god with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength and your neighbor as yourself, to be reconciled with estranged brethren, to keep one’s word, to go the second mile to help one in need, to love one’s enemies, to pray, to seek the kingdom of God, to beware of false prophets, and to not be afraid of persecution, suffering, and death.

But those words, Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! are not in the past tense. They are in the present tense. For Christ conquers now, he reigns now, he commands now.

Christ the King conquers now. He conquers our pride, he conquers our lusts, he conquers our self-centeredness, he conquers coldness and fear. He conquers through the light of his Gospel truth in our minds, he conquers through the working of sacramental grace in our souls, he conquers the dark parts of our world when Christians choose life over death, faith over disbelief, hope over despair, love over selfishness.

Christ the King reigns now. He reigns in hearts that love the things of God over the things of earth. He reigns when Christians make his Gospel the guiding principle of their lives over secular political philosophies. He reigns in the authentic teaching and governance of the Church. He reigns in the hearts of his saints on earth who leave their comfort to raise up the poor and down-trodden from their miseries. He reigns in families who make Him the center of their family life.

And Christ the King commands us now. Well, everything that he commanded his disciples 2000 years ago, he commands us now. For christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” Go and teach all nations, teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you.” “If you love me, keep my commandments” He commands us through the Deposit of Faith. He commands us through the legitimate authority of the Pope and Bishops in union with Him. He commands us to be faithful and to turn to him for strength when we are tempted and tried and tired.

On this great solemnity of Christ the King, may we unite our minds and wills and hearts to Christ Our King and allow him to conquer in us, reign in us, and command us. May he defend us his people from all evil, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.