Solemnity of Christ the King

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Almighty ever-living God, 

whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, 

the King of the universe, grant, we pray, 

that the whole creation, set free from slavery, 

may render your majesty service 

and ceaselessly proclaim your praise. Amen

"My Kingdom does not belong to this world - if it did - my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over ..." - John 18

I don't get this feast until I pray.  I can't understand it if I listen to Christians who want to engage in armed crusades, or who want to 'bomb the hell out of Syria', or who insist that Jesus would support the 2nd Amendment.  (Palin said that.)  Don't be upset by that - it's just my inability to understand people who rely on weapons and killing.  (I'm not saying nations and people can't defend themselves or their families of course.)

I think I get what the Church teaches though.  I think I understand what the Popes say about Christ the King.  I think I understand what Our Lord meant when he told Pilate, 'my kingdom is not here'.  

This morning I read in Magnificat something Pope Benedict wrote: "God does not have a fixed plan that he must carry out, on the contrary, he has many different ways of finding man and even of turning his wrong ways into right ways ... The feast of Christ the King is therefore not a feast of those who are subjugated, but a feast of those who know they are in the hands of the one who writes straight on crooked lines."

I immediately thought, I bet if Francis said that, he'd be called out for it.

Today the Holy Father greeted pilgrims saying:

“The kingdoms of this world sometimes build themselves on arrogance, rivalry, oppression; the kingdom of Christ is ‘a kingdom of justice, love and peace’,” he said. The Holy Father went on to say, “[T]o reign as He does means to serve God and the brethren – a service that flows from love: to serve for love’s sake is to reign: this is the regality of Jesus.”

Happy feast day!