As I write, we are preparing
for the celebration of ‘Christ the King’, a festival that marks the end of the
Christian year; Advent 1 being the beginning of the new Christian year. ‘Christ
the King’ is relatively new for Anglicans, and it is not one of the festivals
of the Book of Common Prayer. Those with long memories, or with a BCP close at
hand, will know that the end of the year was ordered by ‘Sundays after Trinity’
until we came to the fourth Sunday before Christmas (Advent 1). ‘Christ the King’
was added to the Western Calender by Pope Pius XI in 1925. The full name of the
festival was ‘The Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe’. It
was originally celebrated on the Sunday before ‘All Saints Day’. Pope Paul VI in 1969 transferred it to its
current date: the Sunday before Advent.
Anglicans, and others, adopted it when a common Calender was also adopted.
The Evangelical–Lutheran Church of Sweden calls this day ‘The Sunday of Doom’.
I think it would take some convincing for Anglicans to adopt that name! ‘Christ
the King’ enables us to see the Christian year out with joy, and to finish the
year with a clear proclamation that Jesus Christ is indeed King.
Proclaiming Christ as King
means that we place our allegiance and service to him. We proclaim Christ as
Lord and Saviour. The reading that accompanies ‘Christ the King’ this year is
the sobering parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25: 31 – 46). The ‘sheep’
care for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, and the prisoner.
The ‘goats’ are those who ignored all these. Jesus in telling the story
presents these altruistic actions as being done, or not being done, to him, as
the case may be. Christ the King is mystically present in those who couldn’t
appear less regal. A theme, I suggest, that also pervades the Christmas story
with Jesus the infant King being born in the humblest of conditions.
Proclaiming Christ as King
prompts us to think about how we pay him homage in this world. Worship and
celebration are certainly part and parcel of this. Caring for those in need
flow naturally from our liturgical actions. At Christmas time it is easy to get
caught up in the consumerism that dominates our society. I certainly wouldn’t
want to suggest that we cease from buying gifts for our loved ones, but we are
also reminded this time of year of those in our nation, and in other countries,
that are hungry, poor, oppressed, and falsely imprisoned.
This Christmas let us
provide for those in need. This year at St Jude’s we are encouraging people to
buy a simple gift (a food item, a small gift for a child or adult, for example)
and leave it under our Christmas tree for distribution through Anglicare. You
could also do that independently by yourself, or find another cause to support,
if you wish. The main thing is to incorporate in our worship of Christ the King
acts of love and generosity.
Chris
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