2 Samuel 5:1 – 3/ PS 122/ Col 1 : 12 – 20 / Lk 23 : 35 – 43
Brothers and sisters, every time I stand in St. Peter’s Square, I find myself drawn to that ancient obelisk rising in the centre. It’s over four thousand years old older than Abraham and it once stood in a pagan temple in Egypt, dedicated to the sun. Caligula, one of Rome’s cruellest emperors, brought it to the very place where Nero would later build his circus. That circus became a place of terror that was the ground where Christians were mocked, tortured, and executed. And tradition tells us that it was there that St. Peter gave his life for Christ. That obelisk may well have been the last earthly sight Peter saw. But today, what stands atop that same obelisk is not a golden sun, but a cross. And on its base are written those powerful words: Christ has conquered. Christ reigns. Christ rules. And another inscription: “The Lion of Judah has conquered.” Every time I see those words, I feel a kind of quiet strength rise in my heart. Because what was once a monument to earthly power power rooted in fear now proclaims the victory of Christ, whose power is rooted in love.
Today we celebrate that victory. We come to the end of another liturgical year on this Feast of Christ the King, and this year is special: it marks the 100th anniversary since Pope Pius XI established this feast in 1925. And he did it for a reason. He saw a world wounded by violence and nationalism, by rising ideologies that tried to push God out of public life. His message was simple but bold: the peace of Christ in the reign of Christ.
And dear friends, that sounds just as true in 2025 as it did in 1925. We live in a time of deep divisions political division, social division, even division within families. We live in a world where fear can move faster than truth, where anger gets more attention than love, where we can feel exhausted by the constant churn of bad news. Many of us carry private battles too anxiety, family struggles, financial pressures, a sense of uncertainty about the future.
And into all of this, today’s feast gently but firmly proclaims: Christ is King. Not fear. Not chaos. Not the loudest voices. Not the darkness. Christ is King.
Scripture has always proclaimed this. From the prophets who foretold a king in David’s line… to the Magi searching for “the king of the Jews” … to Jesus entering Jerusalem as a humble king riding on a donkey… to Pilate asking, “Are you the king?”… to the sign placed above the cross almost as a mockery but ultimately a proclamation of truth: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. His throne was a cross. His crown was of thorns. His power is love. So the question for us today is not, “Is Christ a king?” The question is: “Is He my king?” “Is He king of my decisions, my priorities, my relationships, my worries, my future?”
To accept Christ as King means surrender not in the sense of defeat, but surrender in the sense of trust. I know how hard that is. As your priest, I carry the same struggles you do. I wake up with worries sometimes. I feel the pull of the world’s noise. And every morning I have to make the same choice you do:
Will I let Christ rule my heart today, or will I let fear, ego, and busyness rule instead?
To accept Christ the King means making room for him: In how we speak to each other at home. In how we treat those who disagree with us. In how we care for the poor, the lonely, the sick, the forgotten. In how we make decisions about our time, our money, our relationships. In whether we forgive or hold on to grudges. In whether we pray only when convenient or pray because we are His. We follow a King who washed feet. A King who lifted up the poor. A King who touched lepers. A King who welcomed sinners. A King whose power is mercy, and whose victory is love. To let Christ be King is to let love lead.
In a world that constantly asks, “Who has more power?” Jesus asks, “Who will serve more deeply?” In a world that asks, “Who is right?” Jesus asks, “Who will love?”
In a world that asks, “Who wins?” Jesus asks, “Who gives themselves away for the sake of others?”
My friends, as we end this liturgical year, I invite you really, I invite all of us to take this week as an opportunity to enthrone Christ again in our hearts. Maybe that means choosing forgiveness. Maybe it means turning off the noise and sitting in silence with Scripture. Maybe it means returning to confession. Maybe it means reaching out to someone who’s been forgotten. Let the cross on that ancient obelisk be a reminder to us: No matter how dark the world may seem, Christ has already won. And when He reigns in our hearts, His peace reigns in our homes, our families, our parish, our world. Christus vincit. Christus regnat. Christus imperat. Christ conquers. Christ reigns. Christ rules.
May He rule in us today and always. Amen.
Fr. Manoj Joseph