Daily Retreat 11/26/06
2006 Nov 26 SUN: CHRIST THE KING S (Thirty-fourth and Last Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Dn 7: 13-14/ Ps 92(93): 1. 1-2. 5 (1a)/ Rv 1: 5-8/ Jn 18: 33b-37
From today’s readings: “The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve Him.... The LORD is king, He is robed in majesty.... Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.... My kingdom does not belong to this world....”
Christ the King - Absolute or Constitutional Monarch?
The few countries which today still boast a royal sovereign are, for the most part, constitutional monarchies. This means, of course, that the power of the country’s monarch is not absolute; rather, it is limited by the national constitution, the highest law in the country. And the great majority of these constitutions severely limit the power of the monarch, oftentimes to the status of a mere figurehead.
The United Kingdom is the most familiar example of this: Queen Elizabeth II is still "gloriously reigning" - she and her family live in a palace, she is honored throughout the land, has a number of official duties, is well paid, and enjoys the highest social status, but in actuality, she has very little to say about the direction of her country’s government. If she, or any other constitutional monarch would ever try to overstep their limitations, the politicians would quickly short-circuit such efforts.
This happened a number of years ago when the late King Baudouin was reigning in Belgium. As the constitutional monarch, one of his duties was to "rubber stamp" all the bills passed by parliament with his signature, thereby officially promulgating them as law. In 1990, the Belgian parliament passed a reprehensible bill that basically removed all legal sanctions against abortions. As a practicing and conscientious Catholic, King Baudouin objected to abortion vehemently, and so he could not and would not endorse the measure. But according to the constitution, he did not have a choice - as figurehead monarch, he HAD to ratify the bill, so by refusing to sign the bill into law, he was, in effect, attempting to veto the parliament, and putting his throne on the line! The parliament simply dethroned him for one day, promulgated the law on that day when there was no reigning monarch in Belgium, and then re-instated him on the next day.
In spite of King Baudouin’s noble example, and the frustration that the Belgian constitution did not empower him to provide some crucial moral leadership for the country, I’m sure we would all agree that, on the whole, it is a good thing that reigning monarchs of this world are constitutionally limited in their power. The King of Belgium could not impede the passage of a shameful law in his country, but neither could he whimsically assess taxes, confiscate property, or imprison or even execute a citizen the way that the absolute monarchs of old were known to do. The constitution limits the monarch’s ability to use power for good, but it also limits his ability to use power for evil.
Now since most of our modern familiarity with kings and queens is only of the constitutional variety, it’s clear that many people also mentally reduce their image of Christ the King from His actual status as absolute, omnipotent King of the Universe, to a more manageable, less intrusive position as a type of constitutional monarch, who is Himself subjected to a "higher law." What is this "higher law" which many people believe even limits God’s sovereignty? It is the law of radical self-determination, the idea that autonomy and "choice" are the highest goods, and anything or anyone that impinges on absolute personal freedom must be deposed. So people think, "Yes, I believe in God, but I could choose not to," as if His existence were contingent on such people’s choice!
The notion of God as figure-head monarch is most clearly revealed in the realm of personal morality. Many, many people have a mind set that "something is right or wrong for me, only when I decide for myself if it’s right or wrong!" In other words, they usurp God's role, and set themselves up as the absolute moral authority, and then, curiously, often turn to God to ratify their conclusions, for instance, by selectively searching the Bible for verses that support their stance, but conveniently dismissing or overlooking scriptural passages that would veto their personal bias and prejudices.
But if God is thus reduced to constitutional monarch, if our God must bow to the law of radical self-determination, then He would be merely a god of our own making! As it is, though, His omnipotence is clearly set forth in Revelation: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "the One who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty!" The prophet Daniel too saw no convenient constitutional limits to the authority of the
"Son of man [who] received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve Him!
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away,
His kingship shall not be destroyed!"
Neither will Jesus stand for Pontius Pilate’s (or anyone else’s!) pathetic attempts to neatly cast Him as a pretender puppet king with no real power - rather, the Christ attests that only in Him, in His kingship, is found the Truth, "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice!" - the voice of the King of Kings!
Granted - earthly monarchs need constitutional limitations to prevent the abuse of power. But, that’s NOT true for the Heavenly monarch, the all-good, all-loving God, for anytime we attempt to impede Christ’s reign in our lives, we’re just erecting an obstacle to the good that He could be in our lives. Clearly then, there’s false comfort and perilous perdition in that illusion of ultimate self-determination: if someone on the street swears at you and says, "Go to Hell!" sure, it’s easy to invoke your autonomy then and shrug it off with the slur, "I’m free - I don’t have to go anywhere I don’t want to go!" Yet the people who declare self-determination their highest law and have thus pretended to enthrone themselves as the sovereign moral authority by dethroning in their hearts Christ the King, when HE solemnly speaks those same words as the judgment of eternal damnation, such people will discover the absolute limits of personal freedom, limits constituted by the True and Almighty King of all creation!
Dn 7: 13-14/ Ps 92(93): 1. 1-2. 5 (1a)/ Rv 1: 5-8/ Jn 18: 33b-37
From today’s readings: “The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve Him.... The LORD is king, He is robed in majesty.... Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.... My kingdom does not belong to this world....”
Christ the King - Absolute or Constitutional Monarch?
The few countries which today still boast a royal sovereign are, for the most part, constitutional monarchies. This means, of course, that the power of the country’s monarch is not absolute; rather, it is limited by the national constitution, the highest law in the country. And the great majority of these constitutions severely limit the power of the monarch, oftentimes to the status of a mere figurehead.
The United Kingdom is the most familiar example of this: Queen Elizabeth II is still "gloriously reigning" - she and her family live in a palace, she is honored throughout the land, has a number of official duties, is well paid, and enjoys the highest social status, but in actuality, she has very little to say about the direction of her country’s government. If she, or any other constitutional monarch would ever try to overstep their limitations, the politicians would quickly short-circuit such efforts.
This happened a number of years ago when the late King Baudouin was reigning in Belgium. As the constitutional monarch, one of his duties was to "rubber stamp" all the bills passed by parliament with his signature, thereby officially promulgating them as law. In 1990, the Belgian parliament passed a reprehensible bill that basically removed all legal sanctions against abortions. As a practicing and conscientious Catholic, King Baudouin objected to abortion vehemently, and so he could not and would not endorse the measure. But according to the constitution, he did not have a choice - as figurehead monarch, he HAD to ratify the bill, so by refusing to sign the bill into law, he was, in effect, attempting to veto the parliament, and putting his throne on the line! The parliament simply dethroned him for one day, promulgated the law on that day when there was no reigning monarch in Belgium, and then re-instated him on the next day.
In spite of King Baudouin’s noble example, and the frustration that the Belgian constitution did not empower him to provide some crucial moral leadership for the country, I’m sure we would all agree that, on the whole, it is a good thing that reigning monarchs of this world are constitutionally limited in their power. The King of Belgium could not impede the passage of a shameful law in his country, but neither could he whimsically assess taxes, confiscate property, or imprison or even execute a citizen the way that the absolute monarchs of old were known to do. The constitution limits the monarch’s ability to use power for good, but it also limits his ability to use power for evil.
Now since most of our modern familiarity with kings and queens is only of the constitutional variety, it’s clear that many people also mentally reduce their image of Christ the King from His actual status as absolute, omnipotent King of the Universe, to a more manageable, less intrusive position as a type of constitutional monarch, who is Himself subjected to a "higher law." What is this "higher law" which many people believe even limits God’s sovereignty? It is the law of radical self-determination, the idea that autonomy and "choice" are the highest goods, and anything or anyone that impinges on absolute personal freedom must be deposed. So people think, "Yes, I believe in God, but I could choose not to," as if His existence were contingent on such people’s choice!
The notion of God as figure-head monarch is most clearly revealed in the realm of personal morality. Many, many people have a mind set that "something is right or wrong for me, only when I decide for myself if it’s right or wrong!" In other words, they usurp God's role, and set themselves up as the absolute moral authority, and then, curiously, often turn to God to ratify their conclusions, for instance, by selectively searching the Bible for verses that support their stance, but conveniently dismissing or overlooking scriptural passages that would veto their personal bias and prejudices.
But if God is thus reduced to constitutional monarch, if our God must bow to the law of radical self-determination, then He would be merely a god of our own making! As it is, though, His omnipotence is clearly set forth in Revelation: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "the One who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty!" The prophet Daniel too saw no convenient constitutional limits to the authority of the
"Son of man [who] received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve Him!
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away,
His kingship shall not be destroyed!"
Neither will Jesus stand for Pontius Pilate’s (or anyone else’s!) pathetic attempts to neatly cast Him as a pretender puppet king with no real power - rather, the Christ attests that only in Him, in His kingship, is found the Truth, "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice!" - the voice of the King of Kings!
Granted - earthly monarchs need constitutional limitations to prevent the abuse of power. But, that’s NOT true for the Heavenly monarch, the all-good, all-loving God, for anytime we attempt to impede Christ’s reign in our lives, we’re just erecting an obstacle to the good that He could be in our lives. Clearly then, there’s false comfort and perilous perdition in that illusion of ultimate self-determination: if someone on the street swears at you and says, "Go to Hell!" sure, it’s easy to invoke your autonomy then and shrug it off with the slur, "I’m free - I don’t have to go anywhere I don’t want to go!" Yet the people who declare self-determination their highest law and have thus pretended to enthrone themselves as the sovereign moral authority by dethroning in their hearts Christ the King, when HE solemnly speaks those same words as the judgment of eternal damnation, such people will discover the absolute limits of personal freedom, limits constituted by the True and Almighty King of all creation!
posted by FrPitstick | 11/22/2006
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