Pope Benedict has surprised everyone.  Many had hoped that his papacy would be one of precise dogmatic pronouncements.  Others feared that very thing.   In his first encyclical, however, the scholarly guardian of doctrine disarmed all.  In a gentle, fatherly fashion, Benedict simply reminded us: Deus Caritas Est  “God Is Love!”
   

    In his Wednesday Messages, our Holy Father stresses that the Church should not be seen as a foreboding domain of do’s and don’ts.  No, he insists!  Our most holy religion must be understood as a “walk with Jesus.”   Does that mean that the life of a Christian is without boundaries?  Of course not!   Jesus Himself has told us that if we love Him we must keep His commandments. 
   

    Yet, Pope Benedict says our “walk with Jesus” must be a way of life - - - a day-by-day, indeed a minute-by-minute discipleship.  His message echoes that of the Apostle Paul who adamantly admonished the early Christians to live “in the spirit and not in the flesh.”  In other words, we must live Christianity as disciples of Jesus.  Jesus Christ is our King! 
   

    The Catechism of the Catholic Church carries on the same theme:  “The social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken in each man the love of the true and the good.  It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion, which subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church.  Christians are called to be the light of the world.  Thus, the Church shows forth the Kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies.” (CCC 2105)
   

    On the Solemnity of Christ the King, the Church prays at the Preface of the Mass: “Father, Your anointed Jesus Christ, your only Son, with the oil of gladness, as the Eternal Priest and the Universal King.  As Priest, He offered His life on the altar of the Cross and redeemed the human race by this one sacrifice of peace.”
   

    The Redemption! The central mystery and focal point of Catholic faith!  Jesus, the Eternal Priest and Saving Victim, suffered and died for our salvation on the Cross of Calvary.   
   

    The Preface continues:  “As king He claims dominion over all creation.” From whom did Jesus claim dominion?  Satan!  When our First Parents sinned, man lost son ship with God and the gates of heaven were closed.   From that moment, mankind came under the dominion of the devil.   Yet, in His infinite mercy, God did not abandon us.  Jesus Christ is the Messiah sent by the Father to atone for the sins of the world.  Our Divine Savior claims us back as sons of God destined for eternal glory in heaven.   
   

    Indeed!  Jesus Christ is our King!   We must not worship the false gods of paganism which so imbue our society.   Christians have one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.  Our Blessed Lord calls us to live our baptismal commitment through the saving mystery of the Church.  Again, Saint Paul reminds us: “Now then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God.” (Eph 2:19)
   

    Lord Jesus! You alone are our Savior and our Eternal King!   For all eternity, we want to be Yours!  Come, Lord Jesus Christ!  Come in glory!  Amen!
                   

                        Father Richard J. Rego, S.T.L.