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Confraternity of Christ the King
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Nota bene: This is the first in a series of articles comparing the Christ the King readings in the Traditional and Novel Rites. For the others, see the comparison of Year A and Year B.
The new lectionary for the Roman rite works on a three-year cycle, making it very difficult to keep track of the proper readings or to compare those readings across rites. Instead of having reliably the same readings at a given Mass each year, the new lectionary has “Year A”, “Year B”, and “Year C”, each of which will have different readings for the same feasts. The traditional lectionary, on the other hand, has the same readings for each day every year, providing reliability and consistency.
Nevertheless, let us look at the readings for the feast of Christ the King in both lectionaries, and see what we can learn from them.
As noted above, the new lectionary consists of a three-year cycle, so we must examine not one set of readings, but three to get to grips with the new feast of Christ of the King of All Things. (This is the literal translation of the new name of the feast: Christi Regis Universorum.)
We will note three things about the readings below:
As noted above, the new lectionary consists of a three-year cycle, so we must examine not one set of readings, but three to get to grips with the new feast of Christ of the King of All Things. (This is the literal translation of the new name of the feast: Christi Regis Universorum.) For now, let's focus on the Year C readings.
Year C presents us with another mixed bag of suitability. The Old Testament reading is applicable, at least, and the Epistle is unquestionably correctly selected. The Gospel is a bit puzzling.
Here we do have some talk of kingship:
Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, saying: Behold we are thy bone and thy flesh. Moreover yesterday also and the day before, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that did lead out and bring in Israel: and the Lord said to thee: Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over Israel. The ancients also of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David to be king over Israel.
However, we're talking about King David, not Christ the King. To a certain extent, this is appropriate, given that Christ is King in the line of David. On the other hand, there is no mention of the many prophecies that David's line would rule forever. So this reading, while appropriate, is really incomplete.
A good psalm for the feast:
I REJOICED at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together. For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord. Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the house of David.
Not the best psalm, but a good one. A statement of the authority of Jerusalem among the tribes of Israel. Later on in the psalm we see statements of the benefits that accepting the rule of the Lord brings to His people, which may have been good to add. But while there is another obvious choice for a psalm for this Mass, this one is not badly chosen.
Arguably the best possible choice for the Epistle:
Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins; Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and in him. And he is before all, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may hold the primacy: Because in him, it hath well pleased the Father, that all fullness should dwell; And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in heaven.
Unsurprisingly, this is the Epistle for the traditional feast. This Epistle unites the best claims of Christ to His Kingdom: by right of creation, and by right of redemption. It explains that by these acts, He has united all things to Himself; that this extends to all things, in heaven and on earth; it makes special mention of the Church. No more suitable Epistle could be found.
As we note when discussing the readings from Year A and from Year B, this verse is quite appropriate, though the excisions are certainly questionable.
And they that went before and they that followed, cried, saying: Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh:Hosanna in the highest.
Another curious choice for the Gospel:
And the people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided him, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the elect of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying: If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And there was also a superscription written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. And one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
It does have the word “king” in it, and it does have Jesus making judgment, one of the quintessential acts of kingship. However, it is plainly focused on His redemptive act, not on His rule. Theere is no clear connection in this reading between the redemptive act and His rule, so one can only scratch one's head regarding this selection.
The new lectionary had to fill out three entirely separate liturgies with readings, and as a result none of them really adequately displays the clear Scriptural teaching on Christ the King. The best and most suitable readings are scattered throughout the three-year rotation, and the remainder each year are less suitable. For Year C, we find an oddly mixed batch of readings with no clear common theme. Overall, one simple, unified set of readings for one simple, unified feast—the traditional choice of the Church—serves the feast, and the faithful, much better.
Now we will turn toward the traditional readings for the feast of Christ the King. This set of readings, put in place by the founder of the feast, Pope Pius XI, should be examined very carefully for the riches regarding the doctrine of Christ the King that they can afford us.
First, for the Introit, we have a reading from the Apocalypse of St. John (usually called by the name “Revelations”); but note here that there is no hint of eschatological character.
The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction. GIVE to the king thy judgment, O God: and to the king's son thy justice.
This prayer focuses on the claim of Christ for His Kingship. As we know from the Catechism of Christ the King, Christ's claim to kingship is by blood (that is, His descent from David, to whose line was promised the kingship of God's people forever); by right of creation; and by right of redemption. So the Church presents us the image of “[t]he Lamb that was slain”, by which our redemption was accomplished. Because of that redemption, because He was slain, He “is worthy to receive power”, the kingship which He rightly holds over all of us. We then echo the prayer of David himself, from whose descent Christ claims His kingship by blood: “Give to the king thy judgment, O God: and to the king's son thy justice.” We have here noted His right to kingship by blood and by redemption; and by appealing to both “the king” and to “the king's son”, we are appealing also to God the Father, the Creator, and invoking His right by creation, as well.
What riches and knowledge of Christ our King from such a short passage, such a brief prayer! Still more lies in wait for us.
This epistle is preserved in the new lectionary as the epistle for Year C; and it is good that it was preserved, for it's the best possible choice for this great feast. Let's read it again and see what more spiritual wealth on Christ's kingship we can find:
Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins; Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and in him. And he is before all, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may hold the primacy: Because in him, it hath well pleased the Father, that all fullness should dwell; And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in heaven.
One could be forgiven for thinking this to have been written by Pius XI himself, in order to explain the doctrine of Christ the King! Here we have two of the claims of Christ to the kingship, spelled out as the things which “hath translated us into the kingdom”!
This is a wonderfully clear exposition of the kingship of Christ, a perfect meditation on His rights from creation and redemption.
Next we have the Gradual, which combines Psalm 71 with the book of Daniel:
And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. And all kings of the earth shall adore him: all nations shall serve him. [H]is power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.
Once again, we have here a reading that uniquely expresses the universal breadth of His kingship and power. Even “the kings of the earth” owe Him homage; His power is “everlasting” and “shall not be destroyed”; he rules “from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth”. In other words, His kingship is universal in both time and place.
The perfect Gospel for this feast, which we also find in Year B of the new lectionary:
Pilate therefore went into the hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him: Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered: Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of me? Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered thee up to me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence. Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.
Once again, Christ emphatically states His kingship, and does so in the present tense. Indeed, “[f]or this was I born, and for this came I into the world.” It was this very kingship that the Jews used to justify His murder; after all, anyone who makes himself a king is no friend of Caesar—even if He is king of the Jews. This Gospel is the obvious and logical choice for the feast.
Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Mostly self-explanatory. In the offertory, we read how God the Father, Creator of all, gave everything to the Son “for thy inheritance”; that is, to rule.
[T]he Lord shall sit king for ever… the Lord will bless his people with peace.
Again, mostly self-explanatory. For the Communion, we read that the Lord, Jesus Christ, is “king for ever”; and that His kingship “will bless his people with peace.”
Though not from the Scriptures, this prayer serves as an excellent reminder of the true purpose of the feast as established by Pope Pius IX:
We have received the food of eternal life, and we beseech You, O Lord, that we who are proud to serve under the flag of Christ the King may forever reign with Him in the Kingdom of heaven. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
This prayer is humble, supplicative, yet militant; we “serve under the flag of Christ the King”! Any Christian praying this cannot help but feel the urge of marching through his own life under this flag. It is a fitting way to close the Mass of this great feast, and send the faithful on to live its teachings out in their lives.
Pope Pius XI, when he established the feast of Christ the King, did his job well. We do well, of course, to study the Scriptures, regardless of the passage; but if we wish to come to a deeper knowledge of Christ the King, we would do well to study the Scripural readings of the traditional feast, and strive to put them all in our hearts.