Christ the King: November 20, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflections

Christ the King

November 20, 2022

Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. Saint Francis de Sales encourages us to place ourselves under the Kingship of Christ.

Bees are restless when they are without a queen. But when their queen is born, they gather around her and follow her desires. In the same way, our senses ceaselessly wander about, drawing our interior self after them, wasting time and creating restlessness and anxiety in us. All shatter the peace that is so necessary for our human spirit. Our senses, our minds, and our will are like mystical bees. Until they have a ruler, that is, until they have chosen Our Lord for their king, they are restless.

Yet, when we have chosen Our Lord as Our King, we ought to place ourselves under Him. Our Majesty is sovereignly good in exercising both mercy and justice. God’s mercy makes us embrace what is good while God’s justice makes us shun evil. Our Lord uses mercy and justice to uproot whatever prevents us from experiencing the effects of His goodness. Our Majesty’s justice may sting our conscience with insights. Yet they create movements that lead to our well-being. Letting go of our old self may cause us to suffer as our new self in Christ is formed. But Our Lord’s unrivaled mercy opens our hearts and restores our health through the Holy Spirit, who floods our hearts with sacred love.

Wherever Our Lord is the Master, there is peace. To preserve our peace let us have a pure intention of willing God’s glory in all things. Let us do the little we can for that end and leave to God the care of all the rest. May we have the fidelity to keep ourselves submissive to our King’s desires as the bees do with their queen, so we might begin in this life what, with the help of God’s love, we shall do eternally in Heaven. Live Jesus!

(Adapted from the writings of Saint Francis de Sales)