[1]King Cănūté was
once ruler of England. The members of
his court were continually full of flattery. “You are the greatest man that ever lived…You
are the most powerful king of all…Your highness, there is nothing you cannot
do, nothing in this world dares disobey you.”
The king was a wise man and he grew tired such foolish speeches. One day as he was walking by the seashore
Canute decided to teach them a lesson. “So
you say I am the greatest man in the world?” he asked them.
“O king,” they cried, “there never has been anyone as mighty as
you, and there will never be anyone so great, ever again!”
“And you say all things obey me?” Canute asked. “Yes sire” they said. “The world bows before
you, and gives you honour.”
“I see,” the king answered. “In that case, bring me my chair, and
place it down by the water.”
The servants scrambled to carry Canute’s royal chair over the
sands. At his direction they placed it right at the water’s edge. The King sat down and looked out at the
ocean. “I notice the tide is coming in. Do you think it will stop if I give the
command?”
“Give the order, O great king, and it will obey,” cried his
entourage
“Sea,” cried Canute, “I command you to come no further! Do not
dare touch my feet!” He waited a moment,
and a wave rushed up the sand and lapped at his feet. “How dare you!” Canute shouted. “Ocean, turn
back now! I have ordered you to retreat
before me, and now you must obey! Go back!”
In came another wave lapping at the king’s feet. Canute remained on his throne throughout the
day, screaming at the waves to stop. Yet
in they came anyway, until the seat of the throne was covered with water.
Finally Canute turned to his entourage and said, “It seems I do
not have quite so much power as you would have me believe. Perhaps now you will remember there is only
one King who is all-powerful, and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the
ocean in the hollow of his hand. I
suggest you reserve your praises for him.”[2]
Unlike the servants of King Canute, there is a tender relationship
between the would-be king, David, and the tribes of Israel that suggests the
oneness between God and his people. The
tribes characterize themselves as “your bone and your flesh” (2Sm5:1) as if they were his
progeny rather than his subjects. David
represents God’s authority on earth, and the nation finds in him a father and a
powerful leader. Despite David’s tragic
human flaws, we see in him a foreshadowing of a distant descendant who will
also combine compassion and dominion.
Pope Pius XI established the Solemnity of Christ the King in
response to the destructive forces of his time: the rise of Mussolini and
fascism, the Churches loss of its political power and the decadence of the
Roaring Twenties. The Pope insisted the
only weapon against such military forces and human chaos was the
acknowledgement of the sovereignty of Christ.
He was calling us to actively participate in the celebration as a means to
remind us of the need to respond and answer our baptismal call to be a disciple
of Christ, to follow Christ, to be like our Christ the King.[3]
I’m not sure how successful we’ve been teaching the faithful and
changing the world. The U.S. is engaged
in three war zones, there are riots in many major cities because we don’t like
the President elect, hate messages are flooding Facebook, schools, and
communities; there are so many other false kings that capture and hold our
attention.
Maybe it’s we just don’t get this kingship thing! After all Christ the King reigns from the
throne of the cross—a king whose royal crown is made of thorns.
This whole Liturgical year, seen through the writings of Luke, has
been story after story of how Christ demonstrated to us what it means to be his
disciple, of how we are called to treat others, of what it means to be Christ
to our family, our co-workers, to the people we meet on the street and to ourselves.
God’s mercy is expressed in Jesus’ table fellowship style of
teaching. Jesus is always eating with
new people, the wrong people—women at a men’s symposium, non-Jews, and
sinners. Christ formed new unity
wherever he went. But that new unity
requires us to change. It requires us to
review our priorities. It requires us to
revisit who or what we hold as King in our lives.
Christ’s Kingship is not based on “human power”, but on loving and
serving others, and may we have the faith that allows us to fall into the hands
of a living and loving Christ, as remember He is truly present in this table
fellowship, the Eucharist we are about to share. May Christ the King remember us, as we hope
to share in His Kingdom now and forever.
