By HIs Grace Most Rev. Prakash Mallavarapu, Archbishop of Visakhapatnam –
With the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe in this month of November the present liturgical year ends. We have journeyed through the year reflecting, renewing, and thereby striving to remain united with Christ as our Lord and Savior! The desire to be in union with Christ is springing forth from the gift of faith which makes us see and understand the Mystery of Salvation in Christ. This faith enables us to contemplate and pray while journeying through different seasons in the liturgical year and thus striving to persevere and deepen our communion with Christ.
Sacramental life, especially the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of Christian life, nourishes and sustains to live in union with Christ. It is good to pause a while to examine and see how our life of union with Christ is and how evidently this is bearing fruit and manifesting itself. The month of November starts with the feast of All Saints and All Souls’ Day telling us about where our union with Christ will ultimately lead us, namely, everlasting life with God. These special days and the solemnity of Christ the King are proclamations of our faith and hope and love! They provide a fresh opportunity to renew our faith, hope and love!
All Saints Day, “Who are these dressed in white robes…” (Rev. 7: 13)
We know that the book of Revelation gives a beautiful vision of heaven, the throne of God and of the Lamb and a great multitude of people coming from all the nations of the world, singing the praises of God and of the Lamb. The one who is seeing this sight is asking about who they are and where they come from. And the response is, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation, they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God to serve him night and day within the temple and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence…” (Rev: 7: 13-15). The feast of all Saints reminds us that this is what each of those who believe, love and serve the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ should hope for. With this hope every believer in Christ lives one’s life while living in this world. This faith and hope will not be in vain. That is why everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and is baptized, is promised eternal life. This is the proclamation that the Apostles were asked to take to the entire world. All this is brought to our notice in this month of November! The promise is there and it is a promise we can rely upon. The only and most essential condition is that “we should wash ourselves clean in the blood of the Lamb!”
We know that how our bodies and souls are maligned by sin in its varied forms and types. The beautiful white-like soul sanctified at Baptism gets soaked in the dirty waters of sin and there is the need for constant cleansing in the “blood of the Lamb!” We know from the biographical accounts of the Saints down the centuries that they all experienced trials and tribulations, violence and persecution and yet persevered in their faith, hope and love in Christ. Living for Christ and in union with Christ enabled them to persevere in spite of the difficulties and problems that came on their way, “they came out of great tribulation” to be there before the “throne of God and of the Lamb.”
Commemoration of all the Saints and the prayers we offer is an occasion to review our lives and know the truth of our life, how clean and cleansed do we stand before the Lord!
All Souls Day and the Paschal Mystery of Death and Resurrection of Christ
Paschal mystery is the foundation of our faith and hope. Our life is lived not just by instinct and impulse prompted by physical state. We live with certain definite rationale, understanding about our birth, life journey, immediate goals to pursue in life , setting priorities, imminent death, and about the ultimate goal of life. For us who believe in Christ all these essential aspects of our life on earth are to be understood in this faith and thus strive to live our day to day life with that understand coming from our faith. Only when we go into some specific aspects of our life, perhaps, it will be evident about how should be the relationship between our faith and our life. Christ died for us out of love and his death is for our salvation.
We believe this and give thanks to Him for this self sacrificing and redeeming death of Our Lord. But, we cannot stop with this thanksgiving but should also have self-giving and self-sacrificing love for him which is to be manifested in concrete ways. True to his words who said, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” Our Lord laid down his life for us. He teaches us that we should also be prepared to lay down our life out of love for him! This does not mean physical death in martyrdom alone but in dying to oneself for his sake and for the sake of his commandments, for the sake of the values he teaches: love, truth, justice, peace, brotherhood, etc. that he proclaimed in the Good news of the kingdom of God!
Of course, readiness to lay down one’s life means also to avoid sin in all its forms for the sake of living a holy life! Holiness is founded on knowing the will of God in and through God’s commandments and His teachings, and doing accordingly. To give up and to renounce whatever is against and contrary to His will is preparedness to die, to lay down one’s life! This has to become our pattern of life and we are assured of eternal life. The paschal mystery has to be lived and witnessed in our life. This is why we pray for the deceased members in our family and in our Christian community, they believed and they tried to live with faith and hope in the Lord who leads to eternal life: “we die and rise with Him.” As we believe and pray for the deceased, we need to pray that we may live with this consciousness about the meaning of life here and life after death derived from the paschal mystery, He died and rose from the dead!
Solemnity of Christ the King
Accepting the Kingship of Christ and living our life while we are on earth is the message we are proclaiming. But, it is necessary to renew our understanding of Christ’s kingship and kingdom. On many occasions when the Jews wanted to make him king Our Lord just disappeared from the scene. We know the reason, namely, his Kingship and Kingdom are differently understood by the people. Our Lord speaks of the Kingdom of God, the reign of God, inviting people to be with God and under His rule. It is not by defeating the Roman rulers but by defeating and overcoming the power of Satan and sin, by listening to God’s Word and obeying it. That is why, it is ever relevant and necessary to bear in our hearts and minds the words of the Lord, “The time is fulfilled, Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15).
Repentance for sin and believing in the Gospel, the Good News, is the only way to accept and be in or belong to the Kingdom of God, It is through this faith and through constant cleansing of our life through repentance and confession of our sins that we can hope to remain in union with Christ, Our King and Savior. While striving to live in union with Christ, there is the need to remember the Lord’s words, “My Kingdom of this world… I have come to bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my words” (Jn 18:16-17). Saint Paul’s words in the Letter to the Romans clarifies as to how to understand “Kingdom of God”: “For the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men” (Rom 14: 17-18).
Anyone who wants to belongs to Christ and the kingdom he proclaimed has not to seek only the things or pursuits that are limited to life here on earth: health, riches and wealth, bodily needs, power, position, etc while neglecting the kingdom values: truth, justice, peace, love for the neighbour, neglect of the given mission and entrusted daily responsibilities, and above all, failing to obey the will of God revealed in His Word and in his commandments! This is what the Lord says when he speaks of the narrow door and wide-open door, one leading to destruction, perdition, and the other leading to life. One has to choose and strive to enter through the narrow door. “Someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you. will seek to enter and will not be able” (Lk 13: 22-24). This choice is daily in front of us and the choice is yours and mine!
“Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians, 15: 12-19).