• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • About
  • Symposium
  • Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Proclaiming Christ’s Kingship

Fr. David Friel · October 28, 2018

ESUS CHRIST is a matchless King. Solomon dressed in splendid clothes and built a magnificent temple; David led his army to victory in numerous battles; Pharaoh maintained an iron rule over the Egyptians and their Israelite slaves. Jesus, meanwhile, lay in a manger, shared meals with the poor and public sinners, and hung stripped and bloodied upon the Cross. Christ never looked very much like a King.

Even now, the Kingship of Christ is unique, inasmuch as the reign of God extends throughout both heaven and earth. Christ’s Kingdom is among us (Lk 17:21), as a present reality, and yet beyond us (Jn 18:36), as an eschatological reality. As the preface for the feast proclaims, the reign of God is “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.”

All Christians, by virtue of their Baptism, are subjects of Christ’s benevolent Kingship. In addition to the many graces that flow from being Christ’s subject, this identity also entails responsibilities. Citizenship in the Kingdom of God (Phil 3:20) bestows, for example, a mission. This mission is not entrusted solely to bishops, priests, and deacons, nor is it the preserve of saints, scholars, and mystics who seem beyond the reach of ordinary people. All followers of Christ, rather, have a part to play in the realization of the Kingdom.

One of the most significant, difficult, and all-encompassing missions related to the Kingdom of God, in fact, is entrusted to the laity. According to the Second Vatican Council, the vocation of the lay faithful is to sanctify the world. In its dogmatic constitution on the Church, the Council teaches that the laity have the specific vocation of making the Church present and active in the world (Lumen gentium, no. 33). This teaching is further developed in the Council’s decree on the apostolate of the laity, which states that laypeople fulfill their mission by evangelizing and sanctifying people; by their lives, the laity are called to permeate and perfect the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel (Apostolicam actuositatem, no. 2). The laity, in this vision, are bearers of a mission to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Mt 5:13-14).

Sanctifying the world, therefore, is not chiefly the task of chanceries or committees or curial officials. The sanctification of the world properly belongs to the apostolate of the laity. This extraordinary call to discipleship remains unchanged in every place, in every period, and in every person. It is the task of the laity to make the Father known, to allow the love of Christ to shine forth, and to become suitable temples for the Holy Spirit. The proclamation of the Kingdom, begun by Jesus in the countryside of Galilee, is extended through time and space by the Church, with particular reliance upon the gifts and zeal of her lay members.

HE ROMAN SOLDIER who nailed a placard to the Cross identifying Jesus as the “King of the Jews” did so as an act of sarcasm. Every Christian has the opportunity to make the same proclamation, not in mockery, but as an act of worship. By the manner of our lives and our commitment to the Gospel, we announce to all the world the joy and freedom that come from submitting ourselves to the sweet dominion of Christ the King.

This post is reprinted from the blog of the USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty, where it first appeared.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
7 June 2022 • FEEDBACK

From Chelan, Washington: “CCWatershed is a God-sent resource that I can’t function without! Such great work by the team to bring beauty back to our liturgy!” From Gainesville, Florida: “I am so appreciative of the work, of my brothers and sisters in music!” From Troutman, North Carolina: “Keep up the excellent work in service of the Liturgy!”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“We must say it plainly: the Roman rite as we knew it exists no more. It has gone. Some walls of the structure have fallen, others have been altered—we can look at it as a ruin or as the partial foundation of a new building. Think back, if you remember it, to the Latin sung High Mass with Gregorian chant. Compare it with the modern post-Vatican II Mass. It is not only the words, but also the tunes and even certain actions that are different. In fact it is a different liturgy of the Mass.”

— Fr. Joseph Gelineau (1978)

Recent Posts

  • “Exceeded Every Expectation!” • Mr. O’Brien’s Review
  • “81 Photos” • Sacred Music Symposium 2022
  • Photograph • Dom André Mocquereau (d. 1930)
  • “I Found Myself Weeping, Almost In Disbelief…”
  • Our Daily Prayer • Sacred Music Symposium 2022

Copyright © 2022 Corpus Christi Watershed · Gabriel Lalemant on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.