{"id":1417,"date":"2016-11-20T05:00:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-20T10:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmetheology.wpengine.com\/?p=1417"},"modified":"2016-11-20T05:00:23","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T10:00:23","slug":"proper-alignment-in-a-crazy-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/proper-alignment-in-a-crazy-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Proper Alignment in a Crazy World"},"content":{"rendered":"

In case you missed it, there was a presidential election earlier this month.\u00a0 The outcome surprised almost everybody\u2014certainly the \u201cexperts,\u201d including theologians\u2014and the aftermath has been decidedly traumatic.\u00a0 What will happen over the next two to four years? Which policies will be reversed and which new ones will be established?\u00a0 Like many Americans, I stayed up late watching the election returns.\u00a0 The national media scrutinized every bit of available data.\u00a0 I found myself learning more about counties in other states \"christ-king\"<\/a>than I had known before.\u00a0 Due to an unavoidably early work schedule, I went to sleep with the election undecided.\u00a0 I woke to a new president-elect, a result very few anticipated.\u00a0 Juggling that news with my regular routine, I ran across a reminder for this blog post\u2019s deadline.\u00a0 A glance at the liturgical calendar told me all I needed to know:\u00a0 today is the Feast of Christ the King<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This knowledge made all the difference as the nation continues to struggle with the election\u2019s aftermath.\u00a0 Before, during, and after any human, earthly endeavor, Jesus Christ is Lord<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Stating this does not, despite the Marxist criticisms, relegate one to the realm of na\u00efve spirituality and blithe indifference to the world\u2019s problems.\u00a0 No, God calls us simultaneously to the Church and thus into the world, too.\u00a0 Vatican II states clearly<\/a>: \u201cGod’s plan for the world is that men should work together to renew and constantly perfect the temporal order\u201d (Apostolicam Actuositatem <\/em>#7).\u00a0 Politics is not some necessarily dirty, utilitarian struggle for hegemony.\u00a0 Rather, political activity along with the whole gamut of economic, social, and aesthetic pursuits can and should foster and advance the good.\u00a0 We need each other to come anywhere near accomplishing that goal.<\/p>\n

Here we must always remember today\u2019s feast.\u00a0 Christ\u2019s sovereign kingship transcends the created realm.\u00a0 Our best accomplishments and worst failures occur therein.\u00a0 St. John the Evangelist reminds us:\u00a0 \u201cThe Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it\u201d (1:5).\u00a0 Therefore, regardless of who wins a presidential election or how shocked we are at such results, no human creation\u2014political, social, or otherwise\u2014enjoys ultimate status.\u00a0 We cannot conflate Christ\u2019s reign with our temporary politics.\u00a0 We cannot become, as Rod Dreher puts it, a people who make politics their religion<\/a>.\u00a0 Christ is king, not us.<\/p>\n

This reality holds true forever, of course, but we enjoy this reminder at the very end of the liturgical year.\u00a0 Next Sunday begins Advent, and so once again we prepare for the arrival and birth of that very King we celebrate today. This feast appeared rather late, historically speaking.\u00a0 Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925.\u00a0 As blogged earlier here, I think Pius XI\u2019s pontificate offers remarkable resources<\/a>, both spiritual and political, for our twenty-first century reality.\u00a0 This plenitude concerns us especially today:<\/p>\n

Pius XI himself recognized the shift [towards secular totalitarianism] in 1925 with his encyclical\u00a0Quas Primas<\/em><\/a>. Released on December 11, 1925, the encyclical established the Feast of Christ the King, now celebrated on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. In so doing Pius XI returned to his papal motto and asserted Christ\u2019s spiritual and temporal authority (see #s 15 & 17). Christian faith is necessarily embodied, and thus the Church stands in the world, but free from control by the secular state (see #31). The laity especially stand to benefit from meditation upon Christ\u2019s kingship. If Christ died for all, then, Pius concludes, \u201cit must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire\u201d (#33). Christ must reign in our minds, wills, hearts, and bodies. Each faculty contributes to both spiritual sanctification and social justice, and serves, Pius XI prays, as evangelical examples to all non-Catholics. The peace that passes understanding, if authentic, moves beyond the individual to include others, not just Catholics but all peoples. After all, each person possesses intrinsic dignity given by God alone.<\/p>\n

Christ\u2019s kingship lays claim to our entire selves\u2014and this includes our relationships with all others:\u00a0 marital, parental, emotional, social, economic, political, etc.\u00a0 Today\u2019s readings spell this out in great detail<\/a>:\u00a0 David\u2019s ascendency, Psalm 122\u2019s celebration of royal Jerusalem, and then St. Paul\u2019s exhortation to the Colossians that Christ<\/p>\n

He is the image of the invisible God,
\nthe firstborn of all creation.
\nFor in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
\nthe visible and the invisible,
\nwhether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
\nall things were created through him and for him.
\nHe is before all things,
\nand in him all things hold together.
\nHe is the head of the body, the church.
\nHe is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
\nthat in all things he himself might be preeminent.
\nFor in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
\nand through him to reconcile all things for him,
\nmaking peace by the blood of his cross
\nthrough him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.<\/p>\n

The Gospel passage from St. Luke (23:35-43) depicts this in the most graphic terms. From the cross Jesus promises the repentant criminal they both will enjoy paradise that very day.\u00a0 Interestingly, the Extraordinary Form readings<\/a>\u2014the ones Pius XI worked with himself when he declared the Christ the King feast\u2014take a different path with St. Matthew 24: 13-25.\u00a0 After prophesying apocalyptic signs of His return, Christ reassures the disciples: \u201cHeaven and earth shall pass away, but My words will not pass away.\u201d Following this presidential election, this passage might speak to some believing voters more immediately!\u00a0 Exemplifying the well-known Catholic \u201cboth\/and,\u201d these readings together draw out fully the immanence and transcendence of Christ\u2019s kingship.\u00a0 In proclaiming the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis<\/a> speaks to this balance:<\/p>\n

We will entrust the life of the Church, all humanity, and the entire cosmos to the Lordship of Christ, asking him to pour out his mercy upon us like the morning dew, so that everyone may work together to build a brighter future. How much I desire that the year to come will be steeped in mercy, so that we can go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God! May the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away, as a sign that the Kingdom of God is already present in our midst! (Misericordiae Vultus<\/em> #5)<\/p>\n

The Feast of Christ the King concludes the Year of Mercy, one in which we have sought to realize our spiritual convictions where we find ourselves.\u00a0 This itself requires mercy, for we will make mistakes. Our sovereign Lord\u2019s presence in the Church and the Eucharist repairs these errors.<\/p>\n

God calls us to, and we should always seek, this proper alignment.\u00a0 Then the wins and losses of our lives\u2014personally and politically\u2014regain proper perspective. After the inauguration the nation will see new endeavors and probably others continued from the previous administration. Just as with Obama, the Trump presidency will offer several opportunities to work with all people of good will to build and defend the common good<\/a>.\u00a0 Sometimes that pursuit will involve cooperating with government, sometimes perhaps not.\u00a0 Regardless, we would do well to remember today\u2019s solemn feast and readings and thereby recognize that only Christ reigns supreme. All other political claims are, ultimately, temporary.\u00a0 To paraphrase St. Thomas More<\/a>, we are the president\u2019s loyal citizens\u2014but God\u2019s subjects first.<\/p>\n

Guest blogger Jeffrey Marlett<\/strong> blogs at Spiritual Diabetes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In case you missed it, there was a presidential election earlier this month.\u00a0 The outcome surprised almost everybody\u2014certainly the \u201cexperts,\u201d including theologians\u2014and the aftermath has been decidedly traumatic.\u00a0 What will happen over the next two to four years? Which policies … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14,23,24,1],"tags":[63,104],"class_list":["post-1417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liturgy","category-new-evangelization","category-spirituality","category-the-pope","category-uncategorized","tag-christ-the-king","tag-election-2016"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}