Feast of Christ the King - Vigil

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Saturday, 20th November, 2004,
following the procession commencing at 7.00pm

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

“This is the King of the Jews”, said the inscription above the cross. On this feast of Christ the King we conclude the liturgical year by remembering that the Saviour reigns from the cross and that the cross is his throne Our King gives himself to us without holding back. Lifted up from the earth, he draws us to himself.

I welcome you all to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral tonight. I welcome especially the members of the Marian Associations who have participated in the Eucharistic Procession at the beginning of this Year of the Eucharist.

Let us turn humbly and confidently to our Lord and King, in whom is forgiveness and life.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Throughout history kings have been jealous of their station: to gain or keep a throne, kings have schemed and lied, waged wars and perpetrated terrible injustices; fathers have killed their children and children their parents. A throne is rarely shared.

On this feast of Christ the King we celebrate something quite extraordinary, for Christ invites us to share his kingship: he has made us a royal people, a kingly nation. Each of us, at our baptism, was anointed with the same oil of chrism used to anoint kings of old. Today’s feast is an invitation to share the life of our paradoxical king, who reigns from the cross: the broken one who heals, the wronged one who forgives, the victim who gives life, the abandoned one who offers love to all, the king who came not to be served but to serve.

In the Eucharist the mystery of Christ’s self-giving kingship is unfolded and made present for us. Pope John Paul has just written a wonderful letter, ‘Mane nobiscum Domine – Stay with us, Lord,’ which I want to encourage you all to read and meditate on. In the Eucharist, the Pope emphasises, the story of the disciples on the way to Emmaus becomes the story of each one of us: we discover that Christ is walking at our side as we journey through life, that he opens the Scriptures for us and leads us to a deeper understanding of the mysteries of God.( 2 ) The Eucharist has always been at the centre of the Church’s life, because through it Christ makes present within time the mystery of his death and resurrection.( 3 )

The Eucharist is a “mystery of light”, in which God’s hidden presence in our world is opened up for us.( 11 )

Firstly, the Pope says, we come to that “table of the Word”. At Mass we always hear the Scriptures proclaimed, as we have just done: we are invited to hear Christ speak to us as the disciples at Emmaus did, and to allow our hearts too to “Burn within us”.( 11 )

Secondly, the Pope says, Christ brings us to the “table of the Bread”, and invites us to “recognise him in the breaking of the bread”.( 14 ) At Christ’s table we are invited into the fellowship which God wishes to establish with us and which we must build with one another.( 15 ) The Eucharist also has a profoundly and primarily sacrificial meaning: at this table Christ makes present for us the sacrifice which he offered on the cross. The Risen Lord still bears the marks of his Passion, and as we celebrate the Eucharist we are meant to see something of both the glory and the suffering of the one who leads us into our future.

When we come to the Eucharist, we approach Christ himself. “The Eucharist is a mystery of presence”, the Pope says, “the perfect fulfilment of Jesus’ promise to remain with us until the end of time.”( 16 ) That is why we speak of the “Real Presence” of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and why it is so important that our attitude and conduct should express our faith in this mystery and the orientation of our lives towards the one who loves us so much that he does not want to be separated from us.

The Pope calls us to renew the practice of Eucharistic adoration and to make a special commitment to it in this Year of the Eucharist. He invites us to use the Rosary, too, as a help to Eucharistic contemplation. The Rosary is most suitable for this purpose, for it is a meditation on the mystery of Christ’s life and mission, with Mary as companion and guide. We should let Jesus in the tabernacle draw us to himself and be “ready to hear his voice and, as it were, to sense the beating of his heart."( 18 )

There is much more in this marvellous letter of the Holy Father which I would like to share with you, but there is not time to mention it all. I do encourage every one of you to read and reflect on it. It is full of invitations and challenges to renew not only our own spiritual lives but that of the whole Church as well.

The Pope call us to accept the Eucharist as a “mode of being”, the very way of life of Jesus himself, who gives himself for others, always saying “yes” and “thank you” to the Father.( 25-26 ) He calls us to enter into the Eucharist as a great school of peace, where we can learn to be in solidarity with all of humanity, as Christ is, to be ready for dialogue and generous in our service of the least and the most needy.( 27-28 )

We have ahead of us now a special Year of the Eucharist. Jesus has already answered the prayer of the disciples at Emmaus: “Stay with us, Lord”. He is indeed with us. Let us make it our commitment now to stay with him and to open ourselves up to all the dimensions of this great mystery of love and presence.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.