Recently there has been a revival of the notion of Kingship, in film anyway. The third of the Lord of the Rings films was called “The return of the King” the king embodied all the values of chivalry, moral uprightness, fairness, courage and bravery. At a scene near the end the King gets everyone in the kingdom to bow in the presence of Frodo and the other hobbits, who played a significant part in the story. The idea of service and everyone being important is extolled. The king lives for others, Tolkien, who wrote the Lord of the Rings, sees Christ very much in the figure of the King, full of goodness and at the service of his people a king who would do anything for his people even die for them.
Programmes like Merlin today contrasts good kings with bad ones, the good Arthur is to be admired for his wanting to do the right thing. The problem we have with kingship and royalty is we don’t always have great images in our mind to help us. Kings can be tyrants, royalty can be seen as privilege and wealth, position and status, the queen does not put on her own clothes in the morning, we might say they are somewhat indulged and pampered, when people are in the presence of the queen they walk backwards, there is lots of bowing.
Then we celebrate today the feast of Christ the King, Negative images may invade our consciousness, but the clue about what we are celebrating is in the gospel and they are Jesus’ own words, he tells us his kingship is not of this world, phew what a relief!
In fact Jesus’ kingship finds expression in service of others , in sacrifice, in a life lived in compassion and mercy, in the presence of Jesus we can not only feel loved but affirmed and lifted. We are celebrating a king whose throne is on the cross. Whose crown is one of thorns. This tells us all we need to know as we worship Christ our king. Jesus tells us to embrace his values: Values of care for the poor and needy, love of our enemies, forgiveness, compassion for those who share our journey, when we do this things when we try to live his values, we bring about his kingdom.
Prayer to Christ the King
A prayer to Christ the King, that can be prayed all year, but especially on the Solemnity at the end of the Liturgical year. O Jesus Christ, I acknowledge You as universal King. All that has been made, has been created for You. Exercise all your rights over me. I renew my baptismal vows, renouncing Satan, his pomps and his works; and I promise to live as a good Christian. In particular do I pledge myself to labour, to the best of my ability, for the triumph of the rights of God and your Church. Divine Heart of Jesus, to You do I proffer my poor services, labouring that all hearts may acknowledge Your Sacred Kingship, and that thus the reign of Your peace be established throughout the whole universe. Amen.
Prayer Source: My Catholic Faith: A Manual of Religion by Most Rev. Louis Laravoire Morrow, S.T.D., My Mission House, 1965



















