This stained glass image of Christ the King, found in St. Rose of Lima Church, Freehold, calls us to be mindful that Christ is the Redeemer of the World. File photo
Gospel reflection for Nov. 23, 2025, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
This Jubilee Year — Pilgrims of Hope — has been a time of grace and mercy for all. We are called to look to Christ Crucified on the Cross, as the sign of hope transforming a sinful world. The repentant thief helps us see hope in the midst of our own struggles and shortcomings. When we approach Christ in hope, we entrust ourselves to his mercy, even in the darkest of moments. For God is always with us sinners, and he loves us even to Death on the Cross. Let us see in the repentant thief a model of confident hope in the Lord and, like him, let us call upon Jesus’ name and ask him to remember us in paradise.
The Solemnity of Christ the King not only brings a culmination to the liturgical year but also causes us to look deeply into how we are exercising our discipleship in the modern world. The tension that has forged what feels like an irreparable chasm among the political factions within our country, have drawn faithful Catholics and Christians into their camps, often usurping images and the language of faith, and causing serious harm to the Body of Christ.
The domineering presence of various forms of media in our lives has effectively turned political figures into either demigods or Leviathans, depending on the world view of the user. The church, in her teaching capacity, negotiates this great divide to the increasing skepticism and cynicism of the faithful.
In large measure and for good will and not ill, the Church has effectively folded itself into the secular world, taking on all of the noise and blemishes that world throws at it and also with it. This is a product of history and the perhaps noble but failed idea that the Church could bring the Kingdom of God to the secular world, creating an idealized Christian society that historians call Christendom. For all of the reasons one expects — lust for power and wealth, conflicts over territory and resources; and invasions from non-Christian countries — Christendom fell under its own hubris and pretenses.
On this solemnity — Christ the King — we turn our attention to the Cross and not to the power centers of the world. It is on the cross that the kingship of Jesus is realized — it is the crown of thorns and not a crown of gold and jewels that we find our hope and our salvation.
In the second century a man named Diognetus asked a no-unknown person to explain to him how to understand Christians. The author was himself not a Christian, so this response is solely from his perception of Christians and not a lived experience. He wrote in part:
“Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
“And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country.
“They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law. Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life.”
Herein lies a lesson for us in the modern world. With our eyes focused first on Jesus Christ and him crucified, as St. Paul challenges us, we more clearly see the ephemeral nature of the world, and can draw our attention to the Kingdom of God.
Father Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.