It is a refrain that we hear every Good Friday.
And as we come to the end of this Liturgical Year,
As we begin a new Liturgical Year
With the First Sunday of Advent next week,
I’m going to invite you to behold
The Wood of the Cross.

Behold the Wood of the Cross—
On which hangs the Savior of the world.
Christ the King, crucified.

There’s a parish on the south side of the city
In the Beverly community.
And the name of the parish is Christ the King.

And the way in which the architect and the artist
Designed the church was brilliant from my perspective.

As you walk up the main aisle
Of Christ the King Church in Beverly,
There over the main altar,
You see Christ seated on a throne,
Surrounded by Saints and by Angels.

Christ the King in all His majesty.

And so you process and you look, the parishioners,
All are looking at Christ the King.

And then, as the presider or the priest turns around
And faces the back wall of the church,
You see Christ our King, crucified,
Dying on a Cross out of love for us.

Christ our King—and Christ our King.

And in between those two powerful images
Is where we sit and where we pray
And where we celebrate Eucharist
And where we give thanks to God
For the gift of Christ our King.

The feast was promulgated by Pope Pius XI in 1925.
It was a time when the world was still in chaos
And reeling from World War I.

The leaders, the sovereigns of the world, all claiming
To have power and authority.
And their power and authority led the world
Into death and destruction, into utter chaos.

And it was Pius XI who wanted to remind
All the people of the world that our Creator,
The Creator of all things, is Christ our King.
That He is the sovereign King of all the universe.
That this King rules in peace and in love
And in justice and in compassion.

The Kingship of Christ.

It’s powerful to think about Christ our King,
Who showed us in His life here on Earth
How life can best be lived.
He did so by preaching the Gospel, the Good News.
He preached by example.
He preached by the compassion that He showed to others.

Where is power really residing in the world?
It resides in those who love.
It resides in those who care for

It resides in the disciples,
We who are the disciples of the Lord Jesus.

He taught us how life can best be lived.

And this King, this King of the Universe,
This Christ our King,
Showed us that in and through death
We can experience new life.

In dying to ourselves, we receive new life.

Beautiful feast day of Christ our King.

All of us are invited to participate and to share
In this wonderful feast.

Christ, who gave His life out of love for you and for me.

I go back to the parish of Christ the King.
Christ the King, who sits on His throne in glory.
Christ our King, crucified on the back wall of the church.

And in between those two moments
Of our faith we live constantly.
And we embrace and we know that we’re loved by God.