Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Here at the end of the Church's liturgical year we look forward to Christ being revealed as King in glory and power. In our first reading, the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom finally accept David as the real king. In the same way, we don't vote on the King. Christ is already King and we are asked to accept Him into our hearts. When we follow the real King, our lives work out and we find fulfillment.

Christ wants us to accept His kingship to He can help our lives truly flourish. If we open the gate of our hearts to let Jesus in, He will open the gate of Heaven to us. We would expect to find a King on a throne in a palace somewhere surrounded by important people. Instead, today we find our King on a cross surrounded by criminals and mocked by those in power. Faith allows us to keep believing in the true King even when He doesn't look like a king to us. But that is because we are looking in the wrong place. We find the true king where the thief found Him: right beside us.

(24 Nov 2013)

Want to go deeper?

• See the King in action and find out how the story ends by reading the Book of Revelation chapters 19-22
• Read the Pope's encyclical Lumen Fidei
• Invite Jesus to be King of your heart.