Sunday, November 22, 2015

Reflection for Solemnity of Christ the King

"Divine authority is not a power of nature. It is the power of God's love that creates the universe and, incarnating itself in the Only Begotten Son, descending into our humanity, it heals the world corrupted by sin. Romano Guardini writes: 'Jesus' whole existence is the translation of power into humility … it is sovereignty that here abases itself in the form of servant' (Power and Responsibility, Regnery, 1961).

"Often for man authority means possession, power, dominance, success. For God, instead, authority means service, humility, love; it means entering into the logic of Jesus who stoops to wash the feet of his disciples (cf. John 13:5), who seeks man's true good, who heals wounds, who is capable of a love so great that he gives his life, because he is Love. In one of her letters, St. Catherine of Siena writes: 'It is necessary that we see and know, in truth, with the light of faith, that God is the Supreme and Eternal Love, and he cannot will anything if not our good' (Ep. 13 in: Le Lettere, vol. 3, Bologna 1999, 206)."

--Benedict XVI, Angelus Address, January 30, 2012

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