July 7, 1973
“Renew your consecration to my Immaculate Heart: you are mine; you belong to Me.
At every moment you must be just as I would have you be; at every moment you must do just what I would have you do.
Do not be afraid. I will always be near you! I am now preparing you for great
things, but little by little as a mother does with her child…”
from The Blue Book
Yesterday I re did my consecration to Jesus through Mary. I accepted her as my Queen Mother. The one who so perfectly loved Jesus and can teach me to do the same. Now I step into living out my consecration. Just like the Feast of Christ the King is something to be lived out in our daily lives and not merely contained in one day, so it is with our consecration. I now consecrate this blog to this purpose of daily stepping into my consecration. I’m not trying to hold myself up as the perfect example of holiness, because I’m not. But we desperately need to see the striving for holiness earnestly lived out in this darkened world, the good, the bad and even the ugly… this path contains it all, but with Jesus, goodness prevails… and for that I can certainly do my part. If you have done your consecration, I’d love to hear from you on how you live it out. Do you have a blog? Please comment below so that I can visit you.
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. This is a continuation of that formal declaration that He is and always will be my “King”… not just my Savior but the Lord of my life. I give Him reign of every single aspect of it and withhold nothing from Him. I know that in my human weakness, I will fail Him often, but I know that He will never fail me and will take me back every single time that I come running to Him.
The following encyclical from Pope Pius XI at the initiation of this Feast in 1925 is quite eye opening and as relevant today as it was then. You can click on the title to read it in its entirety.
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI
ON THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
QUAS PRIMAS
“31. When we pay honor to the princely dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state; and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power. The State is bound to extend similar freedom to the orders and communities of religious of either sex, who give most valuable help to the Bishops of the Church by laboring for the extension and the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. By their sacred vows they fight against the threefold concupiscence of the world; by making profession of a more perfect life they render the holiness which her divine Founder willed should be a mark and characteristic of his Church more striking and more conspicuous in the eyes of all.
32. Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ. It will call to their minds the thought of the last judgment, wherein Christ, who has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored, will most severely avenge these insults; for his kingly dignity demands that the State should take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing for the young a sound moral education.
33. The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.[35] If all these truths are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection. It is Our fervent desire, Venerable Brethren, that those who are without the fold may seek after and accept the sweet yoke of Christ, and that we, who by the mercy of God are of the household of the faith, may bear that yoke, not as a burden but with joy, with love, with devotion; that having lived our lives in accordance with the laws of God’s kingdom, we may receive full measure of good fruit, and counted by Christ good and faithful servants, we may be rendered partakers of eternal bliss and glory with him in his heavenly kingdom.”