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Gospel: Saint Matthew
21: 1-9
The Kingship of Jesus
Christ
22.1
First Point
Jesus Christ came to
this earth to reign here, but not, says Saint Augustine, as other kings do,
to raise tribute, enroll armies, and visibly do battle against his enemies.
For Jesus Christ assures us that his kingdom is not of this world,[i]
but to establish his reign within our souls, according to what he himself
says in the holy Gospel, that his kingdom is within us.[ii]
So that
Jesus Christ may reign over your souls, you must pay him the tribute of your
actions. All of them must be consecrated to him; in them there should be
nothing that is not pleasing to him; they should have no other intention
than to accomplish his holy will, which should direct all of them so that
there may be nothing human in them.
Since the
reign of Jesus Christ is divine, all that has any connection with it must be
either divine in itself or divinized by the relationship that it has with
Jesus Christ. The main purpose he had in this world was to accomplish his
Father's will,[iii]
as he declares in several passages in the Gospel.
He also
wishes that you who are his members and his servants should be united with
him, and should have this same purpose in your actions. Examine if this is
what you actually intend.
22.2 Second Point
So that Jesus Christ may
reign in your soul, you must wage war under his leadership against the
enemies of your salvation, who are also his enemies. For, since he wishes to
establish his peace within you, a peace which, according to Saint Paul
ought to reign in your hearts,[iv]
he must overcome--and you must overcome with him and by his help--anything
that is able to be an obstacle, such as, your passions and evil
inclinations. You must eliminate within you the man of sin who in the
past has reigned over you. Then you will deliver yourself from the shameful
slavery to which sin has reduced you.[v]
Dispose
yourself today, then, to receive Jesus Christ fully, by abandoning yourself
entirely to his guidance, and by letting him reign over your whole interior
life so absolutely on his part and so dependently on yours, that you may in
truth say that it is no longer you who live, but Jesus Christ who lives
in you.[vi]
22.3 Third Point
If you wish Jesus Christ
to fight within you the enemies who want to keep him from reigning there, he
must be able to raise an army of virtues that will equip your soul and
enable him to be the complete master of your heart. You also need to fight
valiantly under his standard, making use of the weapons he places in your
hands.
You must,
says Saint Paul, be girded with the belt of truth, and put on the
breastplate of justice, that is, a love for the duties of your state.
You must take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to
extinguish all the fiery darts of the devil. Hope of salvation should serve
as your helmet and the word of God as your sword.[vii]
It will be by such weapons, that the peace of Jesus Christ, declares
the same Saint Paul, will truly reign in your hearts.[viii]
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