Aquinas Institute - Arete Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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A TThc Trete ®fje [€ucfjansticll tng] N modern times, the aspect of Christ as King has been forgotten; its image does not conform to the truth. Jesus is looked upon as a great historical character; as a religious martyr, but that, because we do not know Him. If we are intimate with His proper station, we adore Him in His legitimate right as Eucharistic King. The Eucharistic King! What better title, what title more expressive of our Lord’s constant and unswerving power, can be referred to our meditation? Christ is truly a king. His dominion includes all men, not the saints alone, not the martyrs, but every creature who is a composition of body and soul. A king has certain obligatory duties which he must perform if he would prove worthy of his kingship. A monarch should provide for the welfare of his subjects, guard them immune from external harm, and deal justice to them as justice and mercy deserve. Christ, ever present in the Holy Sacrament, executes these duties in the manner which befits His infinite regnancy. By His Church He supplies the spiritual needs of His citizens; by His grace He strengthens them against diabolical assailment; in His faultless judiciary they will one day render to Him an account of their stewardships. Christ is enshrined not alone on that lofty mount beyond the mystic vale which separates the supernatural from the terrestrial; in Holy Communion, He is close to us. Here, even in our frailties, we are conscious of His Presence. Here we can iterate, on bended knee, the allegiance which we owe. This Christ is the solution of our problems and difficulties. Before the Tabernacle, His Divine Throne, avarice and arrogance have no place. In their stead are love and humble submission. By that Throne we are bettered ; by it we are fitted to enter the heavenly realm. Maurice O’Brien. S S « £ ootmess ts ZDtffuStbe There are always men. They come, cast upon the earth to work out their destinies. However, they are men, weak in mind as in body. They must have some hand to guide them, some confident intellect to pilot them right. The savage is not civilized because no one has placed him in the way of salvation. He has never heard the voice of men speaking the words of God. So it is with civilized men, or rather men who live in the heart of civilization. They are morally corrupt because they seldom, if ever, hear a person who is good. It is necessary that there be contact that there may be inculcation. A man who is really good cannot prevent himself from being an example. Then, we may judge the condition of a man by noticing the effect of that condition upon those who surround him. Howard P. Slavin. eight

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£lje Ixtngtiom of Cfjnst HROUGH the ages the conception of the kingdom of Christ has tended toward error. The early Jewish concept was that Christ would come as a mighty ruler, this attributed to Him a purely temporal kingdom. Such an idea was repeatedly denied by Our Lord, most emphatically so in the words: “My kingdom is not of this world.” According to the true doctrine of the kingdom of Christ, all men are its members and all are subject to the Man God, as their Supreme Ruler. Christ stated this supremacy Himself when He said, “All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Therefore we should not hold the visual rulers of the earth in any reverence of adoration. They are but men to whom a trust has been given by God, and they are responsible to Him for the manner in which they handle His confidence. When this truth is realized and practiced peace and harmony will be more prevalent; strife and bitterness will disappear. A thorough understanding of the meaning of the kingdom of Christ would prove a solid factor toward world peace. The chief purpose for the establishment of the feast of Christ, the King, is to lead mankind back from the teachings of a false philosophy and away from an incorrect idea of the right of temporal government. It is the end of this feast to bring us to the worship of the true Ruler. This day for the commemoration of Christ the King will impress men with the fact that a temporal ruler is not a god, but merely a representative of God, toward Whom he has duties and obligations to discharge. It is most essential, with regard to such a ruler’s obligations, that he should not misrepresent to his subjects the extent of his powers. This fact will make universal the correct idea of the kingdom of Christ, and will return to the true faith many who have erred. Vincent Panettiere. $ ■$ « lUlonc We walk in a crowd and mix with men and women. We spend numerous hours, talking with people. We expend enormous effort in pleasing others’ fancies. In this mingling of humanity, we turn that side out that we wish others to see, we conceal our genuine self beneath the glamor and varnish of the world. But, once in a while, journey to some lonely spot, awray from men, away from the constant jangle of life. There, beneath a spreading tree or beneath a golden lampshade, uncover the real man within you. Disrobe him of artificial garments, look on him with clear, undimmed vision. Examine your reality thoroughly, observe every minute fault, see each praiseworthy quality. Then, stand off a little and judge the worth and possibilities of your genuine self. Take him unto yourself. Throw off the unreal, brave the real. Take this man of yourself into the crowd. Do away with his petty faults, make his great possibilities striking realities. You will be surprised at the work of your own pure nature, but you will be amazed at the place he gains in the crowd. seven

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liorb of Horbs, I tng of l utgs OW inspiring it is to see a king arrayed in his robes of state! His very attitude and carriage tell of unlimited power; power which guides the destinies of his people, that they may partake of every opportunity within their grasp. Around his honored throne, his court and his subjects bow down in reverence and homage. It is obvious that such a potentate possesses the respect and loyalty of his subjects. Yet how few the subjects, how limited the power! Greater by far than this display of fidelity to a king is the love of man for his God. Man bows down before his invisible King with a more profound reverence than he could show to any earthly monarch, for is not his Lord the Over-lord of all lords and the King of all Kings? Many injudicious persons have queried, “By what authority or right does Christ claim the all-embracing title, King?” Jesus Christ the King is Truth itself; He is the source, the culmination and the essence of all veracity and all good. It is truth and goodness that rule the hearts and souls of all men, so God by His very substance holds the eternal right to govern the minds, the hearts, and the souls of men. By such a sway over all mankind, men unanimously acclaim Christ their King. The early prophets heralded the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as the advent of a new and great King. These holy men predicted that His kingdom would be from sea to sea; they prophesied that of His kingdom there would be no end. These prophets, the medium through which God spoke to the faithful, described vividly, long before His birth, the glories that were to be His. He would be a true King for He would be born of a royal line; He would be humble, not manifesting the greatness of His royalty; He would lead a pure and simple life untainted by the devastating effects of sin. When Christ embarked on His public campaign of teaching, instructing, and converting the multitudes, He was held in the esteem and admiration proper to a king. Through His Omnipotence, He performed numerous miracles, yet these manifestations of His wondrous power were not to instill fear into the hearts of the observers, but rather to demonstrate to them His great love for men. In those truly marvelous miracles, He fulfilled the predictions of the prophets, “So great shall be His power that He shall heal the sick, make the blind see, and raise the dead to life.” It was through these revelations of His almighty power that the faithful were able to know and adore Him. His triumphant entry into Jerusalem shortly before His passion was greater than any demonstration ever accorded an earthly king. The symbolic palm was everywhere displayed, even strewn upon the road before Him. Surely He was a King! During His passion when the irate council groped blindly for some sin of which to convict Jesus, they questioned Him, “Art Thou a King?’ When He answered “I Am,” Jesus uttered His coronation speech. In mocking derision, the Jews placed on His Sacred Head a crown of thorns, but they placed it by His permission, for that Greatest of Rulers preferred painful thorns to caressing gold. Christ is not King by force or conquest, nor by doubtful inheritance; His very essential Being raises Him and crowns Him King. But such a King was not content; He stretched His racking, human Frame on a cross; he bought the souls of all mankind with the Precious Blood shed thereon. Mankind become willing slaves to this so mighty Monarch, so just, so kind. Never will Jesus the King lay down His crown for it is written, “Of His Kingdom, there shall be no end.” nine Ray White.