Quotes Worth Contemplating for Christ the King
We know that Christ is the King of Love, and that His Reign is a Reign of Love. We know that love, like fire, must be fed continuously else it will mellow, cool, and eventually sputter and die. Finally, we know from St. Thomas that love is fed not only by the knowledge and attractions of the One loved, and by the proofs He has given us of His love, but above all by His Presence (cf. The Soul of the Apostolate, 246).
Is it any wonder, then, that St. Peter Julian Eymard should link Our Lord’s Eucharistic Presence with the Imperial Reign of His Love? Christ must reign in our minds by His Truth, yes. But what is Truth without Love?
Listen to this:
Truth, to triumph over men, must needs pass through the Eucharist in order to catch some of Its sweetness and to become persuasive and touching. As long as a man has not communicated, he has only the faith of truth, he has not yet the faith of love, the joyousness, the sweetness of faith. He has met Jesus on his way, he has conversed with Him without knowing Him well. The Eucharist alone will reveal to him, in all His power and light, Jesus Christ and all the secrets of Faith. By the Eucharist, then, Jesus is King of Truth.
As of truth, so of the other virtues. The Eucharist is necessary in order that they may reign definitively in the heart. Communion is necessary to refine, to soften, to beautify them in the love of Jesus. Jesus must give Himself to me in order to subjugate me by His love, and be able to say to me, “My child, give Me thy heart.” In the Eucharist alone, the love of Jesus Christ is royally served, since in It He has a palace, a court, and adorers. (Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, 143)
If it is true, as Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen says, that “nothing is able to arouse love more than love itself,” (Divine Intimacy, 631) then let us fly often, as often as we can, to the Tabernacle. Let us, by our presence as devoted servants, pay homage to His Presence as Eternal Sovereign.
Would we see Christ enthroned as King in and over society? Then let us strive, heart, mind, soul, and strength, to draw the whole world to the court of the Blessed Sacrament; “for the Holy Eucharist,” says St. Peter Julian, “is the Savior’s royalty. By It He reigns.” (Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, 143)
