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| "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." (Jn 18:37) |
Have you ever had your heart broken? Have you been rejected or betrayed? As a member of the human race, if you have dared to love, the odds are that you have also experienced loss.
A truly broken heart feels like it can never love again. A person who has been rejected or betrayed feels like they'll never be able to trust again. Those who have loved and lost feel like there's no one who could ever fill their void.
But what if there is Someone who knows exactly how we're feeling in these darkest of moments? Indeed, what if that Someone has entered into even our worst suffering? This is the mystery of Christ the King, who ushers in the eternal reign of God by taking on all of the pain and brokenness of his beloved subjects. As the Catechism puts it, "the true meaning of his kingship is revealed only when he is raised high on the cross" (n. 440).
In his dying moments--tortured, abandoned and crucified because he had the audacity to reveal the depths of the Father's love--, Christ the King cries out to each of us and to the whole world with these simple words, "I thirst" (Jn 19:28). He wants us to bring him our broken hearts. He also longs for us to satiate his thirst by reaching out to him in all those who have been rejected or betrayed.
The King awaits faithful subjects who will continue loving even in the face of apparent meaninglessness and palpable emptiness. He rejoices when faithful followers, confronted with the worst that the world has to offer, listen to his voice. He thirsts for disciples who unite their humbled hearts with his, so they might proclaim along with Blessed Miguel Pro, "Viva Chriso Rey!"
