Celebrating Christ the King

The feast of Christ the King is a big celebration in our parish.

For many years we have had a morning Mass for all the parish in one of the towns or villages of the parish. In the past few years, these have included processions to the site of the Mass.

This year the Mass was held near the village of Plan Grande, where I live. It started about 9 pm with processions from two parts of the parish with people singing and praying along the way – with marching bands (which here they unfortunately call “Bandas de guerra” – war bands.)

The Mass this year was preceded by adoration of the Eucharist. After Padre German offered some prayers, he invited the Delegate of the Word present to offer a few prayers.

Christ the King Sunday is also celebrated as the day of the Delegates of the Word, the men and women who lead Sunday celebrations of the Word in their communities. The movement was started in the mid-1960s to help the many distant communities gather for a Sunday celebration, since the parish priest could not get to all the communities on a Sunday and it was very difficult to get to the main town for Mass.

After the prayer, Padre German took the monstrance with the host throughout the crowd. 

Here, there is a custom of touching the monstrance and then blessing oneself. I don’t know where the custom comes from, though I wonder if it is in some way related to the difficulty many have of going to communion (for any number of reasons). In my mind, it is very much an expression of the desire to touch God – to be in real contact with Jesus. It could at times become almost superstitious, but, watching the devotion, it seems to be the expression of deep desire for God.

After the period of adoration, we had Mass. I am coming down with a cold and so I can’t give a good report on the homily, though Padre German tried to connect the reading of Jesus before Pilate with the reality of people’s lives.

Since I was away all week at a seminar on the protection and care of minors and persons in vulnerable situations, I did not have much of a role in the celebration, which doesn’t bother me. I didn’t participate in the processions, but I did do my diaconal roles at Mass and helped move things after the celebration.

I spent a good bit of time before and after connecting with people, even arranging a few visits to communities in December. I also talked to at least four young people who are finishing high school this December. Several of them want to study in the university but that’s costly. So they may work for a while – or try to find a way to both work and study. There is also the difficulty of not finding the degree they want near here.

While visiting I found out that a neighbor had left for Spain last Sunday. She has a sister there and will probably be seeking work, to help pay off debts of the family. She leaves a husband a a two year old son. I also found out that one young guy who worked on my house was with the caravan. However, he crossed the border on his own and is presumably safe in the US.

The feast of Christ the King is important for us here – not least of all it is a contrast to the politics that we find here and in many places throughout the world. And so it is important to celebrate it – among the poor, who show us the face of the prisoner Jesus before the repressive and violent powers of this world.