Christ the King of the Universe - Prayer after Communion

This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Prayer After Communion for the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This is the last Sunday of Ordinary Time as Advent begins next week.

Having received the food of immortality, we ask, O Lord, that, glorying in obedience to the commands of Christ, the King of the universe, we may live with him eternally in his heavenly Kingdom. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

I meditated on this prayer for a couple days, but when I prayed it at mass, Jesus let me know that I needed to re-think the food. I had been meditating on the food with the mindset of it being immortal food. While that is true, Jesus brought to my attention that this food is truly my food of immortality. My food of eternal life.

In John 6:51, Jesus tells us, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” So, yes, the Eucharist is immortal food. It is also the food of immortality. Technically, Jesus and I are both right, so I must admit that He taught me well.

This food is what sustains us now and brings us to live eternally in God’s heavenly Kingdom. Just imagine living in a kingdom where the king is for you, the king wants the best for you, and everyone is filled with peace and love. More importantly, the King died for you and even gives Himself to nourish you.

Actually, we can live in that kingdom today because when we entrust our lives to Christ, we are Kingdom-dwellers. When Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” He didn’t mean someday, He meant now. The Kingdom of God also awaits us when we pass from this life, so we are members of the Kingdom now and not yet. We are a part of the Kingdom today and someday we will be in the Kingdom eternally.

There is just one thing we need to do to get there and that is to glory in obedience to the commands of Christ.

In the Latin form of the prayer, for the word glorying we find the word gloriamur. It is defined as to boast or pride oneself. It means that we are not proud, nor are we self-reliant. It means that we have the desire to be obedient to the commands of God and we glory in it, not because we are so great, but because He is.

As I prayed with glorying in His commands, I realized that when we submit our way to His, we are glorified and so is God. God is glorified when we are obedient as we are allowing His power to be shown. and we are exalted when we are humble and submit to Him. (1 Peter 5:6)

For thousands of years, the food of immortality has nourished God’s children. It is the means by which the Kingdom has been carried down through generations. When we “eat this bread,” the food of immortality, we become more like Him and we become the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe right here where we are.

Thanks for praying with me,
Julie