Friends, this Feast of Christ the King encapsulates what the Christian life is all about. All the other celebrations of the year are leading us to this conclusion, and on this last Sunday of the liturgical year, we are asked the question: Is Christ the King of your life?

Friends, there is something dark, threatening, and a little bit dire about the Gospel reading today, but through it, we see that death is not the final word. We’ve listened to the noise of the world for long enough, and now we need a new spiritual guide to lead us out of our complacency: Jesus.

Friends, a connection with God leads to life and flourishing. When we sever that connection, we experience a drought similar to the one in our first reading today. The Lord responds to our needs, so trust in his providence, and he will not abandon you.

Friends, God is not satisfied to be in the background of your life. The Lord your God is the Lord alone, so love him with everything you've got—your whole heart, your whole soul, and all your strength.

Friends, in today’s Gospel, we hear the marvelous story of the healing of blind Bartimaeus—an icon of tremendous power and a sacred picture of the spiritual life and the process of salvation. We all find ourselves, in our need of Christ, in this image, as our own blindness distorts our vision of spiritual reality and the meaning of life.

Friends, power and honor, in and of themselves, are not a bad thing, but we wreak havoc when we ask for them in the wrong spirit. When we beseech the Lord with our desires, let us ask for what God wants for us rather than what our egos have determined to be good.

Friends, in our first reading today, Solomon finds that all the power and wealth of the world are nothing compared to the gift of wisdom—seeing life from the perspective of God. Although this gift seems to help one further amass wealth, in today’s Gospel, Christ teaches us that to use the gifts of the world properly, we must give them away so we can follow him.

Friends, our readings this weekend have to do with biblical anthropology—or who we are in the presence of God—and the Christian understanding of marriage. A basic intuition of the Bible is that we begin not with the individual, but with community. And marriage is the most beautiful and intense form of this friendship God desires for us.

Friends, let us rejoice whenever the grace of God is on display. The point of the sacraments is so that God’s grace may flood the world, but the Lord can operate outside of our formal structures. He desires these gifts for us, but as the creator of them, he is never limited by them.

Friends, when envy takes over our spiritual lives, we sow disorder and disintegration. The life of Jesus is about self-emptying love; it is in this gift of self that we are called to live.