THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The very title given to this Sunday by the Roman Ordo and the LBW lectionary, Christ the King, firmly reinforces the eschatological framework of the church year, closing the gap between the Ascension of Our Lord and the end of the Pentecost cycle/season. All of the Sundays between the Ascension and Christ the King Sunday reflect the fact that in the Ascension Jesus has begun his reign. In the LBW liturgy, the traditional hymn of praise may be replaced by "Worthy is Christ," with its verse, "For the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign," on the Sunday after the Ascension and ought to be sung on various, if not all, Sundays throughout Pentecost and, of course, on Christ the King Sunday. The second reading enunciates clearly the theme of the day: "For he must reign until h…