Kings and Queens in Christ

“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.”

Today, we celebrate the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The reason we chose today for the date of this feast is because today is the octave of the Assumption, or eight days later. And thanks be to God for Brant Pitre; because of him, I think we focus and emphasize a lot on Mary’s queenship as the Queen-Mother, based on the Old Testament figure of Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, who reigned over Israel as queen herself.

But something to remember about our Blessed Mother is that she is also part of the Body of Christ. And since she’s part of the Body of Christ, she’s part of the Church, that is, the Bride of Christ. So, we can not only focus on Mary’s queenship as the Mother of Christ, but we can also talk about Mary’s queenship as a member of the Bride of Christ.

Now as Catholics, what we say about the Blessed Mother in a unique way applies also to us in a general way. What Mary enjoys now in Heaven, we will one day enjoy if and when we’re in Heaven. In other words, right now, in Christ, Mary reigns as queen; one day, we too will reign as kings and queens over the cosmos. As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!”

The King has truly prepared this wedding feast for the Son, especially here at this Holy Mass, the wedding feast of the Lamb. And we are here as the Bride. Let’s ask the Lord Jesus the King, with the intercession of Mary the Queen, let’s ask them for the grace of holy fear, that we might respect that dignity, that responsibility, that we will have in heaven. But not as something distant and far away, but as a responsibility that we share in even now, beginning with the classroom, the kids, and our homes.