Feast of Christ the King

Matthew 25:31–32 ““When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,”

Today we celebrate the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925, in response to the rise of secularism and totalitarianism in the world. The Pope wanted to remind us that Christ is the true and supreme ruler of all creation, and that we owe him our loyalty, obedience, and love. In the Old Testament we see Israel not content and ask to have a King like other nations.

1 Samuel 8:6-9 But when they [Israel] said, “Give us a king to judge us,” their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.

And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. [...] but you must solemnly warn them and show them the manner of the king who will reign over them.”

God explains to Israel what they are asking for:

1 Samuel 8:10-18 So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people [...]. He said, “This will be the manner of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them to his own chariots and horses, to run in front of his chariots. He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plough his ground, to reap his harvest, to make his weapons of war, and to equip his chariots.

And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.

He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and grape harvest and give it to his officials and servants. And he will take your menservants and maidservants and your best cattle and donkeys and put them to his own use.

He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will beg for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you on that day.”

This describes the kingship of the worldly. But what kind of king is Christ? How does he exercise his authority and power? How does he relate to us, his subjects and followers?

In the midst of Christ’s humiliation and suffering, He reveals His true glory and power. He does not curse, but blesses. He does not condemn, but forgives. He does not retaliate, but offers Himself. He does not save Himself, but saves others. He does not reign by force, but by love. He does not die as the vanquished, but as a victor. He does not lose His kingdom, but opens it to all who believe in Him. He is the King of Mercy, the King of Love, the King of the Cross.

This is the kind of king that Christ is. He is not a king of this world, but of the world to come. He is not a king of domination, but of service. He is not a king of violence, but of peace. He is not a king of pride, but of humility. He is not a king of self-interest, but of self-giving. He is not a king of death, but of life.

And this is the kind of king that we are called to follow, to obey, and to proclaim. We are called to be His faithful subjects, His loyal friends, His devoted disciples. We are called to acknowledge His sovereignty over our lives, our families, our communities, our nations, and our world. We are called to obey His Word, to live by His values, to walk by His spirit. We are called to share in His mission, to spread His gospel, to extend His kingdom.

Pius XI “Many Catholics lose Christ not from rebellion, but from indifference.” “In their greed for wealth, the senseless hurry of business, and the rush for pleasure men forget, and then come to reject, Divine things.”

“Catholics should have the pride to proclaim to the world the sovereignty of Christ and His law.” They should be but they are not. Instead many Catholics are cowards, ashamed and embarrassed of Christ and His Law and His Church. “There is no virtue in concealment, and the spirit of “peace at any price,” which Catholics sometimes bring into public life, is only an unmanly abandonment of true principle, or contemptible apathy, while it is always disloyalty to Our Lord. The enemies of religion and of God could ask for nothing better than that Catholics become apologetic for their existence.”

“Men lose themselves to the world, to the changing of the times. Religion and philosophy become for them no more than a collection of words, of hazy definitions, of vague counsels of morality, with no firm foundation. Consequently, the law of sacrifice and the Christian moral code, so clearly stated in the teaching of Our Lord, are rejected, and men accept gladly those theories of conduct only which demand no moral effort and impose no burden of sacrifice.”

But this world has rejected Christ. The modern state, which is secularism, has rejected God and made religion a matter of only the private life of the individual. Making something to be tolerated and to be regulated by secular authority. State law oftentime ignores Divine law. The sacramental nature of marriage is disregarded and the right of parents to control the education of their children rejected. Pernicious doctrines affecting the freedom and the natural rights of the weak are supported. The Church of God is no more than one of the many social groups of the State, to be controlled and regulated as they, oftentimes with far greater viciousness because of her very dignity. The secular State arrogates to itself absolute power over its subjects, it sets itself up as the standard of truth and morality.

The God of the new philosophies is not real: He is not personal; He does not command. Christ for them is not the Divine Christ, who know Himself to be God, who loved men, and lived and taught in Galilee with an authority which He claimed as divine; who confirmed the Divine law and made laws as His own; whose praise and blame are for eternity; Whose kingdom we must enter by the way which He has appointed, through faith, baptism, sacrificed and good works.

All power has been given to Him in Heaven and on earth. That means that He should be explicitly.

In the Gospel when Pilate asked Jesus if He were a King we read: Jn 18:36; [...] “My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world.” Do we fight for Christ or do we abandon him?

In today’s Gospel we have read a means of how we can serve Our King, and that is by serving those in need. Mt 25 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'