The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, is not at all an old feast on the Church’s liturgical calendar. Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in his encyclical Quas Primas only 100 years ago in 1925 in response to the growing nationalism and secularism affecting the Western World after World War I. The original title of the feast was Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, and the date was established as the last Sunday in the month of October – the Sunday preceding the Feast of All Saints. It was certainly no coincidence that the last Sunday of October was also celebrated as Reformation Sunday throughout the Protestant world commemorating the day Martin Luther reputedly tacked his list of grievances to the door of Wittenburg’s Cathedral. Pius XI was distressed not only by the twentieth century’s political ferment but also by the centuries old religious divisions within Christianity. Both challenges were an affront to Christ’s kingship.
In a later document Mysterii Paschalis in 1969, Pope St. Paul VI broadened the title to the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe. He also moved the date to the final Sunday of the liturgical year, at the end of November rather than October. Unless the feast of St. Andrew interferes, Christ the King is the last festal celebration of the Church’s year. Moving the solemnity to the end of the Church’s year also emphasizes an eschatological dimension of Christ’s kingship, pointing to the end of time when the kingdom of Jesus will be established in all its fullness to the ends of the earth and the heights of heaven.
The readings at Mass for this solemnity are not at all hesitant in proclaiming Christ as King. The prophecy of Daniel insists: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away; his kingship shall not be destroyed.” The Psalm response concurs: “The LORD is king, in splendor robed; robed is the LORD and girt about with strength. Your throne stands firm from of old; from everlasting you are, O LORD.” The Book of Revelation unsurprisingly offers similar testimony: “Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.” And of course in the Gospel account from St. John, it is Pontius Pilate who brings the Kingship of Christ to the fore: “So Pilate said to him, ‘Then you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’”
Pope Pius XI wisely surveyed the spirit of his age. Europe had literally fallen apart after World War I. Germany, Austria. Russia and Turkey were among those nations that lost their ruling houses after the war. It would not be long before Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Franco, and Mussolini would be ruling the continent. The times would not be sympathetic to personal faith or traditional religion.
Amid the Pontiff’s wise survey of the political challenges of his day are also found insightful instructions for the individual Catholic believer whose religious life would be challenged by the free-thinking, the permissiveness, the materialism and the militarism that advanced in the 1920s and continues to our own day. Focusing on Christ as King, Pius XI wrote, “He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ.” While understanding revelation may be deepened and broadened, those core beliefs taught by the Church both about the Creator and his creation must be deeply treasured. “He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God.” The current world mood notwithstanding, some actions are intrinsically wrong. Defrauding the laborer of his hire and the taking of innocent life are never justified. “He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone.” Fashionable whims and trendy fancies are unworthy pursuits. Consumerism and worldliness are ultimate disappointments. “He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.” Promiscuity and pornography, drugs and alcohol, worldly fashions and comfortable lifestyles dull the human soul and stunt its appreciation of all things spiritual and eternal.
Pope Pius wisely understood that the Kingship of Christ not only offers political guidance to the world but also makes personal demands on every believer. Christ the King must guide not only our national policies but also our private decisions. Minds, wills, hearts, and bodies are all subject to Christ’s sane and saving rule.
