On this, the last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year, the Church calls us to think of the end of our lives, our final judgment and our final destiny – the Kingdom of God. The apocalyptic vision that we hear in today’s first reading from the Book of Daniel sets the tone by speaking about the coming of a “Son of man” who receives dominion, glory and kingship over all peoples, nations, and languages who will serve him. The passage from the Book of Revelation that we hear today is based on this vision from Daniel and declares that Jesus Christ is the “ruler of the kings of the earth.” In today’s Gospel account from John, we hear Pilate ask Jesus if he is “the King of the Jews.” Jesus responds, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.”
In all these readings, we are called to acknowledge our Lord’s kingship over us. As his followers, we believe that our kingdom is not here but with our Lord and God in heaven. And so, we live in this world as subjects to our Lord and not subject to the gods of this world. As we come to the end of the liturgical year – next Sunday is already the first Sunday of Advent – let us reflect on this truth and rededicate ourselves to reflecting it in our lives. The celebration of this Feast of Jesus Christ as King of the Universe gives us a good opportunity to the embrace the deepest truths of our faith and to rededicate ourselves to the reign of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.
As we hear predicted in today’s readings, all the powers of this earth will fade away, while the kingdom of God will remain. We have seen in the course of history that all of the great empires of the world – just think of the Greeks, the Romans, the Mongolians and the Mayans, as well as the German Empire and the Soviet Union – have long since vanished, but the Church has persevered. This is due to the reality that, in its essence, the Church is not ruled by men but by the Spirit of God.
Faced with growing secularism in his day, Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Jesus Christ King of the Universe in 1925 with his encyclical Quas primas (“In the first”). He recognized that attempting to “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law” out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations. Today’s feast reminds us that while governments and secular movements come and go, Jesus Christ reigns as King forever. The Church has faced oppression from its very beginning – from pagan Rome – and continues to do so even today. We are citizens of this country and of the world. But, we are citizens first and foremost of the Kingdom of God. As Pope Pius XI wrote so clearly in his encyclical, Jesus Christ “is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind” (§ 7).
Christ’s kingship is rooted in the Church’s teaching on the Incarnation. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is both the divine Lord and the man who suffered and died on the Cross. One person of the Trinity unites himself to human nature and reigns over all creation as the Incarnate Son of God. “From this it follows not only that Christ is to be adored by angels and men, but that to him as man angels and men are subject, and must recognize his empire; by reason of the hypostatic union Christ has power over all creatures” (Quas primas, §13).
Today, religious freedom for many people means that we can believe whatever we want in private, but when we enter the public square or the marketplace, we may not speak of anything that relates to our faith. However, the Church acknowledges the reign of Christ, not only privately, but publicly. This solemnity encourages us to celebrate and live out our faith in public. Unfortunately, when our faith is repeatedly marginalized in public life, we can fall into the habit of compartmentalizing our lives. We love Jesus in our private lives, but we shrink from acknowledging the kingship of Christ in social life. When we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of the Church and of the entire universe.
On this, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, let us reflect seriously on the end of our lives and rededicate ourselves to preparing ourselves for that time when Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, will establish his kingdom in its fullness and draw to himself all those who listen to his voice and belong to the truth! And, let us have the courage to publicly profess our belief in Jesus as our only ruler.