Pastor’s Corner 24.11.2024
At the end of the liturgical year, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. But Christ’s kingship is different from any with which we’re familiar – his kingdom “does not belong to this world.” His kingship doesn’t demand violence, but truth. Following him brings us closer to God’s grace.
This feast was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and was originally celebrated on the last Sunday of the month of October, that is, the Sunday which immediately precedes the Feast of All Saints. But in 1960 following the revised liturgical calendar, Pope John XXIII transferred the feast to the last Sunday of the liturgical year, the Sunday before the First Sunday of Advent.
Instituting the feast, Pope Pius proclaimed Pax Christi in regno Christi which means "Christ's peace through Christ's reign". There was a special reason for this proclamation. His purpose was to combat the growing secularism, atheism and nationalism of his time and, to assert the power of Christ against the secular forces of this world. Still long after the World War I (1914-1919) the world leaders had failed to reconcile and bring peace in the world. So, Pope Pius sought the support and co-operation of all Christians to spread the message of peace based on Christ's teaching. The Pope believed that we would never know peace until we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and accept Him as our God, Saviour and King and allow Him to reign in both the private and public domains of our life.
The words of the Pope are still relevant today as we continue to witness the erosion of human values, disunity in our families, injustice in our neighborhood, violence and unrest in several parts of the world. The feast is both a reminder and a challenge. It reminds us that Jesus is the supreme ruler of our lives and, it challenges us to live our lives as Jesus has taught us to live. In all we do, we are to seek to become more like Christ, for he only becomes our King when we pledge our allegiance to Him.
In practice we often withhold that loyalty. We do not make Jesus our Lord and King. We often declare that we do not want this man and God to reign over us. All too often we all make selfish and self-serving decisions and push Jesus and His teaching to the edge. We may every day be praying for peace in our life but in our hearts, we still be harbouring negative thoughts and thoughts and desires which are enemies of peace. Hence, recognising Christ as our King may mean a change of heart and a more honest approach in our way of living. As Pope Pius said, let Jesus reign in our minds, reign in our wills, reign in our hearts, and reign in our bodies.
Happy feast of Christ the Universal King!