Back in 1925, Pope Pius XI looked out at the reality of the world around him and he didn’t like what he saw. There were signs all around him that people were turning away from God and away from the Church. Europe was devastated from the violence and tragedy of WWI. Russia had become a Marxist state after the Russian revolution. Governments in Mexico and in many European countries were making things difficult for people to practice their faith. Secularism, modernism, fascism, and nationalism were creating conditions that would later lead to WWII. In December 1925, Pope Pius XI issued an encyclical that established the feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, right before the start of Advent. The Pope explained that a majority of the people in his day had thrust Christ and God’s law out of their lives, that Jesus and the values of his life and ministry no longer held supremacy in either in private affairs or in politics. Pope Pius XI established The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe in order to communicate to the world that it needed to look for “the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.” In the same year, the Pope declared a special jubilee year to pray for peace throughout the world. Fast forward to our own reality in 2023. We just finished a synodal process throughout the world as initiated by Pope Francis, trying to listen to the voice of the people. We are undergoing a Eucharistic renewal in our country, looking to the Eucharist as the center of our faith, renewing our faith through the Eucharist. In our own Diocese, we are going through a pastoral reimagining process, looking at what our parishes and our Diocese can be.
There is a great story about the Napoleon, the emperor of France that is very relevant to our celebration of Christ the King today. Napoleon had won great military victories in Egypt and in Italy and had his sights on conquering the rest of the world. In his quest for power, he was declared emperor. To show his prominence and legitimacy, and to root his authority in the French monarchy and in the Catholic Church, at Napoleon’s request he was to be consecrated emperor by the Pope himself. He was to be the first Frenchman to hold the title of Holy Roman Emperor since the great Emperor Charlemagne, who had been crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III on Christmas day in the year 800. Pope Pius VII traveled from Rome to Paris for the ceremony at the great cathedral of Notre Dame. Yet, on the snowy morning of December 2, 1804, at the moment the Pope was to crown Napoleon as emperor, Napoleon turned away from the Pope on high altar, faced the congregation, and put the crown on himself. Napoleon then put a crown on the Empress Josephine. In his arrogance and pride, Napoleon wanted to show that he was above the Church and above God. Is that the way we behave in our own lives? Do our pride and arrogance keep us from truly acknowledging that Jesus is our king?
In our modern world, we think of a king as someone having great power and strength. All the kings and emperors who led the great empires and kingdoms here on earth pale in comparison to Christ, the true King of Kings. However, as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King today at the end of our Church’s liturgical year, we don’t have readings about Christ’s power and might. We hear from our first reading from Ezekiel about a humble shepherd who tends his flock and who rescues the sheep. In the Gospel, we hear Jesus tell us that we should feed the hunger, give drink to the person with thirst, visit the sick and the prisoner, and welcome the stranger. Jesus tells us that this is how we are judged at the end times, that we do these things, we are really doing them for Jesus. We have been trying to do this as a parish, to reach out to the poor, the sick, the abandoned, and the prisoner.
A lot of the values of our world call out to us to acquire wealth, to seek power, to assert ourselves over others. Yet, there is another way. We follow a leader who wore a crown of thorns, who sought to love rather than to dominate, who sought out solidarity with the poor rather than alliances with the rich and powerful, who led a group of 12 apostles rather than a powerful army. We are to follow the example of our humble shepherd.
In a world where we see a lot of violence, discord, and divisiveness, there are no easy answers to the reality we face today, just as there were no easy answers to what the world faced back in 1925 when Pope Pius XI declared the feast of Christ the King. Our Church leaders and our faith offer us some wise advice. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia calls us to place our confidence in the Word of God, to open ourselves to the transformative power of Christ’s grace, and to truly believe that we can realistically live out the values that the Church teaches. God calls us to mercy and courage and wisdom, not anger or fear or frustration. When I was pastor of St Mary Catholic Church in Yazoo City, one of the wise elders of the Catholic community there, Mary Rutledge, told me about working with the little kindergarteners in the nursery. She was reading one of the children a book, and on one of the pages, there was a picture of a little crown in the corner. Mrs. Rutledge pointed to the crown, and asked the little boy, “John David, I wonder what that little crown is for.” John David responded, “That crown is for Jesus. He is the king of kings.” Even a little child in his innocence and honesty can recognize Jesus as our king.
I remember a parishioner saying to me once: “Father Lincoln, shouldn’t the feast of Christ the King be as important to us as Easter or Christmas, for if Christ is not truly our king, what significance does all the rest have in our lives?” In order for us to truly say that we belong to Christ's kingship, to Christ’s kingdom, we are called to walk with Christ in our daily lives, to walk in the truth that he embodies and proclaims. Through our actions and our spirit, we will show the world that Christ is our King.
