Christ the King

The Solemnity of Christ the King is celebrated on the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year. It’s a day to honor our Savior as King, who leads us with love, kindness, and compassion, unlike many other ruthless Kings and Emperors who lead with tyranny, oppression, and cruelty, many of whom were deposed by their own people. If you were to google ‘Christ the King,’ searching for images, you will come up with a large number of images of Jesus on a glittering throne, usually sitting with a soft embroidered cushion, surrounded with angels, wearing a sparkling jewel-embedded crown, with a shiny scepter in his hand. In reality, Jesus never aspired to present this image. His throne was the rugged cross, the scepter was the nails driven through his hands, his crown was made of sharp thorns, and his robe was a simple robe, for which the soldiers threw lots after he was crucified. Christ never spread a message of hatred and then taught us how to love. He never waged war and then preached peace and justice. He wasn’t rich and told us to be poor. He never escaped from anything or from anyone - except for once, when they wanted to give Him a promotion and make Him King. The feast of Christ the King as we know it now was introduced in 1925, to counteract the start of Communism in the world. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 had taken the presence of Christ from the hearts of people, and the Church wanted to bring Him back into the center of their lives. The feast was celebrated on the last Sunday in October until 1969, when Pope St. Paul VI shifted this feast to the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, usually towards the end of November.

Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat (Christ will win, Christ will reign, Christ will rule)