We confess O Christ that You are the King of the ages That You are the nations’ King that You are the sole Ruler of minds and Hearts. The wicked mob cries out: ”We do not want Christ to reign over us.

In our own time, there are abundant manifestations of this rebellious spirit. We find acts of hatred and indifference in literature, in the arts, in science, in family life ... One can almost hear the defiant shout: Nolumus hunc regnare super nos! We do not want this man to reign over us!

He is the author of the universe and of every creature, but He does not lord it over us. He begs us to give him a little love, as He silently shows us his wounds. Why then do so many people not know him? Why do we still hear that cruel protest: ‘We do not want this man to reign over us’? (Luke 19:14) There are millions of people in this world who reject Jesus Christ in this way; or rather they reject his shadow, for they do not know Christ. They have not seen the beauty of his face, they do not realize how wonderful his teaching is. This sad state of affairs makes me want to atone to Our Lord.

When I hear that endless clamour – expressed more in ignoble actions than in words – I feel the need to cry out, ‘He must reign!’ (1 Cor 15:25) ... For many years now, Our Lord has urged me to repeat a silent cry, ‘Serviam’ – ‘I will serve!’ Let us ask him to strengthen our desire to give ourselves, to be faithful to his calling – with naturalness, without fuss or noise – in the middle of everyday life. Let us thank him from the depth of our heart. We will pray to him as his subjects, as his sons! And our mouth will be filled with milk and honey. We will find great pleasure in speaking of the kingdom of God, a kingdom of freedom, a freedom He has won for us (cf Gal 4:31). Let us serve Jesus as our King and Lord, as the Saviour of all mankind and of each one of us. Serviam! I will serve you, Lord! This battle cry shall sound in the intimacy of our prayer. Fernandez, Francis. In Conversation with God – Volume 5

Those are vital and urgent truths for which Pius XI instituted the very feast of the Kingship of Christ in his encyclical Quas Primas. The empire of our Redeemer embraces all peoples. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope Leo XIII: “His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ.” Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society. … If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ. … When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony. (Quas Primas 18-19)

He did not come to establish his kingdom by force. His ‘weapons’ are goodness and a shepherd’s solicitude: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. The Lord tends to his lost sheep, to those men and women who have gone astray through sin. He takes care to heal their wounds. He goes so far as to die for his sheep. As King, He came to reveal God’s love, to be the Mediator of the new Covenant, the Redeemer of mankind.

The kingdom which Jesus initiated works in its interior dynamism as ‘leaven’ and a ‘sign of salvation’ to build a more just, more fraternal world, one with more solidarity, inspired by the evangelic values of hope and of the future happiness to which all are called. Therefore, the Preface of today’s Eucharistic celebration speaks of Jesus who has offered to the Father ‘a kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace’. This is what the Kingdom of Christ is all about. Each one of us is called to participate in this kingdom and expand it through our apostolate. The Lord should be present in our families, among our friends, neighbors and colleagues at work ... Against those who reduce religion to a set of negative statements, or are happy to settle for a watereddown Catholicism; against those who wish to see the Lord with his face against the wall, or to put him in a corner of their souls, we have to affirm, with our words and with our deeds, that we aspire to make Christ the King reign indeed over all hearts, theirs included.

We have to desire ardently the establishment of his kingdom: Oportet illum regnare! First of all, the Lord must reign in our mind, in our will and in our actions. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls. Our Lord and our God: how great you are! It is you who give our life supernatural meaning and divine vitality. For love of your Son, you cause us to say with all our being, with our body and soul: ‘He must reign!’ And this we do against the background of our weakness, for you know that we are creatures made of clay. Fernandez, Francis. In Conversation with God – Volume 5

The original date for the feast of Christ the King was the last Sunday in October. This date is still kept in the traditional liturgy of the Church. Pope Pius XI’s intention, as can be gleaned from n. 29 of the encyclical is to emphasize the glory of Christ as terminus of His earthly mission, a glory and mission visible and perpetuated in history by the saints. Hence the feast falls shortly before the Feast of All Saints, to emphasize that what Christ inaugurated in His own person before ascending in glory, the saints then instantiate and carry further in human society, culture, and nations. It is a feast primarily about celebrating Christ’s ongoing kingship over all reality, including this present world, where the Church must fight for the recognition of His rights, the actual extension of His dominion to all domains, individual and social.

Indeed, there's also the obvious fact, unmentioned in the Encyclical but surely in everyone's mind, that the last Sunday in October had, for centuries, been celebrated as Reformation Sunday. A Catholic counter-feast, reminding the world not only of the comprehensive Kingship of Jesus Christ—so often denied socially and culturally by various teachings of Protestantism—but also of the worldwide kingly authority of His Church, would certainly be a reasonable application of the principle lex orandi, lex credendi. This phrase in Latin means the way the Church prays in her liturgy is what she believes. Pope Paul VI moved the feast in the ordinary liturgy to the last Sunday of the Church-year. This new position emphasizes rather the final establishment of Christ’s kingship: the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, though begun in time, is here present “as in a mystery” (as Lumen Gentium phrases it) and in a “crucified” way. This Kingdom will be perfected and fully manifested only at the end of time, with the Second Coming of Christ. Hence in the new calendar the feast comes at the very end of the Church’s year, as the summation of the whole of salvation history and the symbol of what we hope for as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ the Mass proclaims after the Lord’s Prayer. Though both placements are defensible, it would seem that Pius XI’s intention, consistent with the encyclical as a whole, was more to insist on the rights of Jesus Christ here and now, and the corresponding duties of men and nations on earth. Fr. Vittorio Genovesi S.J. wrote the following, translated from the Latin by Fr. Matthew Britt O.S.B.:

Christ everywhere triumphantly unfolds His glorious banner. Approach suppliant nations and joyfully salute the King of kings. The Cross is the battle standard of the Lord. He did not conquer nations by slaughter, force, or feat, but lifted high upon the Tree on high. He drew all things to Himself by His Love, His open Heart.

Thrice blessed is the land which Christ governs in a just manner and which proceeds to carry out edicts made known to the world from above. No godless wars rage there; peace always strengthens treaties; concord smiles and the civil order stands secure.

Faith safeguards marriage; youth grow up pure; and chaste homes abound with domestic virtues. Most amiable King, may the longed-for light of Yours shine forth for us and when brightshining peace has been obtained, may a submissive world adore You.

All glory Lord, to You, whose sway the world’s dominion does obey. All glory as is ever meet to Father and to Paraclete.

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