This year marks the 100th anniversary since Pope Pius XI closed the Holy Year 1925 with the addition to the Sacred Liturgy of a special observance to honor the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Father instituted the celebration to commemorate the sixteenth centenary of the Council of Nicea which had added the phrase “and of his Kingdom there will be no end” to the Creed thereby solemnly affirming the kingly dignity of Jesus Christ.
Although the Kingship of Christ had been popularly embraced by the Church’s bishops, clergy and laity for centuries, the early twentieth century Pontiff wisely wanted to note the scriptural and theological bases for the celebration as well. The testimony of the prophets is abundant. Isaiah’s claim is especially well known: “For a child is born to us and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, mighty God, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace. He shall sit upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and forever.” (Is 9:5-6) In the New Testament, the announcing angel declares to Mary, “The Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever.” (Lk 1:32) St. John later sees Christ as the one who “has on his garment and on his thigh written ‘King of kings and Lord of lords!’”
The Holy Father insists that the Kingship of Christ is primarily spiritual and is concerned with spiritual things. On many occasions, when the Jews and even the Apostles wrongly supposed that the Messiah would restore the liberties and the kingdom of Israel, Christ refused such suggestions. After the multiplication of the loaves, the admiring crowds would then have acclaimed him as king, but the Scriptures note that Christ fled from the honor. Before Pilate, the Roman magistrate, Christ frankly declared that his “kingdom” was not of this world. The gospels thus present this kingdom of God, not as a worldly realm, but as one which men prepare to enter by faith and especially by baptism, which, through the sacramental rite, signifies and produces an interior regeneration, a spiritual citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Although the Kingship of Christ is essentially spiritual, Pope Pius lamented the diminishing influence of Christ’s kingship in the modern world. He first quoted Pope Leo XIII who wrote, “…truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ.” But, alas, the supremacy that Christ held throughout the Catholic world in the Middle Ages was fractured after the Reformation as Christian nations became either Catholic countries or Protestant countries. Then, gradually, what the Pontiff labeled “anti-clericalism” separated religious values from secular values and God’s presence became more and more excluded from public life. “The result is that human society is tottering to its fall,” His Holiness lamented, “because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation.”
Pope Pius chose to link his teachings on the Kingship of Christ to a specific Sunday observance because festive celebrations reach the average believer more effectively than published papal decrees. He cited the wonderful and lasting influence that the feast of Corpus Christi and the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus have had on the believing world, greatly influencing parish observances and personal devotions and core beliefs.
His Holiness did not mince his words in reminding the secular world: “Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ. It will call to their minds the thought of the last judgment, wherein Christ, who has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored, will most severely avenge these insults; for his kingly dignity demands that the State should take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing for the young a sound moral education.” Christian nationalism indeed!
Pope Pius concluded his instruction reminding the faithful that, as King, Christ must reign in all minds through revealed truths and the doctrines of the Church. He must reign in all wills as the laws and precepts of God are obeyed. He must reign in all hearts as mere natural desires are spurned and God is loved above all things. And Christ must reign in the bodies of all members as well, serving as instruments of justice before God and the human family.
