Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe is the culmination of the Church’s entire liturgical year. Today we celebrate Christ who is truly King and Lord of the Universe and now reigns in all His glory in Heaven.
Today’s feast was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, at the request of many bishops and faithful from around the world. There was a strong denial of faith influenced by the rise of materialistic secularism and militant atheism that was trying to repress belief in Christ and suppress the Christian presence in the world. Bolshevik communism began to show its evil head, as they tried to perfect the art of lying, with a manifesto claimed to be working to “free” people from the “opium” of belief in God, which they said was only a means used by others to keep them subjected. Since there really was no god, they stated, the churches and Christians were just seeking greater foundation for their pursuit of political power. As a consequence of such situations during a time when respect for Christ and His Church was waning, and people were more and more attracted to materialistic and secular solutions to the world's problems, and were, in many cases, led to less than Christian and less than human solutions such as World War I, Communism, and the embellishment of Hitler. The Church, to counteract these lies and proclaim both the fact of Christ’s Kingship in the Universe and the true spiritual aims of that Kingdom, proclaimed today’s feast.
As for us Catholics, this time of the end of the liturgical year of the Church should serve as a great opportunity to reflect upon our relationship with the King of the Universe as the liturgical year moves us through the events in the life of Christ and thereby deepens the life of Christ within each of us. In order for us to benefit from the grace and power of God, we need to be open and keenly aware to the working of God within our lives.
Many events, people and things impact our faith, relationships, time, and energy. The uncertainties related to COVID-19 stopped many of us in our tracks. Fear of the unknown, lost trust, broken relationships, inability to control, lockdowns, and quarantines impacted our lives like never before. It feels that we were “paralyzed” by the simple idea that each one of us can be infected and as the result we lost sight of the truly important. Worrying about not spreading the disease, keeping everything sanitized and clean, maintaining social distancing with mandatory facial coverings and even being dispensed from coming to Mass. We engaged in unprecedented ways to fight this invisible enemy when “science and facts” tell us that the overall COVID-19 recovery rate is between 97% and 99.75%. Let me be clear that there are many people with compromised immune system and other serious health concerns that should take extra precautions. It also saddens me terribly that every life lost to this or any illness is one too many. But let us also remember some other facts that significantly impact our lives daily- 1 in 4 women have had an abortion that claimed the lives of over 800,000 children every year. In addition, the ratio of abortion among black women is 474 abortions per 1,000 live births - the highest ratio of any group in the country. In New York alone for African American women, there were more abortions happening than babies being born. Now, if we include the growing rate of Euthanasia in our country, I wonder who the one we try to protect is.
It looks like we invested a great deal in all the efforts and practices – I feel that many are very reasonable – to keep us safe and protected, and yet they seem to strip us from the time, opportunities and efforts placed on spiritual well-being. This feast of Christ centers us again on our own place in God’s salvific plan inviting us to rediscover the significance of God’s Kingdom and to re-establish our relationship with Jesus. These times are very challenging ones and directly remind us of the past, of “a strong denial of faith influenced by the rise of materialistic secularism and militant atheism that was trying to repress belief in Christ and suppress the Christian presence in the world.”
May this Feast remind us of our glorious goal of praising and giving glory to God! May this time grant us opportunities to reflect upon our cooperation with that glorious King and may our lives reflect the truth and integrity of our relationship with Him by praising Him and living in holiness of our own lives.