Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday in the liturgical year. Unlike most festivals, this celebration is recent and was first celebrated in 1926 at a time when many false saviours like Mussolini and Stalin were appearing round the world. The feast was launched in the encyclical Quas Primas by Pope Pius XI which I took the time to read today. His emphasis on the primacy of divine rule in the lives of everyday Christians seems to me a challenge to give our highest priority to living the teachings and actions of the Master in our daily lives. As Jesus said, few enter that narrow gate.
The Roman pontiff notes some negative trends that commitment to the Reign of Christ could help to reverse. Amongst other, he mentions, "the seeds of discord, sown far and wide; those bitter rivalries and enmities between nations, which so hinder the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretence of public spirit and patriotism...blind and immoderate selfishness making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home because men have forgotten or neglect their duty, with the unity and stability of the family undermined." This, the Pope notes, "is society, in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin."
The Kingdom of God is the world as it would look if the will of God were done here as in heaven. It is a matter of allegiance and, for too many, religion is not allowed to get in the way of their politics. The Gospel goes begging. Kingdom living requires a radical re-orientation and re-prioritization of our lives. It is hard to do. But we need to do it for Christ's sake, for the sake of our own souls, and for the sake of the world.
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