Surprising as it may seem, the Solemnity of Christ the King is a fairly recent feast. It was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in response to the growing secularization of the world. With it, the Church wanted to highlight Christ's sovereignty over all creation, including humanity and its history.
This does not mean, of course, that in 1925 the Church "invented" the idea that Jesus is king. The Church has known since the apostles that Christ is king, but she wanted to underline this reality now that her dominion over the world is increasingly questioned... The initial challenge, also for Jesus, was to cleanse the notion of his kingship of worldly connotations.
On several occasions we see that the Jews proclaimed him king, wanting him to be a worldly political-military leader who would free them from Roman rule. But on every occasion Jesus slipped away, eschewing any kind of kingship. He also made it clear to the cynical Pilate, concerned about threats to Rome's hegemony in the region, that his kingdom "is not of this world"(Jn 18:36). Throughout the three-year cycle of Sunday readings, the Church presents us with different aspects of Christ's kingship, which, as always, far surpasses the worldly conception of power and authority.
In today's readings, with which we end the liturgical year, we are shown Jesus coming at the end of time to "...".to judge the living and the dead"as we say in the Creed.
The second reading tells us that "everything will be put under your feet". But, as always, the first reading helps us to understand the Gospel, and describes kingship as the shepherding of the people. A good king was like a good shepherd, who took care of the whole flock, who kept everyone in sight, who rescued the strayed. True kingship does not consist in lording it over the people, but in serving them. This was Jesus' kingship, and it is the form of kingship that he not only offers us, but expects of us. Our own judgment will be based on whether or not we live a form of servant kingship.
Thus, the Gospel is the famous parable of the sheep and the goats, which describes the universal judgment of all humanity that will take place at the end of time. The sheep, at the right hand of the Lord, who will join him in heaven, are those who cared for the needy. These sheep were caring shepherds, who used whatever authority they had, whether much or little, to help others. They lived a reign of service. The goats, on the left of Christ, who are sent to hell, are those who neglected their suffering brethren. They used the privileges they enjoyed selfishly and their power for pleasure. Their kingship/kingship involved lording it over others. The choice is hard: which form of kingship will we choose? One leads to heaven, the other to hell.
The homily on the readings of the Solemnity of Christ the King
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
