Have we enthroned Christ as the King of our hearts, and the Lord of our children’s lives? by Michelle Tan
As we approach the end of the school and calendar year, let us ponder the question above as we reflect on the following, adapted from an article I wrote for Catholic News, and published on 15 November 2020:
The Church celebrates the Solemnity of Christ the King on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. This year, it falls on 24 November.
The feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 at a time when the world was in chaos – World War I had just ended with a loss of an estimated 50 million lives, governments were hostile to one another, their economies were crumbling, and people were suffering in poverty. Fascism, Nazism and communism were rearing their ugly heads. The faithful grasped at the straws of false hopes and empty promises offered them by these new regimes, many abandoning the Church whose spiritual and moral teachings were made out to be anachronistic, irrelevant and burdensome.
It was in the context of this secular post-war society that Pope Pius XI dedicated his reign as Pope to the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ (Pax Christi in regno Christi).
When he first instituted the feast day, Pope Pius XI set its date on the last Sunday of October, one week before the feast of All Saints “to proclaim and extol the glory of Him who triumphs in all the saints and in all the elect.”
He wanted the whole Church to reclaim the throne of Christ for the world and affirm her profession of faith in the Creed that “His Kingdom will have no end” because, as he wrote in his encyclical Quas primas, “The rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences i.e:
- the seeds of discord sown far and wide;
- bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder much the cause of peace;
- insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretence of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels;
- a 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 neglected their duty;
- the unity and stability of the family undermined;
- society, in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ”
If we add to this catastrophic climate change and global pandemics, the Holy Father’s observations are uncannily spot-on descriptions of both our real and virtual worlds today.
But worse was yet to come – World War II, the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the chaos of decolonisation, among many other societal upheavals, led Pope Paul VI in 1969 to change the name and elevate the rank of the feast to the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, moving the date to the last Sunday of the liturgical year – just before Advent – to emphasise Christ as “the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, who was and is and is to come.” (Revelation 1:8)
So, as we prepare to celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King on Nov 24, let us reflect on the signs of our times and ask ourselves: Who sits on the throne of our heart?
Is it our Self (S) who sits there as master of our little universe, with our egos, desires, passions, worldly attachments and sins (the blue circles) crowding Christ (the Cross) out of our man-made kingdom, and banishing Him out of our sight, hearts and minds?
Or is it sin that rules our hearts, a disordered affection for, or an addiction to, a person or a thing that has taken control of our Self so that we are helpless to help ourselves, or to cry out to God to help us, because we have banished Him too far away?
Or does Christ our King reign supreme in our hearts and lives, such that, obedient to the rule of His law of love, our Selves are docile and surrendered to His Holy Spirit, our human desires and passions are under control, and we are free enough to allow Him to bring peace and order into our otherwise chaotic lives?
If Christ is the King of our hearts, we will taste and see the Lord is indeed good, and we will have the desire to share Him with others, especially those of the young people under our care, whom God has given over to us as their stewards, shepherds, and servants on their earthly pilgrimage home to heaven.
Outside of the Church, where best for our young charges to learn about our benevolent all- merciful, all-compassionate Master than in our Catholic schools – where Christ is ideally the centre of everything – a place where faith is not only taught, but caught, because it is so infectious?
Let us pray, especially on this coming feast of Christ the King, that we may always be faithful ambassadors of Christ, and that our homes, faith communities and schools may be vibrant “embassies”, building bridges of relationship, peace, communion and love with all who enter, conquering more hearts and minds for the glory of God and His Kingdom.