Archbishop of Sydney

Feast of Christ the King

St Mary’s Cathedral
Ezek 34:11-12, 15-17; 1 Cor 15:20-26,28; Mt 25:31-46

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
20 November 2005

Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King, probably a title we take for granted just as we do with the titles we use on other occasions.

 In fact, the feast is only a recent introduction into the universal calendar of the Church, accomplished by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to emphasise the importance of Our Lord and the peace which occurs in society when we follow his teaching.  It was probably also designed to counter the pretensions of the Communists and especially Mussolini’s Fascists, who had come to power in Italy a few years previously.

 Pius XI obviously intended to contrast the goodness and justice of Christ with the oppression of contemporary dictatorship.

 Jesus was not rich or politically powerful.  Many of the Jewish and Roman rulers would have only heard of him as a miracle worker or trouble maker.  He did not deny to Governor Pilate that his followers called him king, but he was not kinglike and his kingdom was not of this world.

 The kings in history are a mixed bag of good and evil, wise and foolish.  Nearly all of them exercised real power, unlike the constitutional monarchs, symbols and umpires rather than rulers, who reign today like our Queen or Princess Mary of Denmark.  Some of them were also cruel and tyrannical, not interested in the welfare of their subjects and the more capable and powerful were often warlike and keen for empire.  It is not surprising that the title Christ the King was introduced into the Church only when many of the kings and emperors had disappeared from history.

 In what sense then can we say that Jesus should be called king?  St. Paul writing to the Corinthians does speak of Christ handing over his Kingdom to God the Father at the end of time.  Then there will be no more human sovereignties, authorities or powers.  All the evil enemies of the Kingdom of God will be under his feet and even death will be no more.

 It is important to remember that while God’s kingdom has begun and exists in human history and daily life wherever the Spirit of Love is followed, it is nowhere triumphant or completely pure.  Only in the end time will the triumph of Christ the King be total and therefore visible and irrefutable.

 In today’s prayer of the Church there is a beautiful passage from the Apocalypse (or Book of Revelations) on Christ the King who is described as “the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the Ruler of the Kings of the earth.  He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father.” (Rev.9:4-6)  Christ is King because He can and does forgive our sins provided we repent.  God cannot forgive us if we claim there is nothing to forgive.

 Christ the King tells us here not to be afraid although he is “The First and the Last, the Living one.  He was dead and now he is to live for ever and ever, holding in his hands the keys of death and the underworld”.

Jesus is the equal of the Father, eternally begotten of the Father.  The Father could not have refused to generate the Son in this mystery of transcendent love.  So Jesus was involved in the creation of the entire universe, presently estimated at about 13.8 million light years in extent.  He is the Lord of this creation.

He designed the cosmos; He placed the natural law into the heart of creation, so that human dignity is respected and these moral truths are recognised as we strive to purify and then follow our conscience.

And Christ is King because he is to be the Judge on the Last Day, a loving merciful and just judge, but a judge nonetheless.  It is the Good Shepherd who will be our judge, the shepherd who seeks out the lost and helps the weak.

But there will be a separation between the good and the bad and Jesus will be truly just, recognizing those who resolutely turn from God and the service of others.  Jesus will not be sentimental, because sentiment can be superficial and self-indulgent.

It is escapism to believe that we shall not have to answer for our lives, for the good we have done or failed to do, to answer for our unrepented sins.

Jesus, Our Lord, is King; not least because he is the great and ultimate judge.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.