A criminal dying on a cross recognized that Jesus,

also dying in agony, was entering into his Kingdom.

In Jesus, he glimpsed something of

the extraordinary truth:

here nailed to a cross was the first-born of all creation.

Jesus was leading us into Paradise,

into the glory He had with His Father

before the world was made.  ~Jn 17:5

The Evangelist Luke presents the Ascension of our Lord

as the occasion when Christ was taken up to Heaven

 to the throne of God.

His enthronement at the right hand of the Father

 in glory is the completion of the mysteries of His life

 and marks His inauguration as

King of heaven and earth.

The Feast of the Ascension, then, for many centuries

 was the occasion when

Christ's Kingship was celebrated.

It remains today the major celebration

of his victorious kingship.

Only relatively recently, in 1925, was a second celebration

of this mystery established by Pius XI

under the title of Christ the King.

While it is of lesser importance than the high

Feast of the Ascension, it partakes of its dignity.

It serves to bring out other aspects of that mystery more fully.

The Holy Father instituted it at a time

when atheism was growing more widespread

and politically stronger with the passing years.

He expressly affirmed Christ's

dominion over the whole of time and the entire world

in the face of this denial of God.

What could have appeared a powerless gesture

to the Church's enemies at that time

now rather shows itself to have been a prophetic act.

Accordingly, honoring the Lord Jesus

as a kingly figure who rules in heaven and on earth

grew naturally in the early Church.

While more prominent in certain periods, this devotion

has remained integral with tradition

 throughout the centuries.

Another intent in creating this feast was to

counteract the strong current of secularism

that has been so characteristic of our century.

Resistance to this trend has proved less successful,

however, and increasingly society in the West

has taken on attitudes and practices that

 banish the sacred and the holy from daily life.

Christ Himself made it clear that His kingship

is not of this world. He is truly king of earth as well

as of heaven, yet His manner of ruling is far different

 from that of earthly rulers.

His authority derives from the Spirit and it is over

hearts and minds that He rules,

 through faith, trust and love.

His authority is at variance with the manner

of the kings and rulers of nations.

He came to serve, even to give His life

for those over whom He would rule.

He seeks nothing for Himself;

rather it is for the good of his subjects

that He is our leader,

and for the glory of God, His Father.

To take Christ as King is to model our selves on Him

as well as to obey Him.

Obeying our Lord by a deliberate choice. 

 It is repeated daily in living out one's vows

and commitments in life and is a high expression

of the honor in which we hold Him.

     His values and aims are those we set for ourselves in life.

Even more importantly, obedience is an act of love

 when it is given from the heart.

By obeying we seek to please Him for His sake,

in order to give Him glory and to further His cause.

People who would become citizens of His Kingdom

must be formed according to

His teaching and example.

     We must keep His commandments if we would love Him,

and then the Father too will love us

and receive us into the mansions

that the Lord Jesus goes to prepare for us.

you will enter the kingdom of Christ, wrote St. Peter,

for the kingdom is holy and only the holy ones,

      purified from all defilement of sin and disordered passion,

can find their way to enter it and dwell in it.”

~2Peter 1:11

To serve Christ the King is to obey Him from the heart,

and to obey Him from the heart is to grow in freedom

and to realize our true independence

from all that enslaves us in this life.

Such obedience to His Word, His inspirations

and to the teachings of His Church practiced in faith

    and with love is the best way to honor Christ as our King.

As we commemorate His Kingship,

let us resolve to pay Him the tribute of our free will

and to make our life a constant service

of His glory by obeying Him in all things

and by cooperating with one another

in carrying out His will day by day.

Thus we shall witness to our society that Christ the King

is the sole hero who can satisfy the human need

for a model Whose life passes into ours

and brings it to its proper completeness.