A Homily for the Feast of Christ the King

+ Democracy, it is sometimes said, is as seductive as a whore. It appears to promise so much, but in the end what it offers is counterfeit, if not diseased. We feel that our democratic activity enables us to participate in the building up of society when in fact our participation—particularly financially—perpetuates the public promotion of agendas and behaviours that are starkly contrary to the good of individuals in society, most particularly if they are unwanted or less-than-perfect infants in the womb, or are elderly and expensive to maintain. Modern democracies boast of abortion on demand, voluntary euthanasia, marriage to almost whomever one wishes regardless of the nature of human sexuality—which is itself now euphemistically labelled “fluid”—and any manner of other utterly abhorrent behaviours. One might not simply ask if these democracies are whores, but whether in fact they are, at least in part, incarnations of the apocalyptic ‘whore of Babylon’ spoken of in the seventeenth chapter of the book of Revelation.

We are not here to debate political theory or reality—history clearly shows there have been evil kings and fine democratic leaders. However, it is certainly possible to assert that we live in an epoch where the seduction proffered by corrupt contemporary democracies is evident enough from the stench of their rotten fruits.

Today is the 100th celebration of the feast of Christ the King since its institution by Pope Pius XI at the end of the jubilee year 1925. Pope Pius established this feast because he was convinced that the “manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics.” “As long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Saviour,” he asserted, “there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.” (Quas Primas, 1)

It would seem that, one hundred years later, Pope Pius XI still has a point. Indeed, one may call his vision prophetic. For if we ourselves and our societies do not submit to the reign of Christ as King of heaven and of earth we shall flounder personally and be buffeted by whatever wiles the devil can conjure up against us. We shall continually be subjected to the vicissitudes of the presumption that inherent truth is supposedly to be found in the opinion of the so-called “majority”. But truth is not constructed by a numeric majority or established by political compromise. Truth has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ who is God become man for our salvation.

Thus, as Pope Pius XI taught: “If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.” (Quas Primas, 33)

That is to say that it is Our Lord Jesus Christ is the King whom we must and serve and obey—not some worldly potentate or ecclesiastical ideologue, let alone their secularist agendas that deny the truth of the nature and purpose of humanity and the sanctity of life, or programmes that dissipate the deposit of Faith handed on to us from the Apostles in the name of some process of so-called renewal! Christ is the one whom each of us must adore in submitting ourselves to the gentle yoke of the Truth that, as the Gospel of this Holy Mass teaches, He came into the world to reveal, and which His Church has faithfully taught in her bi-millennial Tradition. He is the one to whom we must offer our lives in service, regardless of the lures of the world, the flesh and the devil and of the snares of our own self-serving plans and vain ambitions. His will, not mine, must be what rules my life.

So too, if we are called to political office or must engage in the public forum, we must be ready for the reality about which the Holy Father recently underlined to French politicians: “The openly Christian commitment of a public official is not easy, particularly in certain Western societies where Christ and his Church are marginalised, often ignored, and sometimes ridiculed. Neither do I ignore the pressure, the party directives…to which politicians are subjected. They must have the courage to say at times, ‘no, I cannot!’, when the truth is at stake. …Only union with Jesus – the crucified Jesus! – will give you this courage to suffer in his name. As he said… ‘in the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world’” (Jn 16:33). (Leo XVI, Address, 28 August 2025)

For it is only submitting to the Truth of the Kingship of Christ, individually and collectively, that we shall escape the perverse seduction of the world and find the salvation we so desperately need. For the grace of the renewal of our resolution humbly so to do let us pray earnestly in this Holy Mass. Regnum Christi veniat! Amen. +