When do we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King?
Each year we celebrate Christ’s sovereignty on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. This year the Feast of Christ the King, which also is our parish feast day, is celebrated this Sunday, November 24.
When did the Feast of Christ the King begin?
Pope Pius XI established the Feast of Christ the King in 1925.
Why did Pope Pius XI establish the Feast of Christ the King?
The feast was declared during an especially unsettling time that witnessed an alarming escalation of totalitarianism in varied horrific forms. In contrast to bloodthirsty worldly despots as well as rising tides of secularism and atheism in traditional Christian countries, the Church unapologetically reaffirmed Christ the King as the answer to all human problems and fulfillment of all human desires.
Does the Bible refer to Christ as a “king”?
- Jesus Himself announces: “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” (John 18:36)
- Although the actual word “king” does not appear here, Jesus declares sovereignty over all in no uncertain terms when He states, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18)
- “For he [Christ Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for “he subjected everything under his feet.” But when it says that everything has been subjected, it is clear that it excludes the one who subjected everything to him. When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will [also] be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:25-28)
- “At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)
