Celebrating the Feast of Christ the King

The weekend that this newspaper arrives is the weekend that we celebrate the final Sunday of the Liturgical Year.  The Feast on that last weekend is the Feast of Christ the King.  As Church feasts go, this one is relatively new, declared by Pope Pius XI in 1925.
In a certain sense the celebration of this feast reminds us that the entire year is oriented to Christ.  Our lives too should be oriented toward Christ.  It is very easy for us to get distracted by secondary concerns and lose sight of the primary concern of our lives, namely our salvation and the salvation of our families and friends.  Our entire focus should be on Christ and His Kingdom.  It is as if the entire year climaxes on the Feast of Christ the King.
This feast reminds us that all earthly rulers are temporary.  We are reminded that the Kingdom of God will endure for all eternity.  As Christians we are called to be good citizens.  We should live virtuously and selflessly.  We should follow all just and reasonable laws.  But as we operate as good citizens there should always be a sense in us that we belong first to a higher Kingdom.  God first.  His Kingdom is where our first citizenship should be.  
There was a play written about St. Thomas More by Robert Bolt.  In the play, just prior to his execution, St. Thomas says, “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.”  This should be our epitaph.  
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life. Email him at [email protected] 
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