November 26, 2023 (Solemnity of Christ the King)

by Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, O.P.

[This is the text composed by the homilist prior to delivering the homily.]

The Feast of Christ the King is both amazingly popular and surprisingly young. Why did Pope Pius XI establish it in 1926 when monarchies had failed? Gone or going were the monarchs of Germany, Austria, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire. Why proclaim Christ a king? … Because something threatening was emerging!

During social discord and economic turmoil, people clamor for a strong man. Mussolini was elected in 1922 on the promise of making Italy great again. Three years later, he ended the pretense of democracy, making himself Il Duce the leader.

Fascism isn’t just an Italian phenomenon; its playbook inspired Hitler and has been used by political bullies ever since. It starts by persuading people they are victims whose mythic greatness has been stolen by a group. … We want someone to make us great again, forgetting we never were! … Citizens who disagree are labeled as enemies trying to destroy us. Vilification and disenfranchisement follow; attacks on media, science, and education become a defense of leader and myth. One scholar observed, “notion of hierarchy of groups is the big lie at the center of fascism. [It] “is the lie that one group is inherently better than another.”

Mussolini said as much in 1922 when he explained his playbook at the Fascist Congress: We have created our myth. The myth is a faith, a passion. It is not necessary for it to be a reality. Our myth is the nation, our myth is the greatness of the nation! And to this myth, this greatness, which we want to translate into a total reality, we subordinate everything.”

Pope Pius XI established the feast of Christ the King not as a pious thought but as a response to a looming danger. … He offered a different playbook. He wanted Christ to be the king of our hearts and to flood the world with lay Catholic social action that served everyone.

Most don’t know that Pope Pius XI wrote three encyclicals against totalitarianism. One he had smuggled into Germany in 1937 and read from the pulpit on the same Sunday, much to Hitler’s chagrin.

The hunger for a strong man still surfaces in times of stress. It seems to be written into our DNA. We want leaders to be larger than life, craftier than good, and smarter than wise. Tragically, they forget they’re not God! Which despot didn’t have an adoring crowd that wanted him to do their thinking for them?

We are not exempt. Our country has yet to resolve the contradiction of our founding and the unfinished Civil War. America began the heady experiment that “all men are created equal” but betrayed it by saying some are not as equal. What rights did you have if you were a woman, a Black, an Afro-Caribbean, a Native American, or, for that matter, a Jew or a Catholic? American equality has often been for the few. Oligarchy still tempts us.

President Andrew Johnson hated slavery for the wealth it created for the Southern few, but he had no remorse for slaves. He thought taxing the hard-working to spend it on the suffering poor was theft. … Haven’t we heard that again and again? … Equality has yet to win the day in America.

Don’t think the Church is exempt. Ever since Constantine recognized the Church, the Church has been tempted to become Emperor and Empire.

Too quickly, we forget the Kingdom of God is as small as a mustard seed, as slimy as yeast. Our King comes as “one who serves” and makes himself humble, even to death on a cross! … His reign is self-giving love!

This feast asks us: Who has your heart’s allegiance? … A spirit of empire or Jesus? … Pope Pius XI made it a point to quote St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped…”

Too many leaders have often succumbed to self-interest. Our first reading is part of a diatribe against Israel’s leaders, shepherds who fattened themselves. God promised: I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, … I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.

Yet, we are still impressed by power, glory, and wealth. Isn’t that what kings are about? …. Our temptation is to clothe Jesus in everything he rejected so we can permit them to ourselves! …. It’s the devil’s temptation. The devil … showed [Jesus] … all the kingdoms of the world. … ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Luke 4:5-7

The devil tempted Jesus to be a Messiah of empire. … Imagine how much good Jesus could do with that power! But it worships the wrong God and claims the wrong kingdom.

Empires rule, but Jesus said: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; … But not so with you; … the greatest among you must become like the youngest… I am among you as one who serves.” Lk 22:25-27

Empires retaliate and conquer, but Jesus said: “Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you.” Lk 6:28-29

Empires judge and condemn, but Jesus said: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; …” Lk 6:37-38

Empires amass wealth, but Jesus said: “… give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, ....” Luke 12:33-34

Today’s Gospel offers us a school for training hearts to recognize the face of Jesus; we are given the final exam ahead of time! The school is the corporal works of mercy. The test asks: Have you put compassion into action?

‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

This feast of Christ the King should be renamed the Feast of Christ our Kin. God wants us as his family. He says, Let me love you. Let me make you my sons and daughters; make you brothers and sisters. Then ask, Who can I make myself kin to today?