The Servant King- Our Only Hope for Peace

This week, the Feast of the Solemnity of Christ the King reminds us of a servant king who came to rule with compassion and mercy. In a world that is obsessed with power, wealth, fame and pleasure, the end of the liturgical year presents us with a king who lays down his life for his people; a king who became vulnerable for our sake; a king with infinite mercy and compassion.

In his sermon, Fr Ryan said we called to follow Christ in serving our fellow men through mercy and compassion. We are called to rule as Jesus did with authority in the vocations we care called and to shepherd those under our care.

In the early 20th century, the militaristic regimes of Mexico, Russia and some parts of Europe had threatened the Catholic church and the faithful. Pope Pius XI was aware 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”  and hence the only hope for peace in man and among nations can only be found in Christ. In 1925, in response to a growing atheistic and secularist culture Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King.

“When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.” Pope Pius XI