34th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
‘I came into the world for this:
to bear witness to the truth’
Pope Pius XI, whose motto was ‘the peace of Christ
in the reign of Christ’ instituted this Feast in 1925.
Benito Mussolini had just declared himself ‘Il Duce’
(‘The Leader’) of Italy, and the Holy Father wanted to
remind his flock that, for them, there could be only one
‘duce’, Jesus Christ. He placed the feast, appropriately,
at the hinge of the year, to indicate that all time and
all seasons belong to the Lord. Christ is a king with
a difference. He did not come to reign on a golden
throne, but on a wooden cross. His power comes, not
through domination, but through humble service. As he
stands before Pilate in today’s Gospel, he explains his
mission: ‘I have come to bear witness to the truth’. Not
only did He bear witness to the truth; He was and is the
Truth. In so far as we, his followers, speak His truth,
irrespective of the consequences, and act His truth with
joy, we allow his kingdom to come and His truth will
set us free.
‘Truth is not determined by a majority vote. Truth
draws strength from itself and not from the number of
votes in its favour.’ (Pope Benedict)
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