On the last Sunday of each liturgical year, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or Christ the King. Christ’s kingship is rooted in the Church’s teaching on the Incarnation.  Jesus is fully God and fully man.  He is both the divine Lord and the man who suffered and died on the Cross.  One person of the Trinity unites himself to human nature and reigns over all creation as the Incarnate Son of God.  “From this, it follows not only that Christ is to be adored by angels and men, but that to him as man angels and men are subject, and must recognize his empire; by reason of the hypostatic union Christ has power over all creatures.”

Today, religious freedom for many people means that we can believe whatever we want in private, but when we enter the public square or the marketplace, we may not speak of anything that relates to our faith.  However, the Church acknowledges the reign of Christ, not only privately, but publicly.  This solemnity encourages us the celebrate and live out our faith in public. For Christians, when our faith is repeatedly marginalized in public life, we can fall into the habit of compartmentalizing our lives.  We love Jesus in our private lives, but we shrink from acknowledging the kingship of Christ in social life.  When we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of the Church and of the entire universe.