A Sunday Morning Thought About Christ the King to Start the Week Off Right
(We originally posted this last year. It's as relevant and important now as it was then.)
Today's feast of Christ the King begins the last week of the Church's Liturgical Year. While any serious Catholic will easily grasp the fundamental importance of recognizing Jesus Christ as his or her King, many of us forget that all governments - at least in the West - once did the same. In other words, once upon a time it wasn't just a personal "choice" to formally place oneself under the authority and leadership of Christ; governments placed themselves under His authority and leadership too.
Today's twisted understanding of the "separation of Church and State" grew out of the Enlightenment - a time when human beings "freed themselves" from what they perceived as an oppressive Church. Let's be clear about this: the Church never was and never will be perfect. But the ensuing efforts on the part of many of the leading figures of the Enlightenment was not to "reform" that which needed reformation; it was to push the Church out of public life altogether. And in this, they have, for the most part, succeeded.
The United States has remained one of the last holdouts; at least it was until the 20th century, when calls to end even the hint of God - never mind our Holy Catholic Religion - gained momentum. In this we now follow the countries of Europe - what was once known as "Christendom" - who have already constructed their "enlightened" secular culture, pushing God unceremoniously out the back door. Yet, even as we recognize the "reality" of the dominance of a secular culture, we note that most of the state constitutions of the United States of America continue to formally recognize God in some way. For example, the preamble of the Constitution of my home state of New York states quite clearly, even in its recently revised version,
(And so it goes for most of the other state constitutions. If you didn't know this, just look it up and you'll see for yourself.)
Of course, efforts continue, on the part of today's children of the Enlightenment, to rid our country, both at the federal and state level, of any formal recognition of God in public affairs. It's the final push to keep God under wraps, perhaps permitting the Creator of the Universe to exist in the hearts and minds of individuals, but certainly eliminating - indeed forbidding - all public references to Him. (I say "perhaps" permitting, because the secular pagan culture may not be satisfied with the singular elimination of public recognition of God. But that's a subject for another time.)
For now, we Catholics must remind ourselves that our reference to Christ the King isn't something that exists only in our holy religion, or in our individual hearts and minds. It is in fact an objective description of a rightly ordered society - a society the recognizes that authority ultimately rests in the hands of He who created the universe, in the person of His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Anything less than this recognition of the true meaning of Christ the King simply won't do. I hope you understand this.
Today's feast of Christ the King begins the last week of the Church's Liturgical Year. While any serious Catholic will easily grasp the fundamental importance of recognizing Jesus Christ as his or her King, many of us forget that all governments - at least in the West - once did the same. In other words, once upon a time it wasn't just a personal "choice" to formally place oneself under the authority and leadership of Christ; governments placed themselves under His authority and leadership too.
Today's twisted understanding of the "separation of Church and State" grew out of the Enlightenment - a time when human beings "freed themselves" from what they perceived as an oppressive Church. Let's be clear about this: the Church never was and never will be perfect. But the ensuing efforts on the part of many of the leading figures of the Enlightenment was not to "reform" that which needed reformation; it was to push the Church out of public life altogether. And in this, they have, for the most part, succeeded.
The United States has remained one of the last holdouts; at least it was until the 20th century, when calls to end even the hint of God - never mind our Holy Catholic Religion - gained momentum. In this we now follow the countries of Europe - what was once known as "Christendom" - who have already constructed their "enlightened" secular culture, pushing God unceremoniously out the back door. Yet, even as we recognize the "reality" of the dominance of a secular culture, we note that most of the state constitutions of the United States of America continue to formally recognize God in some way. For example, the preamble of the Constitution of my home state of New York states quite clearly, even in its recently revised version,
"We The People of the State of New York, grateful to
Almighty God for our Freedom, in order to secure its blessings, DO
ESTABLISH THIS CONSTITUTION."
(And so it goes for most of the other state constitutions. If you didn't know this, just look it up and you'll see for yourself.)
Of course, efforts continue, on the part of today's children of the Enlightenment, to rid our country, both at the federal and state level, of any formal recognition of God in public affairs. It's the final push to keep God under wraps, perhaps permitting the Creator of the Universe to exist in the hearts and minds of individuals, but certainly eliminating - indeed forbidding - all public references to Him. (I say "perhaps" permitting, because the secular pagan culture may not be satisfied with the singular elimination of public recognition of God. But that's a subject for another time.)
For now, we Catholics must remind ourselves that our reference to Christ the King isn't something that exists only in our holy religion, or in our individual hearts and minds. It is in fact an objective description of a rightly ordered society - a society the recognizes that authority ultimately rests in the hands of He who created the universe, in the person of His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Anything less than this recognition of the true meaning of Christ the King simply won't do. I hope you understand this.
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