SPEAKER_00: Today the church dares to proclaim something bold, something every age has tried and failed to ignore.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is king.
SPEAKER_00: Not symbolically or poetically, not as some sweet relic of memory, but truly, eternally, unshakably, Jesus Christ is King.
SPEAKER_00: Everything in heaven and on earth belongs to him.
SPEAKER_00: Every human life, every human heart, every culture, every government, every nation, every breath, whether we acknowledge it or not, is under his dominion.
SPEAKER_00: This feast is not ancient, was born from chaos.
SPEAKER_00: In nineteen twenty five the world was trembling.
SPEAKER_00: Atheistic communism had seized Russia and declared war on God.
SPEAKER_00: Mussolini had risen in power in Italy.
SPEAKER_00: National socialism was beginning to take root in Germany.
SPEAKER_00: Across Europe, political kingdoms were emerging that hated Christ, denied Christ, and persecuted Christ's followers.
SPEAKER_00: He instituted this feast because the world was forgetting Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And when the world forgets Christ, it never remains empty.
SPEAKER_00: Something else climbs onto the throne.
SPEAKER_00: Power, ideology, politics, pleasure, wealth, violence, pride.
SPEAKER_00: We saw it unfold.
SPEAKER_00: The Soviet Union rose, but it fell.
SPEAKER_00: Nazism rose, but it was crushed.
SPEAKER_00: Fascism rose, but it was defeated.
SPEAKER_00: And Christ, Christ remains.
SPEAKER_00: His kingdom remains, his church remains.
SPEAKER_00: This is not triumphalism.
SPEAKER_00: It's simply a truth.
SPEAKER_00: Every empire has collapsed except for the one that was founded by a crucified carpenter from Nazareth.
SPEAKER_00: And yet Christ's kingdom never looked like what the world expects.
SPEAKER_00: On the surface, it almost seems unattractive.
SPEAKER_00: He tells us to take up our cross daily.
SPEAKER_00: Who wants that?
SPEAKER_00: He tells us to forgive our enemies, to love the unlovable, to deny ourselves, to put God above every other priority.
SPEAKER_00: He tells us that the first will be last and the last will be first, and that the greatest are those who serve.
SPEAKER_00: He also tells us that those who cling on to their lives will lose it, but those who lose their lives for his sake will find it.
SPEAKER_00: The world hears all of this and wonders, why would anyone choose this kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: If we look at today's gospel, the world expects a king on a throne, guarded, robed in gold, surrounded by admirers.
SPEAKER_00: But instead we find Christ, our king, nailed to the cross, surrounded by those who mock him.
SPEAKER_00: The rulers sneer at him, the soldiers taunt him, even one of the criminals crucified beside him, joins the chorus.
SPEAKER_00: If you are the Christ, save yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And then above his head the proclamation of truth is twisted into an insult.
SPEAKER_00: This is the king of the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: Yet there, in this place of humiliation, our king reveals the true nature of his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: While the world demands display of power, Christ reigns by mercy.
SPEAKER_00: While the world shouts for him to save himself, he chooses instead to save all of us.
SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, when one criminal mocks him and the other reaches out towards him in trembling faith, Jesus opens his royal treasury and speaks the most beautiful, kingly words ever uttered today.
SPEAKER_00: Today you will be with me in paradise.
SPEAKER_00: In that exchange, we learn everything that we need to know, and we know in a special way the heart of our king.
SPEAKER_00: A king who does not rule from a distance but from a cross, a king whose throne is made of wood, a king who draws near to sinners and opens up heavens with a single sentence of mercy.
SPEAKER_00: And then there's the crown.
SPEAKER_00: Earthly kings wear crowns.
SPEAKER_00: Christ wears thorns.
SPEAKER_00: Earthly kings sit on marble thrones.
SPEAKER_00: Christ ascends upon a cross.
SPEAKER_00: Earthly kings demand service.
SPEAKER_00: Christ kneels down, bends low, and washes feet and gives his life away.
SPEAKER_00: And yet in this upside down kingdom something extraordinary happens.
SPEAKER_00: The poor are blessed, the meek are lifted up, the merciful are honored, the persecuted are crowned, and the pure of heart see God.
SPEAKER_00: In 2005, when Benedict XVI was elected, cameras captured Cardinal Francis George of Chicago standing very close on a balcony, gazing out onto the plaza, looking on the Roman obelisk.
SPEAKER_00: It was the same grounds where emperors once ruled and Christians were slaughtered.
SPEAKER_00: Later he was asked, What were you thinking?
SPEAKER_00: Why so pensive there up on that balcony?
SPEAKER_00: And he said this.
SPEAKER_00: When I was looking out upon the plaza, looking upon that obelisk, I was saying to myself, Where are the successors of Caesar Augustus?
SPEAKER_00: Where's the successor of Marcus Aurelius?
SPEAKER_00: And finally, who cares?
SPEAKER_00: But if you want to see the successor of Peter, he's standing right next to me.
SPEAKER_00: The world's kingdom rise and fall, Christ's kingdom endures.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the crucial truth we cannot miss.
SPEAKER_00: Christ's kingship must not remain out there.
SPEAKER_00: If he is not king of your heart, your home, your priorities, your habits, your relationships, your moral choices, your words, and your ambitions, then he's truly not your king.
SPEAKER_00: Something else is king and rules.
SPEAKER_00: Many Christians want Christ the Savior, but not Christ the King.
SPEAKER_00: Christ the Comforter, but not Christ the commander.
SPEAKER_00: Christ the gentle shepherd, but not Christ the judge.
SPEAKER_00: Christ the healer, but not Christ the ruler.
SPEAKER_00: But the gospel does not offer a partial Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He's either king of all or he's king of nothing.
SPEAKER_00: This feast day is not meant to comfort us.
SPEAKER_00: It's meant to convert us.
SPEAKER_00: Because in our age, just like in the 1920s, is filled with ideologies that push Christ aside.
SPEAKER_00: They may not wear military uniforms, they may come dressed in, but they come dressed in cultural pressure, in relativism, in moral confusion, and political ideolatry, hyper-individualism, and subtle shame towards public expressions of faith.
SPEAKER_00: If the church becomes silent, if the families stop praying, if disciples stop witnessing, the vacuum then fills empty, and it fills quickly with values that are not of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Pope Pius XI insisted that the world needs Christians who proclaim Christ's kingship.
SPEAKER_00: Not by arrogance or arguments, but through holiness, conviction, courage, charity, purity, fidelity to the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Because in the end, only one kingdom will remain, only one king will stand when every other throne has crumbled.
SPEAKER_00: Only one name will be proclaimed when every ideology has passed away.
SPEAKER_00: Only one shepherd will be gathering his people when time gives way to eternity.
SPEAKER_00: And that is why we must be honest with ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: You may think your job is important, your success is impressive, your schedule may be overwhelming, your influence is significant, but if God is not first, if Christ is not king of your heart, then all of that is built on sand.
SPEAKER_00: Every accomplishment, every title, every treasure will one day fade.
SPEAKER_00: Everything you have, your gifts, your talents, your breath, your life, comes from Him.
SPEAKER_00: And only what is surrendered to Him endures forever.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is our King.
SPEAKER_00: So, my dear brothers and sisters, let this feast awaken something in us.
SPEAKER_00: Christ wants to reign in your heart, not as a distant ruler, but as the one who heals your wounds, forgives your sins, restores your dignity, and reignites your purpose and leads you home.
SPEAKER_00: If you've been silent about your faith, find your voice again.
SPEAKER_00: The world does not need more Christians who blend in.
SPEAKER_00: I like to always say, we have enough secret service Catholics.
SPEAKER_00: We don't need any more.
SPEAKER_00: The world needs disciples who dare to be different, dare to be bold, to shine, to witness, to proclaim that their lives belong to Christ and that Jesus Christ is King.
SPEAKER_00: Praise be Jesus Christ the King, now and forever.
SPEAKER_00: Viva Christo Rey.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.