Feast of Christ the King — Sermon by Fr. Ermatinger

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Translation of the Epistle for the Feast of Christ the King (Col 1:12-20)

Brethren: We give thanks to God the Father Who has made us worthy to share the lot of the saints in light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have our redemption through His blood, the remission of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For in Him were created all things in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers. All things have been created through and unto Him, and He is before all creatures, and in Him all things hold together. Again, He is the head of the body, the Church; He, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the first place. For it has pleased God the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell and that through Him He should reconcile to Himself all things, whether on the earth or in the heavens, making peace through the blood of His Cross, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Continuation of the Holy Gospel According to Saint John (18:33-37)

At that time, Pilate said to Jesus, Are Thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, Dost thou say this of thyself or of others told thee of Me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thy own people and Thy chief priests have delivered Thee to me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My followers would certainly have fought that I might not be delivered to the Jews, but as it is, My kingdom is not from here. Pilot therefore said to Him, Thou art then a King. Jesus answered, Thou saith it: I am a king. This is why I was born and why I have come into this world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.

The Saving Words of the Gospel.

Thou saith it: I am a king.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Transcription of Sermon

This Feast is a hundred years old, founded, established by Pope Pius XI, and the context was the rise of godless regimes in Russia, and also Masonic regimes in Mexico, and the persecution of the Church in Spain, trying to eliminate all of these external elements of effective Christianity. In other words, the social reign of Christ, building a culture rooted in Christ and oriented towards Heaven, was the object of their wrath. And so, the Holy Father established this Feast and also wanted it to be on the last Sunday before All Saints as well because it stands in opposition to what the Protestants call Reformation Sunday. Christ is the Universal King of Heaven and Earth, and Pius XI underscored the social dimension of this Kingdom: It ought to be revealed here in this world as well. It’s not something that the gentle moderns say will happen later.

And we’ve seen examples of it; what a holy kingdom looks like under the reign of saintly kings like St. Stephen of Hungary, King Louis IX, Ferdinand and Isabel. And nonetheless, we see in Scripture, it says in John’s first letter that the entire world is under the influence of Satan. And Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter four, that Satan is called the god of this world. And so, we are set up for conflict, and that’s not a problem; that’s just our situation. This is the lot of those who belong to the Kingdom of Christ to fight for the establishment of His Kingdom in this world and awaiting its fruition in the next. So, it highlights also the urgency of cooperating with the graces of conversion and evangelization, bringing Christ to rule in our hearts and in those around us.

In the Old Testament, we see that Our Lord was not in favor of a monarchy for the Jews. And so, why does St. Thomas Aquinas say that the best form of government is a monarchy? Is this in contradiction to the Old Testament? Well, yes, and no.

The Jews… you’ve probably seen very wealthy young people who dress like thugs, act like thugs, talk like thugs. They look at their neighbors, and they try and become something they’re not. Well, the Jews would look at their neighbors and see what they were doing and think, “Why couldn’t we do that? Why can’t we sacrifice our children to demons? Why can’t we enter into pagan worship? Why can’t we have a king like them?” It wasn’t the time for a king because Christ the King had not arrived yet. He is the model for every human king. And nonetheless, they got what they wanted and paid the price.

Saul was a tragic figure, the first king, entering into divination and, ultimately, committing suicide. David starts out pretty well and is then taken over by his passions, kills one of his friends, takes his wife out of lust. His son Solomon, who had an extraordinary portion of divine wisdom infused into him, thanks to the influence of his 700 wives and 300 concubines, was also subject to all sorts of influences that were not godly, basically becoming an apostate. And then, his son Rehoboam is the reason for the civil war and the division of Israel and Judea. And so, this is what you get when you want a kingdom that is not rooted in God’s will. 

Aquinas writes about the different types of government that are legitimate. He says democracy is a legitimate form, but the most dangerous and the worst form of all legitimate forms of government, because it ultimately ends up being ruled by unlettered masses. And he… obviously, at this time, the notion of an absolute monarchy didn’t exist in Europe. This is something that came about as a result of Protestantism. And so, when he speaks of a monarchy, he’s speaking of a monarchy that is not absolute. There is, the citizenry have a certain voice in legislation. And we, as already mentioned, have examples of what that looks like in Christendom, holy rulers, and this is what Our Lord wants for our world, and this is what Pius XI was reminding us of, and some don’t want to hear this.

Some would like there to be a radical separation of Church and State, a radical separation of what it means to have the external social dimension of Christ’s Kingdom, absent expecting some other kingdom in the Eschaton, and this is a type of a schizophrenia. And nonetheless, Our Lord is saying that Our Lord wants that His Kingdom be manifest in this world, but that’s dependent on each one of us. That’s dependent on the reign that Christ has in our own hearts. 

St. Francis DeSales distinguishes between affective and effective love for Christ. And when Christ is truly the King of our hearts, then His Kingdom starts to bear fruit. And it’s an entire spiritual itinerary that we’re all invited to embark upon. We have a choice to go through all of those stages of the spiritual life, and if we don’t, but we die in grace, but that will be brought about in a painful way in Purgatory.

And so, the first stage is called the purgative stage. And Francis DeSales says that proper to the purgative stage is a concupiscible love for Christ. And what does this mean? Concupiscible. In other words, there’s something in it for me. And that’s fine. What’s in it for me? Heaven. We should love Christ because we should want heaven. And nonetheless, that’s not all Our Lord wants for us. He doesn’t want us only to make it to heaven. He wants us to be great saints. There’s also something in it for us when Our Lord shares certain, what are called, sensible consolations in our prayer life. But those are creatures. Heaven is a creature. Our Lord wants us to have a very pure love for Him, which is detached from creatures. Fénelon, and the other quietest heretics, said that we ought not have any self-interest in our love, and the Church condemned that. We ought to have a healthy self-interest in our own salvation. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, Trent says that ought to be foremost in our intentions. But as we progress through the purgative way of love, the joy that certain created things bring to us diminishes. Why? Because they’re put in their proper place as our love for Christ matures. 

Towards the end of that stage, Our Lord brings us through certain purifications of the senses, internal and external. And we embark upon what is called the illuminative way of the spiritual life, and this love that accompanies this stage St. Francis DeSales called complaisance. Now complaisance is not complacency, it doesn’t mean diffidence, it is nothing pejorative as we might understand complacency. Complaisance is to delight in God as God. In other words, He is the source of our joy. He is the reason for everything we do. And He fills our hearts. His will brings a sense of joy and makes obedience for us; this complaisance, this love of complacency, makes obedience light and easy. When Our Lord says, Take upon me my yoke, it’s easy and light, if it’s not easy and light, we’re perhaps not carrying it correctly, or we’re carrying the wrong burden.

As we grow and mature in this second stage of the interior life, those things, those created things that used to bring us joy can now bring us a certain repugnance and embarrassment. How was that possible? That was so important to me before Christ eclipses all of those created loves. 

And then after the terrible trials of a Dark Night of the Soul, which is what Our Lord allows in the souls of His saints in this life, they have their purgatory in this life. This Dark Night of the Soul then becomes their path of perfect purification, bringing them into union. And this path, this stage of the interior life called the unitive way, is accompanied by a love of benevolence. Benevolence, benevolere, means to desire the good of the other. Well, what good can we desire for God? He seems to be doing quite well at this time, anyway.

So, what can we give a divinity who has everything? Well… He doesn’t have our entire heart. He doesn’t have our entire mind, all of our affections. He doesn’t have all of our doings. In other words, as long as we are here in this life, we have work to do for Him which is simply the loving caring out of His will. This is also accompanied by, and this is going to be a hallmark of the authenticity of the love at this stage, is suffering brings joy, material joy. One rejoices in pain, not because pain is a good, but because it is a participation in the Cross of Christ. And this fruitful suffering then brings one even closer to Our Lord.

So far, we’ve only discussed affective love. Affective love regards this reciprocal dynamic of the internal movements of a heart towards God and God towards the heart. Francis DeSales also speaks of effective love, which is revealed in the life of virtue and actions. God’s works performed with charity, purity of intention, with no self-seeking. Who is the king of my heart? Well, that’s something each one of us decides with all of our choices. How much do I think of Him, how much does He occupy my longings and my desires? How much is He the reason for what I do? Those are actually very practical ways to determine if Christ is truly the King of our hearts. Does everything I do start with Him and end with Him, or is there self there? 

And so, we have this Feast Day that the Church has given us to not only meditate on the reality of Christ the King, but also to do an examination. Is Christ truly the King of my heart? Is there any part in my heart where He does not yet reign?

~ Fr. Ermatinger