Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe that was established in 1921 by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical letter Quas Primas. The Pope connected the increasing denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism throughout Europe. At that time many Christians began doubting Christ’s existence and authority as well as the Church’s power to continue Christ’s authority.

In the present, we face very similar problems with Christ’s and the Church’s authority. Individualism has reached such an extreme that for numerous people the only authority is the individual self. Many people do not acknowledge that rejecting Christ they reject themselves too because by His incarnation Christ has been united with every human being.

In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that His kingdom is not from this world. This means that we ought to fix our eyes more upon heaven that here below, so that walking on earth we may see this celestial horizon of everlasting life in the kingdom of God.

This week concludes the liturgical year. Next Sunday we begin the new liturgical year with the 1st Sunday of Advent.

This Friday, November 30th, we observe the Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle. He was a brother of St. Peter. In the Gospel of St. John, we read that Andrew first recognized Jesus as the Messiah and then brought his brother Simon Peter to Jesus. Tradition says that Andrew preached the Gospel along the Black Sea and the Dnieper river as far as Kiev. Hence, he became a patron saint of Ukraine, Romania and Russia. Andrew is as well said to found the episcopal see of Byzantium (Constantinople, Istanbul), so he is also recognized as the patron saint of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The iconography pictures St. Andrew crucified on a x-shaped cross, now commonly known as St. Andrew’s Cross.

Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, rule over us!

God bless,

Fr. Peter