Everyone in the world is subject to Jesus Christ who is King of all creation.
This means that all men are bound to the reign and rule of Jesus but are also under his loving care and protection.
Because of this, Catholics and other Christians should put God first, even when faced with challenges and pressures from secular society or political power.
This Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in response to secularism, increasing hostility toward the Church, and attempts by several governments to remove God from public life.
All of the readings and teaching at Mass through the year point to the last Sunday of the liturgical year when the Church celebrates this feast day, also known as the Feast of Christ the King.
A relatively new feast:
Reminding us that Jesus Christ reigns over our lives:
An eternal King that guarantees victory:
It has long been a common custom to give to Christ the metaphorical title of “King,” because of the high degree of perfection whereby He excels all creatures. So He is said to reign “in the hearts of men,” both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because He is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind. He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in Him the human will was perfectly and entirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace and inspiration He so subjects our free-will as to incite us to the most noble endeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by reason of his “charity which exceedeth all knowledge.” And his mercy and kindness which draw all men to Him, for never has it been known, nor will it ever be, that man be loved so much and so universally as Jesus Christ. But if we ponder this matter more deeply, we cannot but see that the title and the power of King belongs to Christ as man in the strict and proper sense too. For it is only as man that He may be said to have received from the Father “power and glory and a kingdom,” since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with Him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created.
Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas, December 11, 1925
Jesus makes his presence known to his subjects in a number of ways:
Encountering Christ the King every day:
Jesus accepted Peter’s profession of faith, which acknowledged Him to be the Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man. He unveiled the authentic content of his messianic kingship both in the transcendent identity of the Son of Man “Who came down from Heaven”, and in his redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Hence the true meaning of his kingship is revealed only when He is raised high on the Cross. Only after his Resurrection will Peter be able to proclaim Jesus’ messianic kingship to the People of God: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 440
Different than other kings:
The perfect King of all people:
Christ the Emperor
As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when He reached the Ancient One and was presented before Him, the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7: 13-14
The King will come again in glory to make things right:
Everything builds up to the Feast of Christ the King:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Nuns by Day, Nurses by Night:
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