When today's feast was first instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925, its title was 'The Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King'.
I find that this title is often still used, and its use is often accompanied by a focus on Our Lord's supposed regalia. During the 1930s, as military displays became more common, this will have offered a welcome iconographical alternative reminding us of a higher power.
But in 1970 the title of the feast was changed to Solemnitas Domini Nostri Iesu Christi Universorum Regis, which is often translated as 'The Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe'. To my ear, 'Universe' has an unduly astronomical ring, and a version that better brings out the meaning of the feast is:
'The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Everything'.
The important point is that today we celebrate not only the King, but also his Kingdom, and the relationship between them. The Kingdom of God is, of course, a central theme in the Gospels. Pope Saint John Paul II included the proclamation of the Kingdom as the Third Luminous Mystery when he enriched the Rosary. At his inauguration, though he declined to wear the Papal Tiara, he offered a reflection on its significance:-
"Perhaps in the past, the tiara, this triple crown, was placed on the Pope's head in order to express by that symbol the Lord's plan for his Church, namely that all the hierarchical order of Christ's Church, all "sacred power" exercised in the Church, is nothing other than service, service with a single purpose: to ensure that the whole People of God shares in this threefold mission of Christ and always remains under the power of the Lord; a power that has its source not in the powers of this world but in the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection."
These words have helped me to reflect on today's Solemnity.
