In front of Pilate, Christ affirmed three times that He was a King. Pilate understood it very clearly. “Then you are a King?” Jesus answered, “You are right. I am a King.”
It is true that He told him, “My kingdom is not of this world”, but He did not say, 'My kingdom is not in this world.' The expression used means : My Kingdom does not proceed from this world.
Apparently, Christ is a 'poor King' who doesn't rule much these days, since if He were reigning, the world would be better.
A large part of the world doesn't even know Him;
Another part knows Him and renounces Him, like the Jews, “Nolumus Hunc regnare super nos', i.e. 'We do not want this man to reign over us” (Lk. 19:14);
Finally, another part of the world recognizes Him in word but denies Him in deed; we are those cowardly Christians.
But there is something else that Christ implied, while answering Pilate, that if a king's subjects rebel against him, he doesn't stop being king as long as he retains the power to punish them and to subjugate them once again. If he didn't have that power, that'd be another thing.
And so, today, modernists admit that Christ is King 'in a certain sense', but they deny the Second Coming of Christ. Then, yes, He would be a poor King. The modernists either entirely change the meaning of the Parousia, turning it into something else (as in the case of Teilhard de Chardin) or they say it will come in 18 million years - which is to say 'never.'
Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King against Liberalism; Liberalism is precisely a form of cowardice. Liberalism denies the Kingship of Christ, His power by right over human society. Liberalism eliminated the Kingship of Christ by saying something ostensibly 'innocent': that religion was a private matter, and therefore nations should respect all religions, and the Church should not get involved in things that don't concern her -in other words, in public affairs.
However, if we make God a private matter (a matter within the conscience of each person), by the same token we convert the State into God; and we turn Jesus Christ and the Eternal Father into sub-gods. Indeed, this means that because the State is a public affair, religion would therefore be inferior to it and would have to submit to the State, since what is public is far superior to what is private and the private must submit to it.
In fact, 19th and 20th history demonstrated that 'liberal secularism', or supposed neutrality regarding religion, was in reality true hostility; and it ended up deifying and divinizing the State, and oppressing the followers of Jesus Christ.
conclusion
My dear Brethren,
In one of the messianic psalms, King David had prophesized that his offspring would be “the King of Kings and Lord of Lords”. Here is the Father speaking:
“I have installed My King upon Sion, My holy mountain… You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession”. (Ps. 2)
And after his triumphant resurrection, Christ affirmed that His kingdom was in this world: “All power has been given Me in heaven and on earth” (Mt 28).
Let us therefore acknowledge our king, in thoughts, words and deeds.
May this procession which we will do after the sung Mass be a manifestation of our true filial obedience and subjection to Him. Amen.
