Annual “Christus Rex” Pilgrimage
(Pilgrimage of Christ the King)
Solemn Pontifical Mass at the Faldstool,
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo, Australia,
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Most Rev, Peter J. Elliott
The King of the ages stands in front of the Governor, Pontius Pilate. Our Lord is
confronted by the symbol of the all-controlling Roman Empire. It is a tense
moment. Pilate asks him “are you a king then?” His reply could be treason
because no monarch could reign unless permitted by Caesar, yet without
hesitation Jesus Christ candidly responds, “As you say, I am a king. For this I was
born, for this I came into the world, that I might give witness to the truth and
whoever is of the truth hears my voice”.
The King of truth and life speaks directly to Pilate and to us, “Yes, I am a king…”
He tells us that to follow him is to follow truth, to live truth, to witness to the
truth.
For his royal mission of truth, Jesus is the Christos, the Christ, the chosen
Anointed One, affirmed in the beautiful Preface of this Mass, in deeply scriptural
words addressed to God the Father:
“For you anointed your Only Begotten Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ, with the oil of gladness
As eternal Priest and King of all creation…..”
Kings and queens were anointed with oil, a sign of divine authority and power
entering the body of a chosen human being, who begins a new stage of life, to
govern and lead the people, a divine vocation and mission. Likewise, in the Old
Law, high priests were anointed with the perfumed oil of gladness, set aside,
consecrated for sacrifice and service in the Temple.
So it continues today in the Mystical Body of Christ, in the living Temple, through
the Sacraments of the New Law. The Oil of Holy Chrism is marked on our
foreheads in Confirmation. This permanent sealing affirms our royal and priestly
mission, baptized, called, empowered by the Holy Spirit and sent into the world to
spread the reign of Christ among all people.
In the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the hands of the priests are anointed with Holy
Chrism for the ministry of sacrifice, teaching and healing. Each man becomes
“alter Christus”, another Christ for others. Priests chosen to become bishops are
anointed with Holy Chrism on the head so that they may teach, sanctify and
govern. Like our original leaders, the apostles, in an unbroken succession, they are
configured to Christ: prophet, priest and king.
The Preface also affirms the work of Christ as priest and victim:
“…so that by offering himself on the altar of the cross
as a spotless sacrifice to bring us peace,
he might accomplish the mysteries of human redemption…”
Our beloved King wears a crown, but of thorns bejeweled with his precious
Blood. We cannot separate the priest-victim who dies for a fallen world from the
king who reigns. His kingdom comes to repair, heal and transform this broken
world and to lead us on into his eternal reign.
The Preface goes on to focus more closely on the kingly role or mission of Jesus
the Christ, now taking up the language of Saint Paul’s vision of the end of time.
“…and making all created things subject to his rule
he might present to the immensity of your majesty
an eternal and universal kingdom…”
The Preface expounds the meaning of this Kingdom of Our Sovereign Lord. I
will quote it as you hear it in the language of “the Mass of all times”, the venerable
rite that we celebrate in Sacred Heart Cathedral today.
“….regnum veritatis et vitae,
regnum sanctitatis et gratiae,
regnum jusititiae, amoris et pacis”:
“A kingdom of truth and life,
a kingdom of holiness and grace,
a kingdom of justice, love and peace.”.
These are not pretty poetic words. Each of the three phrases passes judgement on
our society and on ourselves.
The words “a kingdom of truth and life” are prophetic, in the new Preface
inserted into the missal by Pope Pius XI ninety-two years ago. The words “truth”
and “light” resound in the Gospel of Saint John.
If Christ is to reign socially, that is, here and now, we must use “a kingdom of
truth and life” to measure our society. How often our society inverts “truth and
life” – a society of lies and death, dishonest, inhumane and callous, rightly
described as the “culture of death” by Saint John Paul II.
We are justly angry when we look at this State of Victoria through the lens of
“truth and life”. Abortion up to birth is legal. The truth of human life in the
womb is denied, rejected, scorned, Abortion is a well-protected industry, killing
little human beings, wounding women, corrupting doctors and nurses.
Now, this week, euthanasia is to be decided in the Upper House of our State
Parliament. Nor should it be a surprise that this is the policy of a political and
ideological force that puts more value on trees than people. Resurgent aggressive
secularism resorts to killing as it strives to engineer, direct and control, not only
society, but your life and mine. The futile quest for utopia, heaven on earth, will
fail, but the long march of cultural Marxism continues, a new kind of “soft
Communism” insinuating itself into institutions – the family, schools and
universities, professions, companies, political parties…..
Faced by these assaults on human life, I urge all here today to read the Pastoral
Letter against Euthanasia of the Diocesan Bishops of Victoria. Take action this
week. Lobby the Members of the Upper House that they may throw out the most
dangerous legislation ever to come before our State Parliament.
As judgement on our society, I bring forward the third phrase in the preface “A
kingdom of justice, love and peace”. That was the vision of great saints of
charity and justice such as Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Mary of the Cross Mac
Killop, Saint Teresa of Kolcata, men and women reaching out to the margins of
society, to the little ones pushed aside in the rush for money and possessions.
The Preface of this Mass gives us a Christian vision of justice and peace held
together by love. There can be no peace without justice as the Popes insist. But
the word “freedom” does not appear in the Preface.
To critics who suggest that the Church rejects freedom, I would reply that the
only conditions for true freedom are justice, love and peace. By itself, an
undefined “freedom” is a disaster, merely the Enlightenment concept of “liberty”
shorn of all moral responsibility, leading to cruel laws which in the end destroy
freedom.
Pontius Pilate cynically asked Our Lord, “What is truth?” The “post-modern”
philosophies echo his words and demand “autonomy”, the self-centred motive
behind lies and evils we resist and reject – a spurious right to abortion, concealed
eugenics and legalised euthanasia.
We need to respond positively, for truth and life – for justice and love for all
mothers tempted to abortion, for all terminally ill men and women so depressed
that they are tempted to give up on life and seek suicidal euthanasia. We need to
support the men and women working in palliative care, who every day help people
face death with minimal pain. If the dying are given the freedom to live without
depression, with love and care, then there will be peace in our society, a
civilization of love and life.
Nevertheless some question the right of the Bishops to speak and guide. We are
told that the “separation of Church and State” means “keeping religion out of
politics”. But does it? We need to reflect on what “religious freedom” means.
Religious freedom is not just private freedom for individuals to worship. It is
corporate and communal, the right of faith communities to form and educate, to
play an active role in the formulation of public policy. This is true of all faith
communities, but has particular significance in Catholic Christianity because the Catholic Church is the only Christian body that is truly universal, in the sense that
it has members in every culture, race and nation. This is why we see the Church
bringing in a “universal Kingdom”. This Kingdom calls also for the freedom of the
Church.
The dogma of the absolute “separation of Church and State” does not appear in
the Constitution of this nation, no matter what some secularists pretend. This is
why the Bishops have spoken out on the responsibilities of Catholic citizens on
the same-sex marriage issue and euthanasia. We respect the distinctive spheres of
government and religion, but we are bound as pastors to help people form their
consciences, offering considered counsel derived from the Natural Law that is
inscribed within every human being. The Kingdom of Christ compels us all to
speak and not be silenced.
I conclude by returning to the second phrase in the Preface of this Mass: “a
kingdom of holiness and grace”.
The universal call to holiness was the greatest message of the Second Vatican Council,
a call to “Holiness and grace….” Without grace you and I cannot be holy. The
sanctifying grace of Baptism was our re-birth into the Kingdom. As the baptismal
rites underline, by grace we are brought out of the kingdom of Satan into the
Kingdom of Christ. Justified and sanctified, inwardly transformed, freed from
original sin, we received the gift of faith as members of the Kingdom, through
incorporation into the living Church.
We enter the personal realm of faith. What is our relationship with Christ the
King? Does he reign in our lives? He is not only my personal Saviour but my
Lord. Do I welcome him as Lord in the Holy Eucharist today with a sense of
obedient faith? His social reign can only come when each of us personally lets
him reign in our lives, in our relationships with others.
In this year we celebrate the centenary of the apparitions at Fatima. So we turn to
the Queen Mother, to the gentle Queen of Peace. Mary always leads us to her
royal Son. May she inspire us to work with her, through prayer and penance, so
that the reign of her Immaculate and Sorrowing Heart may begin. Then, as she
paves the way, we will see the Kingdom of Christ coming “on earth as it is in
heaven”. Mary shows us what it means to belong to “A kingdom of truth and life,
a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace.”