The Kingdom of Heaven—Holy Church—is seen bringing forth out of
her treasure “things new and old.” Although she can never add new dogmas to
the deposit of Faith entrusted to her, as the ages go by, she is seen
understanding more perfectly and explaining more fully those treasures in her
keeping. She is a living body, not a statue, and she can develop, though she
can never change her nature. Hence, guided by the Holy Spirit of Him who
has promised to be with her not merely for a few centuries but unto the end of
the world, she defines or emphasizes certain points of doctrine as she sees fit,
considering the needs of the times. We have an example in the institution of
the feast of the Kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ by the Sovereign Pontiff,
Pope Pius XI, in the jubilee year 1925, and explained to the faithful in the
Encyclical Quas Primas.
Today we sadly behold “a world undone,”…At the best, governments
mostly ignore God; and at the worst, openly fight against Him..Even the
statesmen’s well-meant efforts to find a remedy for present ills and, above all,
to secure world peace, prove futile because, whereas peace is from
Christ…His name is never mentioned throughout their deliberations or their
documents. Christ is kept out of the State schools and seats of higher
education; and the rising generations seem to be taught anything and
everything save to know, love, and serve Him.
Christians have ever hailed our divine Lord as King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. It was as a King that the representatives of the Eastern world came
to adore him in the manger; it was as a King, albeit not knowing what He did,
that the official representative of the Western world lifted Him up on the
Cross. The patriarchs and prophets of the old dispensation foretold His
royalty; He spoke constantly of His kingdom: when asked plainly whether He
were in truth a king by the representative of Caesar, He acknowledged that
such indeed He was, though of a kingdom not of this world…Christ is King
over angels and men; King over men’s hearts and wills; His Kingship
demands of its subjects a spirit of detachment from riches and earthly things,
and a spirit of gentleness. They must hunger and thirst after justice and, more
than this, they must deny themselves and carry the cross.
The Liturgical Year, Vol. XIV, Book V, from Pgs. 473-475