I'm always fascinated by the history of humanity's evolution. What we know about the migration of humanity's origins as hunter-gatherers to agrarian-based society indicates that religious beliefs and political sophistication were both indispensable catalysts to societal evolution. From the early temple mounds and burial practices we see early humans developing religious insight. If from that moment, we were to put the wheel of human development on fast forward, we would see a continuous interplay between God (or gods) and politics. There were periods of time where the earthly rulers were considered gods, like ancient Greek emperors and Egyptian pharaohs. At other times they weren't gods but rather "appointed by God" as we see in the many kingdoms of Christendom. 

The Reformation introduced denominational plurality where religious identity got separated from political rule and the American experiment solidified the idea even further with our insistence on the separation of Church and State. This introduced an even more complex reality. There became not just co-existing denominations of Christianity, but the establishment of religious plurality within our national boundaries. 

Even as society has changed, there has always been this temptation to associate the temporal leadership of Earth with the celestial leadership of God. As recently as 4 years ago, Putin had his own image enshrined in an Orthodox Church outside Moscow cementing a union between his rule and God's authority. Iran is still a theocracy where politicians must first be approved by religious leaders. But the Catholic Church stands boldly defiant in response to these political/religious incursions. For us, the delineation was made clear through a statement made in 1925 by Pope Pius XI when he intuited the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the feast which we celebrate this Sunday. 

In it, Pope Pius XI resolutely opposed the temporal powers of his time by naming that no civic authority rises above Christ. We must always follow God, who is above all. 

What we might miss in that declaration by way of genuflecting before the doctrine itself is "Who was it that the Pope was exactly defying the role of celestial authority?" The document was written in 1925 when Italy experienced the rise of Mussolini and fascism. 

The word "fascism" has been trending a lot over the last few months as it was picked up in campaign propaganda over competing visions for America's governance over the next few years. Whether the accusations from one political party over the other come to be is not the role of a parish minister to weigh in on, but it does remind us of a truth that is true now as it was 4 years ago during the election and 8 years ago and 100. 

Our political leaders are not gods and their assent to power is not affirmation that they are God's chosen. The feast of Christ the King cements for us the division of church and state and defines the Church's role in politics. We are to participate but not equivocate. We are to pray for the chosen leaders so that they may be guided by wisdom. We are to advocate for justice and work with political leaders to right the injustices of society. This was true then, is true now, and will be true again. To regress our societal evolution back to the place where we equate the emperor with God is not only backpedaling in our societal evolution, it tarnishes our Faith. 

I must admit, that I've always viewed the feast of Christ the King with some skepticism. I don't know that Christ really has much to say about defining his authority by means of systems of feudal governance, nor democracy, nor communism, nor capitalism for that matter. These philosophic notions weren't even part of his cultural lexicon. If anything Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's." 

But what was true of Jesus then is true now. While the politics of the day matter, what matters more is our relationship with God and following God above all other things. 

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