Christus Rex

Today, as the last Sunday in October, is the Feast of Christ the King in the traditional Roman Calendar. Many Catholics believe this feast is of ancient origin, but in fact it is a recent one, having been instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. In his accompanying encyclical Quas Primas, he showed how secularism -- the establishment of a society without reference to God -- could lead to apostacy, and ultimately the ruin of society, through a denial of the Kingship of Christ. All laws are just, to the extent that they conform to the natural law, and are in harmony with divine law. When they are not, they cease to be just laws. The role of Catholics in the public square are to bear witness to the need for harmony of law, and thus announce the Kingship of Christ in this world, if not of it.

Having said that, what could I possibly have been thinking when I wrote the following the other day?

"There is nothing wrong with a Federal employee who is a Muslim..."

"Indeed, there is nothing wrong in America with being a Muslim..."

The United States of America was established on the basis of certain inalienable rights, these rights being "self-evident," in that they are granted by the Creator. And while it does not specifically say as much in our founding documents, it has always been understood that this nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. As those principles are, in turn, understood in this society, they include the freedom to worship as one chooses. It is by having such a freedom, and to the extent that we have a Judeo-Christian society, that Muslims and Buddhists, and other non-Jews and non-Christians, are able to worship freely at all. (I don't mean to say that they should; I mean to say that they are able.) Under an Islamic society, or a Hindi society, this would not be the case. We know this from the persecution of Christians in such societies.

As Catholics, we have the responsibility to spread the true Gospel as proclaimed by the Catholic faith. This is not done by the point of a sword (as was the case with Islam), but in the hope that those who receive this message, do so with a full acceptance of the will. This includes working to ensure that the laws of this land conform to Author of All Justice, He who alone is King of all Creation. This also includes the example we set in our public actions.

The right to life is paramount. Without it, all other rights are forfeit. We cannot allow the State to assume the role of dolling out those rights as its agents see fit. If we elect a man as President who would remove all Federal and State restrictions on abortion, we will do precisely that. Such an edict would be contrary to the Supreme Law. Indeed, it would cease to to even BE law, as a Catholic would rightly understand that term.

That is why, beginning tonight, this page will have a "Novena for Life" for nine days leading up to the election. Each evening at nine o'clock Eastern USA time, a new installment will be posted. I invite my readers to join me each day, in our appeal to our King, for that Justice which is only His to render, that this nation of ours may continue to be blessed, and that we may be spared His reproach.
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