The historical circumstances that led to Pope Pius XI establish the Feast of Christ the King in 1925 aren’t very different from our own situation. As he explicitly stated in the Encyclical Quas primas, faced with the increasing atheism and secularization of society, he wanted to assert the supreme authority of Christ over human beings and their institutions. However, while the challenge of secularization faces the Church even now with the same, or perhaps increased vigour, we can no longer conceive of the universal authority of Christ in the pluri-relgious and multicultural world of today, the way it was possible to be conceived in the late 1920s. That is why after Vatican II, this feast has begun to emphasize more the cosmic and eschatological character of Christ’s kingship. With its celebration fixed for the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, beyond it we see Advent dawning, with its focus on the Lord’s coming in glory. It celebrates the "reign", rather than "kingdom", of Christ in this world today, and in the hearts of men and women to all eternity.

It is perhaps a very fitting occasion to bring the Year of the Eucharist to a close in our Archdiocese. As the message of Bishop Bosco urges us, this "closure" should really be an "opening" to a renewed commitment to eucharistic spirituality. He has spelt out three specific areas in which we need to pursue our efforts of spiritual renewal in the near future:

While we await the final document articulating the reflections of the Fathers gathered for the Synod on the Eucharist, we can already begin fine tuning our pastoral initiatives along the above-mentioned lines, thus enabling us to value the Eucharist as the "Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church", the theme of this Synod.

We could therefore take care to mark this closing of the Year of the Eucharist by a meaningful celebration that will firstly help us recall "all that the Lord has done for us" during this last year. Fitting place therefore needs to be given to allowing the children to express and exhibit their profound experiences with the Eucharistic Year Project, "Set Out Immediately". The sacrifices made to network with different Mission Locations and the inner movements of the heart experienced while interacting with the needy and marginalized, need to be brought to consciousness with an exhibition around the Feast of Christ the King. And if this celebration is carefully planned, there is a chance that the Eucharistic Lord will not let this flame of love lit during the Year blow out; it will be transformed into a raging fire of love which the disciples of Emmaus described in the form of a question "Were not our hearts burning within us?"

In fact the Church does not stop reminding us to keep this fire of love burning. Soon after the Feast of Christ the King, the hope-filled season of Advent, complete with a myriad symbols, invites us to continue to enjoy reaching out in love towards the marginalized. The Christmas Season that follows will also touch our hearts only if we allow the Babe of Bethlehem to convince us of the power of self-emptying love. May the new liturgical year unfolding before us be yet another year of grace, in our journey towards the bounty of the King of Kings. May it enable us to move ahead with greater and greater zeal, making best use of the blessings that God has showered upon us during the year of the Eucharist.