The Rev. Andy Blaszkowski, pastor of Saint Luke Catholic Church in Middleburg, recently shared a reflection on the solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, is the culmination of the Church’s entire liturgical year," Fr. Blaszkowski said in the church's Nov. 22 bulletin. "Today we celebrate Christ who is truly King and Lord of the Universe and now reigns in all His glory in Heaven." 

The feast day of Jesus Christ was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, who was concerned about the mounting trends of materialism and secularism in the world, as well as the fact that society was leaning toward the silencing of Christianity. 

The proclamation of the feast day was in response to "a time when respect for Christ and His Church was waning; and people were more and more attracted to materialistic and secular solutions to the world's problems; and were, in many cases, led to less-than-Christian and less-than-human solutions; such as World War I, Communism and the embellishment of Hitler," Blaszkowski said. 

It is our honor as Catholics to have the opportunity to reflect on what it means for us to have Jesus as the King of our universe. 

We live in an age of uncertainty, as we have been reminded of with the presence of COVID-19, the pastor noted. But beyond just that, we know that our world is fraught with challenges in day-to-day life. We have been fed the data about the lives of individuals lost from the coronavirus on a daily basis; and as valuable and tragic as the loss of every human life is, we must not forget the evil of abortion that subversively exists in our world. 

"1 in 4 women have had an abortion that claimed the lives of over 800,000 children every year," Fr. Blaszkowski said. "In addition, the ratio of abortion among black women is 474 abortions per 1,000 live births— the highest ratio of any group in the country. In New York alone for African American women, there were more abortions happening than babies being born. Now, if we include the growing rate of euthanasia in our country, I wonder who the one we try to protect is." 

As we end the liturgical year, let us be aware of the rise of secularism that continues in our world today, and remember our duty to Christ our King to spread his love.