Homily given by Bishop Anthony Randazzo
Bishop of Broken Bay
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Commissioning of Pilgrims ACYF 2025
22 November 2025
This evening, as we celebrate the great feast of Christ the King, our hearts are drawn to the One who reigns not from a throne of gold, but from the wood of the Cross.
Our Gospel places us at Calvary, where the leaders jeered and the soldiers mocked. Yet Jesus did not answer with force or fury. Instead, he revealed a kingship grounded in mercy, truth and self-giving love. Saint Luke tells us that the people “stood watching”. We, too, are invited to stand before the Cross, to look upon our King and to learn from him what authentic authority and true discipleship really are.
Our first reading takes us to a very different scene: the young shepherd David being anointed King of Israel. He was still youthful, still learning, still growing. Yet the Lord saw in him a heart capable of shepherding a nation.
God delights in raising up the young. God entrusts great hopes to those who are still discovering their path, because God looks not at age or experience, but at faithfulness, courage, and openness of heart.
During this celebration of the Mass, we will commission a group of young people from across our diocese as pilgrims to the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Melbourne later this year. They will join thousands of other young Catholics from across our nation, gathering from 30 November to 2 December to pray, learn, celebrate and deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ. It will be a time of joy, encounter, challenge and conversion. It will be a moment of being together as the Church: young people, clergy, musicians, teachers, bishops, friends and strangers who will become companions on the journey of faith.
However, before our young pilgrims go anywhere, they remind us of something essential: they are already disciples of the Lord. Too often we overlook this. Too often young people feel spoken about rather than spoken with, guided rather than accompanied. Yet the truth is that every baptised person, whatever their age, has already been anointed like David, already been called by Christ, already been sent into the world as a transforming presence of the Kingdom.
My dear young friends, you do not need to wait for permission to serve Christ. You do not need to wait until you are older, or wiser, or more experienced. Your generation carries an extraordinary enthusiasm, a generosity of spirit and a longing for authenticity. These are gifts for the whole Church. You remind us that faith is not something to be stored away, but something to be lived boldly in schools, workplaces, families, and friendships.
One of the great twentieth century Popes, Pius XI, instituted today’s feast of Christ the King in 1925, exactly one hundred years ago, because he saw the world drifting away from Christ. He wrote that many of the evils of his time were caused by people thrusting Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives, out of public affairs and out of politics. A century later, his words still ring true. When Jesus Christ is pushed to the margins, peace fades, dignity is forgotten, and hope grows thin. But when Jesus is placed at the centre of our lives, our communities and our society, we discover the peace for which every human heart longs.
This commissioning today is not simply for those travelling to Melbourne. It is a commissioning for all of us. We are all called to place Christ at the centre of our lives: in the kitchen at home, in the classroom, on the train, in the university, in our conversations, our decisions and our way of treating each other. Christ must reign not only in our prayer, but in the whole of our living. And what do we need in order to let Christ reign?
The same three ingredients that have sustained the Church from its earliest days: faith, hope and charity.
Faith that sees Christ in the midst of every circumstance, even when the world seems to stand watching as he suffers on the Cross. Hope that trusts in God’s promises, even when the future feels uncertain or overwhelming. Charity that acts with generosity, not just in grand gestures but in the small and hidden acts of kindness that build up the Kingdom, day by day. With faith, hope and charity, my young sisters and brothers you will change the world for good. And with faith, hope and charity, we will support you, walk beside you and learn from you.
To our pilgrims: go with confidence. Go knowing that your diocese loves you, believes in you and is praying for you. Go ready to listen for the voice of Christ your King. Go ready to return renewed, ready to help us all live more deeply the call of our baptism.
May Christ the King reign in our hearts, our families, our diocese, and our world. And may the witness of our young people inspire us all to place Jesus at the centre, today and every day. Amen