THROUGH UNTRUE

We often think of a king as a man who has the power to rule others by birthright and who absolutely controls the fate of his subjects.  However, with the evolving ideals of leadership and society's growing emphasis on personal autonomy and self-determination, this notion is becoming outdated.  The association of the term “king” with commercial establishments like “Tapa King” and “Burger King” exemplifies this shift in our understanding of the word.
Today, we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. This feast emanates from a theological framework that affirms Christ’s divine nature and His supreme authority. Crucial to grasping this concept is the term “authority.” Authority correlates with credibility. 

A king who rules by sheer power muzzles his subjects to submission. In contrast, a king imbued with authority elicits obedience not through fear, but by his authority rooted in something that makes him credible and worthy of allegiance. In Jesus’s case, this was His unwavering commitment to fulfill God’s will, even to the point of dying on the cross. The Gospel of John highlights this in Jesus's kingship. When Pilate asks Him if He is a king, Jesus declares, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), thereby emphasizing that as King, His authority transcends all earthly powers.

This feast invites all individuals in positions of influence to reflect on whether they are leaders who govern with authority or dictators who rule with impunity. This feast also invites people in government and the Church to examine themselves: Do they employ their power to serve or seek personal gain?

I read somewhere that the founder of one of the world's largest online retailers, Amazon, always puts an empty chair at every company meeting. Perhaps our government and church officials can adopt that practice. Every time they hold hearings about important issues, an empty chair in the room must be placed in a strategic place, reserved for the invisible but ever-present KING who is at the summit of all governance, who represents a higher good that is beyond judicial interpretations, and who assures the welfare of those they govern.

This feast also invites us Catholics to reflect on how we embody our belief that Jesus is our king.  For, if we believe that Jesus is our king, then we must prove to the world that He reigns over us by allowing Him to be the God of our life. Rather than complaining about the events happening in the world, or insisting that things must go our way, we must listen to that voice that says: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  We must stop behaving like control freaks who think that nothing should happen without our consent. After all, we are not God.

If Jesus is indeed our king, then we must be ready to emulate Him whose credibility is proven by His willingness to sacrifice for others. This may require us not just to provide assistance to those in need, but also to give up those things that hinder us from being available and attentive to others.

Let's face it. We all tend to consider everything we have — whether purchased or not — as our permanent possession. So we guard it lest it be stolen or lost. Our acquisitiveness can tempt us to accumulate and hoard things until we become indifferent to the needs of others. The Gospel reading serves as a stern warning: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matthew 25:45).