Jesus had no desire for worldly power, honour or glory. He (Our King) shows us the most profound humility and submission. Our King showed Himself a true, good, and loving Father, Who laid down His life for His children. The instruction of Christ to everyone in any position of authority, seems to have been missed. From fathers and mothers, to priests, presidents and kings, the message seems to be clear: we must love those whom God has placed under our care. We must love them as Christ has loved us. The principal duty of kings and rulers is to love their subjects with a self-sacrificing love. They should be ready to lay down their lives with Christ, so that their children (subjects) may live. Authority over others is not so much an honour or a privilege as it is a burden and obligation.
We must constantly remind ourselves that one day we will have to give an account of all those God has placed under our charge. The clear understanding of this obligation should fill us with a certain amount of fear. Yet, we should take courage in our duties and obligations — knowing with St. Paul that we can do all things in Him Who strengthens us. With the comprehension of what is expected of us we need to humbly pray to God, without ceasing for the grace to live up to our obligations. We need to pray that those whom we must watch over will never offend God but may ever render honour, glory and praise to God our King.
The name "Christ" means, the anointed One. In the past, kings and priests were the only ones to be anointed. Christ is both our King and our Priest. Not only is He our Priest, but He is also the Victim that is offered by the Priest. We should see in this that all those whom God has placed in a position of authority, need to rule as Christ and in the Name of Christ, they need to seek the sanctification of their subjects as Christ our Priest does, and lastly, they need to sacrifice themselves as Christ our Victim has sacrificed Himself.
We, who have been baptized, have been anointed. We have been incorporated into the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. We all partake of the anointing of our Head, Jesus Christ. We are all called upon to seek and become holy and worthy members of Christ in the true Catholic Church. The virtues of humility and love appear most clearly in Christ the King; they are, therefore, the virtues that all of us — from the highest to the lowest — must strive after and perfect in ourselves. He did not seek worldly honour, glory, prestige, or power. "I am a King, but My kingdom is not of this world." Christ our King came to do the Will of His Father in Heaven. We, in a similar manner, must seek to do first and foremost the Will of God. We must be ready, willing, and able to sacrifice everything that we have and even our very lives rather than every deny, betray, or even offend our Divine King.
Every offense that we commit against Him, actually harms — not Him — but ourselves. We thrust a sword at Jesus (through sin) and it strikes and cuts us — separating us from His Mystical Body; and as every severed limb, we are left to wither and die. It cannot harm God; it is only ourselves that are made to suffer. It cannot kill Christ; sin only brings death to ourselves.
We are called upon to be one with our King, because we are anointed members of His Mystical Body. Today, we honour Him as our Head, Our Lord, Our King, Our God; but to truly render the homage that is due to Him, we must conform our own lives to His. We must, as St. Paul instructs us, put off the old man with all our sins and put on the new man in Christ Jesus.