Jesus Christ is not only our Pontiff in spirituals, He is King and supreme ruler of mankind in temporals; because "there is no power but from God" (Rom. xiii. 1); and secondly because He is actually our King; He is "Prince of the Kings of the earth" (Apoc. i. 5). He Himself says, "All power is given Me in heaven and on earth" (Matt, xxviii. 18), and again, "I am appointed King by Him over Sion, His holy mountain" (Ps. ii. 6). Our Lord has all the qualities which go to the making of kings. He is of noble descent, being Son of God, He is the first born of all mankind, He surpasses all in power and in qualities of body and soul, He has conquered His rights by delivering the world from its previous slavery and disorganization, and He is the founder of a new social order and a new civilization. He is also Son of David, the King of the chosen people, which had primacy over all nations, to be their blessing and their salvation. The Father gave Him not only the Jews but all mankind, according to His word: "I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for Thy possession" (Ps. ii. 8). His rights, therefore, over us are temporal as well as spiritual, even though many refuse to admit them. The two things cannot be separated; for our internal and external life, although different, constitute one human life; the prosperity of the one is interwoven with that of the other; and the influences of religion and morality penetrate all our actions domestic, industrial, and political. Honour your King with the service both of body and soul. Let His law rule your whole life in every branch of it.
