Great was my surprise when I read in the papers that the Paola parish church was making a new statue of Christ the King to be carried in a procession.

I presume Christ will be represented as a man in full regalia sitting on a golden throne when Jesus shunned such worldly pomp.

The gospels tell us that when Jesus realised the crowds were planning to carry Him in triumph and crown Him as their king, He slipped away out of sight.

When Pilate pointedly asked Him if he was a king, Jesus broke His long silence and explicitly said His kingdom was not of this world.

When John’s disciples asked Him where he lived, He bid them follow him.

The birds have their nest, the wolf has its lair but the Son of Man had no stone on which to rest His head.

Had He wanted to be considered a king, He would have chosen a princess for a mother not a simple girl from a remote village called Nazareth.

I suppose He would have been born in some majestic Palace in Jerusalem rather than a stable at dead of night in Bethlehem. So why impose worldly pomp on Him who stressed He came to serve and not be served?

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