The other day I was driving home from work, coming up Freya hill, and I noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of me. People put bumper stickers on their cars for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because they have something to say to the world. “Vote for this or that candidate.” “Work for world peace.” “Support my kid’s school.” Well, this particular driver had a different message. It was a big, red rectangular sticker, and in white letters it read, “No Gods. No Masters.” I suppose that’s how a lot of people today view life, especially here in America. In America we’re pretty proud of the fact that we broke away from England, we cast off the monarchy. That idea has permeated our culture so much that it’s become part of the intellectual air we breathe. We do take pride in the fact that we can forge our own fate, that no one is our master. Like that line from the poem “Invictus,” “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Our TV shows and our movies hold up for us as heroes people who take charge of their own lives who reject being mastered by anyone, being controlled by anyone, who “stick it to the man.” We’re suspicious and resentful of anyone in authority. We Americans are fiercely proud of our independence, even celebrating an Independence Day. No kings for us, we rule ourselves. No gods. No masters. So with ideas like this permeating our culture, today’s Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe could be very difficult for us to relate to. The responsorial psalm tell us “The Lord is king.” The reading from Daniel says, “all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.” The book of Revelation tells us, “Jesus Christ is the…ruler of the kings of earth.” On this last Sunday of the Church year, we gather around the altar to celebrate the fact that someone has kingship over us. Someone else besides me is the Lord of my life. We say that, we talk about Jesus being our king, but are we really willing to allow him to lead us? It’s so contrary to the message that we hear in our culture, where we’re used to hearing, “Don’t let anybody tell you what you can or can’t do, you forge your own future.” “No gods. No masters.” But ultimately Jesus Christ is the King of the Universe. We cannot believe that away It is a fact. It is a cold hard fact. We can say “no gods, no masters” all we want but the truth is there is a God and it’s not us. So what do we do with that? What do we, who aspire to so much independence, who aspire to be the controllers of our own destinies, what are we to do with this fact that we are not the lord of our lives? Do we simply pay it lip service for this one day of the Church year? Is it something that we grudgingly believe, that we just grit our teeth and tolerate, and try not to think about too often? Or is it something that we can embrace? Is there some way that we can look at this truth and embrace it, even if it means acknowledging our limitations acknowledging that we’re not all that? Yes, there is a way for us to embrace it, as long as we understand and believe two important truths. And the first truth is this: