OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE
24 NOVEMBER 2024
On this
last Sunday of the liturgical year, we look back on how we have been invited to
deepen our relationship with God. We
began the year with the Advent message to prepare for the coming of Christ. We celebrated his first coming at
Christmas. During Lent, we admitted that
we have not always put Christ at the center of our lives. We embraced fasting, prayer, and almsgiving
to renew our baptismal promises at Easter.
In the Sacred Paschal Triduum, we entered into the suffering, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Impelled
by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the end of the Easter Season, we have
listened to the Gospel of Mark challenging us to recognize the Kingdom of God
in our midst. Today, our second reading
from the Book of Revelation reflects on Christ, seated on his throne as King of
Kings and Lord of lords. It tells us the
truth about Jesus Christ, the truth that Pilate did not grasp.
The Book of
Revelation reminds us that Jesus Christ is the faithful witness. He is not a witness in the sense of being an
eyewitness to an important event.
Rather, the root word for “witness” is “martyr.” Over the centuries, the martyrs of the Church
have given witness to the faith by surrendering their lives for Christ. Jesus is the first and faithful witness in
the sense that he has given his life totally and completely out of love for
us. He voluntarily laid down his life,
not just for good and holy people. He
laid down his life for all of us sinners, even the most notorious ones.
Second, the
Book of Revelation says that he is the first born of the dead. When Jesus took on our human nature in the
Mystery of the Nativity, he embraced the reality of death. He destroyed death by entering into it. In defeating death, he shares with us the
mystery of his resurrection. Just as
death was not the end for him, death is not the end for us.
Third, the
Book of Revelation tells us that he is coming on the clouds. Every eye will see him, even those who
pierced him. When Pilate asks Jesus
about his kingship, Jesus responds that his kingdom does not belong to this
world. The kingdom of Pilate involves
domination, privilege, power, and prestige.
The kingdom of Jesus Christ consists of love, justice, and service. As we know from our own experience of this
world’s kingdom, so much of our culture in caught up in Pilate’s kingdom of
domination, privilege, power, and prestige.
It is easy to become discouraged and give up in frustration. But as members of the kingdom of Jesus
Christ, we must continue to do all we can to make the kingdom of Jesus Christ
more visible. And even when we fail, we
know that Pilate’s kingdom will not prevail.
The Lord will come again.
Finally,
the Book of Revelation reveals Jesus Christ as the alpha and the omega, the
first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and the beginning and the end of
everything. As the beginning and the
end, he is the unchanging foundation upon which all creation rests. No matter what happens in our world, Jesus
Christ remains the source of our hope and our faith. That is the truth that sustains us.
Jesus
offers Pilate a chance to see the truth in his kingship. Out of fear, Pilate refuses to embrace the
truth and continues to exercise the violence of his kingdom. Jesus offers us the same choice today. He invites us to fix our eyes on him, the
Martyr of the faith, the death-defying conqueror, the Coming King, and the
Alpha and the Omega. In him, we find the
source of our hope, the anchor of our souls, and the assurance of our
salvation. In him we find the
truth. And the root Hebrew word for
truth is that it is reliable, factual, constant, certain, secure, permanent,
and honest.
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