OMELIE / Omelie EN

25 nov 2018

25/11/2018  34th Sunday in O. T. – Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – B 

25/11/2018  34^th Sunday in O. T. – Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – B 

Reading 1, DN 7,13-14 * Psalm 92 * Reading 2, RV 1,5-8 * Gospel, JN 18,33-37

Already the angel Gabriel, talking to Mary about the announced Son, has defined Him as “the King”, the King promised by God to the whole people, and therefore awaited by the people with joy and expectation: “The Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of His Kingdom there will be no end!” (LK 1,32). Jesus then kept talking about the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of which He knew to be the heir, so much so to promise His disciples to make them part of His service: “I confer a Kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one on me, … you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (LK 22,29).

The Kingdom of which Jesus is talking about is the Kingdom of God, a reality that cannot be compared to human kingdoms. The ruler of Earth rule over they subjects and exercise on them their power, Jesus will keep saying, but it will not be that way for those who will have power in His Kingdom. He Himself is a King who came to serve, to give up His own life as a ransom for everybody! Today we can see Him standing in front of Pilate, the representative of an authority that used to crash entire peoples under the weight of a control out of discussion and ferocious. Right referring to this authority Jesus declares that He doesn’t want to compete at the same level. His royalty doesn’t need the help of man’s weapons, it doesn’t make use of violence, strength, fear, does not compete with the kings of earth. His royalty does not want to impose, and whoever wants to become subject to Him does it freely and with love, that love that knows how to listen!

Jesus accepts the title of King, but He wants to explain it, in order for it not to be understood as it is usually understood by men. He is King because He came in the world “to testify to the truth”!

We know that Pilate refused to understand this word. Let us try to get it. The truth is something «that is not hidden any more», what «comes to light». Our God is hidden, nobody has ever seen Him and no man can. With the coming of Jesus in the world, God has shown Himself, has come to light, He is not “hidden from ages” (COL 1,26). Jesus Himself is the light that shows the face of the Father, the word that makes His thoughts clear, the life that communicates the fullness of love! Jesus came “to testify to the truth”: His life makes visible to human eyes the beauty and the greatness of the selfless love of God, of His sanctity, of His mercy. This is why many, those coming from truth, listen to His voice, follow Him, love Him. Jesus’ royalty attracts the man’s heart, because everybody can feel that He is worthy to be followed, that to obey Him makes us free, relieves us, makes us grow, makes our life precious and useful.

St John, beginning the book of Revelations, introduces again Jesus as the faithful witness and the Prince of the kings of Earth! Everybody will switch position in front of Him; even “those who pierced Him … will lament Him”, that is to say they will repent to have opposed Him, because they will realize that they have been mistaken and they have opposed in this way the true progress of humanity.

Today we praise and bless our King: by praising and blessing Him increase our joy and the communion among us, the Kingdom becomes more beautiful and attractive even for those looking at it from outside. We praise and bless Jesus, but let us make sure not to do it only with words and with songs, instead, above all, with our actions. Jesus is the King that gives up His life: we live in His Kingdom by becoming loving servants of our brothers’, of everybody’s, in a way that will allow them to feel the sweetness and the light of our Lord, true benefactor of men.

The prophet Daniel sees the greatness of the Kingdom of which Jesus will be the King, a Kingdom that is never going to pass: we know that this Kingdom will never end, because those that are part of it enter it freely and they joyfully stay, they enjoy to be served by the Lord and to serve Him every day without fear and with great satisfaction. Many called “great” in history have attempted, and they still attempt, to destroy Jesus’ Kingdom: they will be only able to purify it from those that are taking part in it with selfish intentions, and to make shine even more strongly the strength and the beauty and love on which it is based and which it brings.

Glory to you, our Lord and King, our Servant and our benefactor, Jesus!