CHRIST THE KING 2020 (Kristong Hari), November 22, 2020
The Word
Matthew 2 1 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
Matthew 25 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and all the nations will be assembled before him.”
34 Then the king will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”
40 “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Matthew 21 4 This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
5 Say to daughter Zion, “Behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'”
John 18 36 Jesus answered [Pilate], “My kingdom does not belong to this world.”
John 19 2 And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, 3 and they came to him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly.
John 19 14 … [Pilate] said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” 15 They cried out, “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!”
19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read,
“Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.”
A REFLECTION and PRAYER
Brightness — Light — Darkness — Glory
A number of years ago, Father Ruben Tanseco and I were discussing themes for the Feast of Christ the King. (As you may know, Father Ruben passed to the Lord a month or so ago – may he be in peace.) We talked about the common image of Christ the King sitting on the magnificent throne crowned with gold and holding an orb and a scepter. Super glorious!
And he mentioned the image of Jesus standing there so much alone with the purple cape and a crown of thorns being presented by Pilate to the people – “This is your king!” (You can see it on Google images.)
I have outlined a bit of this reality in the Scripture passages chosen above:
- the Magi bringing wonderful gifts to a newborn King
- how the great king will judge and reward
- a king entering Jerusalem for the Passover festival – not a king riding in a chariot drawn by great horses and surrounded by well-armed soldiers –but a humble servant-king riding on a donkey
- a dialogue with Pilate ending in a death sentence – but with the saving inscription above the lifeless victim – “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
- finally, the glorious moment from the Book of Revelation as the king draws the generous of heart to himself
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
As you can imagine, each of these small episodes are not for reading but for reflection and prayer.
Perhaps you can take five minutes for each text – imagining each scene in your own mind, being in the scene – by seeing, by hearing, by feeling; participating – by speaking, by touching, by helping.
You can also pray over one episode each day this week – that would make for good daily prayer. We keep in mind that the journey of Jesus was of compassion and mercy, gentleness, healing and forgiveness.
Can we journey with Jesus? Can we do as he has done – compassion and mercy; gentleness, healing and forgiveness?
Pain and suffering are part of the journey – these we offer with the pain and suffering of Jesus.
Jesus Christ, our king, give us your grace for our lives!
Father Bill Kreutz SJ, Loyola House of Studies, Scripture from the New American Bible. (Images from Google)
