November 21, 2021 | Solemnity of Christ the King
Sunday Reading: Daniel 7:13-14, Revelation 1:5-8 & John 18:33-37
As we come to the end of the Ordinary Time in the Church's liturgical calendar, the closure resonates a jubilant sentiment of our faith. We acclaim Christ the Universal King. The Gospel reading echoes the sentiment beginning as a dialogue between Pilate, a Roman Governor, and Jesus, a Jewish Preacher.
The question to Jesus, which may sound trivial, is indeed loaded: Are you the King of the Jews? In the first place, we need to ask if Pilate, a great Roman king and ruler saw Jesus as a threat. Pilate was uncomfortable that Jesus is being acclaimed as King.
Jesus replies to the question: Do you say this on your own.? Pilate will have to decide who he believes Jesus to be. No doubt Pilate will take the side of the Jews and execute Jesus and release the others.
Jesus engages in this conversation with Pilate and talks about the kingdom he has come to inaugurate. Pilate now understands that Jesus' kingship is not how the world understands it to be.
We can feel Pilate probing and wanting Jesus to accept that his kingship is not of this world: You say I am a king. For this, I was born and for this, I came into the world to testify to the truth.
Now we are confronted with another question: what is truth? To which we have no direct answer. The truth is Jesus himself as John 14: 6 says, "Jesus is the way the truth and the life."
Imagine all who witnessed this acclaimed Christ as King.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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