Presider: Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki Choir: St. James www.MySundayMass.org TEXT FROM THE GOSPEL AND HOMILY The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John. Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I'm not a Jew am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews but as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ. Most Americans are uncomfortable of the notion of royalty, we don't know how to act around it. We have grown up in a land that cherishes our democratic freedoms. Every citizen is equal and any qualified citizen could run for public office and even for President of the United States, to think and to limit a particular family or isolated blood strain as being better or even more qualified than any other to lead. To us it is simply foreign, even in families, a child who makes a demand of service....”Mom, Dad get me a coke.” is often with the sounds of derision “O yes your majesty, is there anything else I can do for you? Perhaps bring up your chariot or a horse?” I believe it is this aspect of privilege that makes us uncomfortable. Let me rehabilitate the concept a little of a king and queen. First the king or queen embodies the persona of a country, the respect is one of recognition that they are as much a symbol of the country as we would when we hold the flag before us. In this sense the person of Jesus is king represents everything that we are, as is proclaimed in the Book of Revelation. I am the alpha and the omega, says the Lord God, the one who is, was and who is to come, the almighty. Our identity is found in Jesus, for we discover in him the ruler over life and death, but look at the symbols that would represent a king and the majesty, where is the bejeweled crown? For Jesus its replaced by a crown of thorns. The elevated throne the king sits in is replaced by the cross where he is lifted up high and the vast, powerful, material possessions are replaced by love and truth as the gospel proclaims, “You say I am a king, for this I was born, for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Here is the key for all of us in understanding this celebration of the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ the king. The kingship of Jesus is not found in privilege but in identification with the mission of Jesus, I have come not to be serviced but to serve. And give my life as ransom for many. His kingship is one of service and his followers are called to reflect him in their lives. In Matthew 25, the Lord comes at the end of all time to judge all of us, the measure that our king will use in order to evaluate whether we have fulfilled his mandate is how we have treated our brothers and sisters, whether we have recognized and met their needs, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, reaching out to others, establishes that we follow a king that serves and exercises a power over us in his truth and love. So today let us pledge this Sunday in serving a king who continues to serve us by giving himself through his word and in his body and blood. We are blessed to have a king who loves us. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

• published: 21 Nov 2015
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