‘My kingdom is not of this world’
As we come to the end of another liturgical year, the feast of Christ, King of the Universe, gives us the opportunity to consider the priorities we wish to live by in our troubled world.
This universality is described with the vision of ’one like a son of man’, who we identify as Christ himself, from the book of Daniel (First Reading). Christ’s sovereignty is eternal. It is not exclusive, and shall never be destroyed.
The Psalm picks up this theme of kingship and majesty. Christ, as Son of God, has reigned from the beginning of time.
In the Second Reading from the Apocalypse, Christ is called the Alpha and the Omega. He has rescued us from our sins and will be made manifest when he comes again on the clouds of heaven.
The Gospel brings us to the essential question. What kind of king is Jesus? As Pilate questions him, Jesus explains that his kingdom is not of this world; it is not a kingdom of pomp and power and glory. Christ has come to testify to the truth.
May we pray this week that all humankind may be united in Christ, so that he can offer to the Father a people ‘of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace’ (words heard at the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass today).
