Gospel: November 24, 2024
November 24, 2024 (Sunday)
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus, Christ the King
Psalter: Proper / (White)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 93: 1abc, 1d-2, 5
The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
1st Reading: Daniel 7: 13-14
I continued watching the nocturnal vision: One like a son of man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into his presence.
Dominion, honor and kingship were given him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; his kingdom will never be destroyed.
2nd Reading: Revelation 1: 5-8
And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has washed away our sins with his own blood, making us a kingdom and priests for God his Father, to him be the glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
See he comes with the clouds and everyone will see him, even those who pierced him; on his account all the nations of the earth will beat his breast. Yes. It will be so.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, he who is, who was and who is to come: the Master of the universe.
Gospel: John 18: 33b-37
Pilate then entered the court again, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Are you saying this on your own initiative; or have others told you about me?”
Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingship does not come from this world. If I were king like those of this world, my servants would have fought to save me from being handed over to the Jews. But my kingship is not of this world.”
Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” And Jesus answered, “Just as you say, I am a king. For this I was born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth hears my voice.”
Lectio Divina:
Read: Jesus was brought to Pilate to be tried. Pilate asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews. Jesus answered Pilate with a question, asking if Pilate’s question was from him or what others told him about Jesus. Pilate retorted by asking if he was a Jew since it was Jesus’ own people who brought Jesus to Pilate.
Pilate further asked Jesus what the latter had done that he was handed over by his own people. Jesus said that his kingdom and kingship is not of this world. Thus, Pilate asked Jesus if Jesus was a king. Jesus answered that it was Pilate who said that Jesus was a king. Jesus added that he came into the world to bear witness to the truth and that anyone who would hear the voice of Jesus remained on the side of truth.
Reflect: Today is the Solemnity of Christ the King. We may ask ourselves now about our relationship with Jesus. Have we already accepted Jesus as our king? If we do, the next question we need to pose to ourselves is—are we growing in terms of exercising our inner authority?
Pilate was lacking in terms of inner authority, making it difficult for him to stand for the truth. Do we exercise inner authority shared with us by Jesus, or are we not better than Pilate? Can we stand for the truth?
Pray: Let us pray that Jesus may truly reign over our lives.
Act: Let us research on a particular historical fact which we think is now being distorted. Let us share the result of our research to people we know.
