Veritas PH

The WORD. The TRUTH.

 202 total views

Homily for the Feast of Christ the King, 21 November 2021, John 18:33b-37

Today’s Feast is addressed to the Pontius Pilates of this world. I am referring to arrogant leaders who are so sure of themselves, but who suddenly become very insecure and defensive before a harmless teacher like Jesus of Nazareth, who never claimed to be a king; he proclaimed only God as King. They are unsettled by the fact that people see in Jesus one who truly represents God’s kingship. Face to face with Jesus, Pilate suddenly feels the nakedness and emptiness of his supposed kingship.

John is very clever in the way he portrays the scene of the encounter between Pilate and Jesus. The contrast is very striking: Jesus is consistently calm and serene; Pilate is both nervous and aggressive. I imagine him shouting at Jesus and saying, “Do you admit the criminal charges of sedition that have been filed against you? That you are claiming to be the King of the Jews and are questioning the legitimacy of the kingship of the Roman emperor, whom I represent in your country?”

Jesus answers the question with a question, “Are you saying this on your own, or have others told you about me?” And the question gets Pilate very upset. He gets even more unsettled when Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus is driving him crazy. He does not say he is a king and yet he is talking about “his kingdom”. And now, what Pilate really wants to know is, “Where is this kingdom of yours?”

One of the spiritual masterpieces written by the great woman doctor of the Church, Saint Teresa of Avila, has an interesting term for the kingdom that Jesus spoke about to Pilate. She called it an INTERIOR CASTLE. Many people have tried to destroy it but they have not succeeded.

In his preachings, Jesus had always spoken about the Kingdom of God. He even told people where to find it. He said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” He was definitely not talking about a castle made of stone that Pilate thought he could easily destroy or demolish. And so Jesus said to him, “My Kingdom is not of this world.”

You see, the problem with the kingdoms of this world is, they are showy but they don’t last very long. They come and go, they sprout and disappear like the grass of the field. Name an empire that arose in any part of the world in all its splendor that has not eventually disintegrated. The Babylonian empire, the Persian empire, the Hellenistic empire, the Roman empire, the Byzantine empire, the Ottoman empire. They’re all gone. They were not as formidable and as invincible as people thought they were.

Our first reading today from the Book of Daniel gives us an idea what the worldly kingdoms are like. They are all about the vanity of powerplay, all about the desperate effort to control or to lord it over other people. You should read the whole chapter seven of the book of Daniel to be able to understand his vision.

The prophet is describing four kingdoms that he sees in his dream. They are all trying desperately to compete for power. Their common denominator is their behavior: they manifest what is most beastly, what is monstrous, what is most cruel and inhuman about us human beings. The first is behaving like a lion with the wings of an eagle. The second like a bear with three tusks in its mouth, and the third like a leopard with four heads. The fourth is supposed to have been the most ferocious; it had ten horns and one of the horns is described in a familiar way. The prophet says it loved to talk dirty. It spoke arrogant words, blasphemous language.

Then the prophet ends with a vision of the one who receives the Kingdom of God. He is no longer represented by a monster or an intimidating beast, but by a plain human being. He is not trying to play god. He is not competing for power. Jesus actually spoke very often about this vision of Daniel in the Gospels. He calls him “Bar Nasha” in the Aramaic language, literally “Son of Man”, but I prefer to translate it as THE CHILD OF HUMANITY. Sa Tagalog, ANG ANAK NG TAO, or better yet—Ang ANAK NG SANGKATAUHAN.

Jesus spoke about this figure to James and John when they were competing for positions of power and the other apostles got angry with them because they also wanted power for themselves. He told them to be like the Anak ng Tao “who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life for the redemption of many.”

This was the “king” whom Pilate ridiculed. He kept threatening Jesus that this claim to kingship was a dangerous thing, that it was an act of SEDITION, that it could get him convicted as a terrorist on the basis of his anti-terror law; it could get him executed as a subversive on the cross.

You know, three years ago, when I was criminally charged myself of such atrocious things as sedition, inciting to sedition, cyber libel, obstruction of justice and even estafa, along with thirty-five other people(among them fellow bishops and priests), I found myself asking my brother Atty Dante who lawyered for me what it was in what I had said or done that had so threatened the powers that be. Did they really believe that we were out to build our own government or worldly empire? Thank God the DOJ did not believe them and eventually dismissed the case.

I think what upsets the worldly kings about the kingdom of Christ is—they could not locate it. How can they demolish it if they do not even know where it is, or where to find it? And yet, Jesus never kept it secret from them. He always told people where to find the kingdom of God. He said, “THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU!”

 

It is what Teresa of Avila calls an INTERIOR CASTLE with many chambers or mansions, and with God dwelling in its inner most chamber of the human person. It is not built by human hands. We should never pretend to build the kingdom of God. How can you build a kingdom for God? (It was as ridiculous as David wanting to build a house for God.) If it is God’s kingdom then I suppose it is also God who will build it himself.

That must be the reason why Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God like infants talking to their daddy—who is a king! What makes us say his daddy is a king? He says, “THY KINGDOM COME.” He does not say “May we go to your kingdom…” or “May we build your kingdom…” It is too arrogant of us to even think we can build it.

So how does God’s kingdom come among us? The next line answers that: THY WILL BE DONE! It is when we open our hearts and minds to God’s will and embrace it as our own, it is then that God begins to build it within us. Remember what Jesus said in his farewell address? “If anyone loves me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

The kingdom of God is not only within us, it is among us. Didn’t he say, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.”?

The kingdom of God begins within us, but it grows among us, and brings about what we call COMMUNION, a union of hearts and souls that alone can bring about COMMUNITIES of disciples. It makes us live no longer for ourselves. It makes us live in Christ, as parts of his larger body which we call the Church. In him we live and move and have our being. As Pope Francis says it in his call for synodality—we grow from COMMUNION to PARTICIPATION, to MISSION. That is how God builds his kingdom within us, among us, beyond us.

The kingdom of Christ is at work when we learn to love each other as Christ has loved us, when we learn to walk with one another, to feel each other’s pains, to share each other’s joys, to own each other’s stories until they become his story of salvation, his story of redemption.

This kingdom drives people crazy because, while Jesus says it is not “of this world”, they know it operates “in this world.” It works very quietly but steadily (“hinay-hinay basta kanunay,” as they say it in Cebuano). It is unbeatable because it proclaims, not hatred but love, and believes it is more radical to love. Mas radikal ang magmahal.

It is not afraid to face the threats of violence, coercion, cruelty and murder. The song BE NOT AFRAID says it beautifully: “If you stand before the power of hell and death is at your side, know that I am with you through it all.” Or better yet, “Know that I am WITHIN you through it all.”

This is the kingship that we proclaim today; the kind which alone will inherit all “the power, dominion and glory, and will unite all peoples, all nations and languages,” according to Daniel. He is the king of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the one who sits at the right hand of the Father. Where? In the Interior Castle that can never be demolished.

ads
2
3
4
previous arrow
next arrow

Veritas Editorial

Rev. Fr. Anton CT Pascual

Rev. Fr. Anton CT Pascual

President of Radio Veritas

Agri transformation

 38,819 total views

 38,819 total views Ang Pilipinas ay kilala bilang isang agricultural country ngunit ilang dekada na ang problema ng bansa sa food security., Ang agri sector ay may pinakamababang kontribusyon sa gross domestic product (GDP) o ekonomiya ng bansa. Ano ang problema? Sa pag-aaral, ang agricultural sector ng Pilipinas ay hindi umuunlad dahil nahaharap ito sa problema

Read More »

Bagong usbong na trabaho para sa Pilipino

 49,865 total views

 49,865 total views Upang maisakatuparan ito Kapanalig, isinabatas ang Green Jobs Act o Republic Act 10771 noon pang taong 2016. Ang green jobs, kapanalig, ay tumutukoy sa mga trabaho na nakakatulong sa pangangalaga at pagpapanatili ng kalikasan. Kabilang dito ang mga trabaho sa renewable energy, waste management, sustainable agriculture, at iba pang sektor na naglalayong bawasan

Read More »

Political Mudslinging

 54,665 total views

 54,665 total views Kapanalig, 28-days na lamang ay Pasko na… ito ang dakilang araw ng pagkapanganak sa panginoong Hesus sa sabsaban… panahon ito ng pagmamahalan at pagbibigayan. Sa kristiyanong pamayanan, ang kapaskuhan ay nararapat na banal at masayang paghahanda sa pagdating ng panginoong Hesus… Pero, ang Pilipinas ay nahaharap matinding suliranin… Ngayong 4th quarter ng taong

Read More »

Buksan ang ating puso

 60,139 total views

 60,139 total views Mga Kapanalig, sa pangunguna ng papal charity na Aid to the Church in Need (o ACN), itinalaga ang araw na ito—ang Miyerkules pagkatapos ng Kapistahan ng Kristong Hari bilang Red Wednesday. Araw ito ng pag-alala sa mga Kristiyanong inuusig at pinagmamalupitan dahil sa kanilang pananampalataya. Hindi man ganoon kalaganap ang pang-uusig sa mga

Read More »

Mga biktima ng kanilang kalagayan sa buhay

 65,600 total views

 65,600 total views Mga Kapanalig, noong nakaraang linggo, inanunsyo ni Pangulong BBM na makauuwi na ang overseas Filipino worker (o OFW) na si Mary Jane Veloso. Siya na yata ang pinakainaabangang makauwi na OFW mula nang makulong siya sa Indonesia mahigit isang dekada na ang nakalilipas. Noong 2010, nahuli siya sa isang airport sa Indonesia dahil

Read More »
catholink
Shadow
truthshop
Shadow

Related Story

Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

“IGLESIA SIN FRONTERAS”

 8,632 total views

 8,632 total views (CHURCH WITHOUT BORDERS/ BOUNDARIES) Homily for the 26th Sun in Ordinary Time (B), 29 September 2024, Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 In today’s Gospel, Jesus is telling us something that we may find disturbing. Perhaps as disturbing as the words Pope Francis said when he visited Singapore recently, about other religions as “paths to

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

ANG PAG-IISIP NG DIYOS

 10,762 total views

 10,762 total views Homily for 24th Sun in Ordinary Time, 15 September 2024, Mk 8:27-35 Napagsabihan si Pedro sa ebanghelyo ngayon. Hindi daw ayon sa pag-iisip ng Diyos ang pag-iisip niya kundi ayon sa pag-iisip ng tao. Kung ako si Pedro baka nakasagot ako ng ganito: “with all due respect, Lord, paano akong mag-iisip na katulad

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

ANG KRUS NA SALAMIN

 10,762 total views

 10,762 total views Homiliya para sa Novena ng Santa Cruz, Ika-13 ng Setyembre 2024, Lk 6:39-42 Ewan kung narinig na ninyo ang kuwento tungkol sa isang taong mayaman ngunit makasarili. Dahil guwapo siya, matipuno at malusog ang katawan bukod sa successful sa career, mahilig daw siyang tumingin sa salamin para hangaan ang sarili. Minsan isang gabi,

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

LAW OF MOTION

 10,763 total views

 10,763 total views Homiliya para sa Huwebes sa Ika-23 Linggo ng Karaniwang Panahon, 12 Setyembre 2024, Lukas 6:27-38 Ang ebanghelyo natin ngayon ang siya na yatang pinakamahirap na doktrina ng pananampalatayang Kristiyano: MAHALIN ANG KAAWAY. Ito ang tunay na dahilan kung bakit nasasabi natin na MAS RADIKAL ANG MAGMAHAL. Mahirap kasing totohanin. Mas madali ang gumanti,

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

OPIUM OF THE PEOPLE

 10,759 total views

 10,759 total views Homily for Wed of the 23rd Wk in OT, 11Sept 2024, Lk 6:20-26 “It’s ok to suffer poverty and humiliation now. Anyway you will enjoy plenty and satisfaction in the hereafter…” Some Christians hold on to this kind of doctrine about a heavenly reward awaiting those who have suffered hell on earth. Is

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

NAPAPANAHON

 11,632 total views

 11,632 total views Homily for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 08 September 2024, Mark 7:31-37 Isang kasabihan sa Bibliya, ang chapter 3 ng Ecclesiastes ang pagkukuhanan natin ng inspirasyon para sa ating pagninilay sa ebanghelyo ngayon. “May tamang panahon para sa lahat ng bagay, panahon para sa bawat gawain sa mundong ibabaw…May panahon daw para

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

PANININDIGAN

 13,833 total views

 13,833 total views Homiliya para sa Ika-21 Linggo ng Karaniwang Panahon, 25 Agosto 2024, Juan 6: 60-69 Sa Misang ito ng ating Paggunita kay Santa Clara ng Assisi pagninilayan ang pagiging huwaran niya sa SAMA-SAMANG PAGLALAKBAY TUNGO SA KAGANAPAN NG BUHAY. Isa siya sa mga unang nagpahayag ng suporta kay Saint Francis nang talikuran nito ang

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

NAKITA KITA

 13,866 total views

 13,866 total views Homiliya para sa Kapistahan ni San Bartolome, 24 Agosto 2024, Jn 1:45–51 “Bago ka tinawag ni Felipe NAKITA KITA sa ilalim ng puno ng igos.” Iyun lang ang sinabi ni Hesus. Hanggang ngayon hinuhulaan pa ng mga Bible scholars kung bakit napakatindi ng epekto ng sinabing iyon ni Hesus kay Nataniel o Bartolome.

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

DAMAY-DAMAY

 15,220 total views

 15,220 total views Homily for the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, 22 August 2024, Lk 1,26-38 Isa sa paborito kong kanta sa blockbuster comedy film “Sister Act” ni Whoopi Goldberg ay ang “Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above”. Hindi alam ng marami na ang kantang iyon ay isa sa pinakamatandang panalangin tungkol kay Mama Mary. Kilala

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

BAON SA BIYAHE

 16,316 total views

 16,316 total views Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 18 August 2024, John 6: 51-58 Sa ating mga Katoliko, ang huling basbas sa mga malapit nang pumanaw ay hindi lamang sinasamahan ng kumpisal at pagpapahid ng langis. Kapag kaya pa ng maysakit, binibigyan siya ng komunyon at ang tawag dito sa wikang Latin ay

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

MALASAKIT

 20,523 total views

 20,523 total views Homiliya sa Pyestang San Roque, 16 Agosto 2924, Mateo 25: 31-40 Isang art work ang tumawag-pansin sa akin minsan. Gawa ito sa brass o tanso, hugis-taong nakaupo sa isang park bench, dinadaan-daanan ng mga tao. Minsan tinatabihan siya ng mga gustong magselfie kasama siya. Malungkot ang dating ng sculpture na ito—anyo ng isang

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

PAGKAIN NG BUHAY

 16,241 total views

 16,241 total views Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 11 August 2024, John 6:41-51 Kung minsan, may mga taong ayaw kumain, hindi dahil hindi sila nagugutom o wala silang ganang kumain kundi dahil wala na silang ganang mabuhay. Ganito ang sitwasyon ng propeta sa ating unang pagbasa ngayon. Nawalan na ng ganang mabuhay si

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

HANAPBUHAY

 17,611 total views

 17,611 total views Homiliya para sa ika-18 Linggo ng Karaniwang Panahon, 4 Agosto 2024, Juan 6:24-35 Sa Tagalog, “hanapbuhay” ang tawag natin sa trabahong pinagkakakitaan ng pera. Pero kung pera pala ang hinahanap, bakit hindi na lang tinawag na “hanap-pera” ang trabaho? Narinig ko ang sagot sa isang kargador sa palengke. Kaya daw hanapbuhay ang tawag

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

MISSIONARY

 17,873 total views

 17,873 total views Homily for the Ordination of Hien Van Do, MJ and Dao Minh Pham MJ to the Presbyteral Ministry, 03 August 2024, Jn 15:9-17 87 MJ is your nomenclature for your identity as consecrated persons. Missionaries of Jesus. Let me share some thoughts on what, basically it means to be Missionaries of Jesus. It

Read More »
Bishop Ambo Homilies
Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio David, D.D.

NAKATATANDA

 26,566 total views

 26,566 total views Homiliya para sa World Day for Grandparents, 27 Hulyo 2024, Ika-17 Linggo ng Karaniwang Panahon, Juan 6:1-15 Ipinagdiriwang natin ngayon ang World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Ano sa Tagalog ang ELDERLY? NAKATATANDA. Kaya nagtataka ako kung bakit ina-associate ang pagiging matanda sa pagiging ulyanin o makakalimutin, gayong eksaktong kabaligtaran ang ibig

Read More »

Latest Blogs

Scroll to Top