XXXIV Sunday in Ordinary Time (year B) [24 November 2024]

First reading Dn 7:13-14

*A coronation scene

The prophet Daniel describes a coronation scene "in the clouds of heaven", i.e. in God's world with a "son of man" (in Hebrew it simply means a human being) approaching the Old Man, whom a few verses earlier (v.9) he describes seated on a throne: it is understood that he is God. The Son of Man advances to be anointed king: "he was given power, glory and kingdom...his is an eternal power that will never end", a universal and eternal kingship that, however, he does not conquer by force and, as Daniel points out, he does not approach the throne of God on his own initiative. This Sunday's reading stops here, but to better understand, one must go a little further and realise that this "son of man" is not an individual but a people: "I, Daniel, was troubled in my soul .I approached one of the neighbours and asked him the true meaning of all these things, and he gave me this explanation: "The four great beasts represent four kings, who shall arise from the earth; but the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess it for ever and ever" (vv15-18). In a few verses later he repeats: 'Then the kingdom and the power and the greatness of the kingdoms that are under heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom shall be eternal, and all empires shall serve and obey him' (v27). This son of man is therefore 'the people of the saints of the Most High' which, in biblical language, means Israel and in the age of persecution, is the small faithful remnant. We are at the most painful time of Antiochus Epiphanes' persecution around 165 B.C. when only a small group really remained. When Daniel states that the people of the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, he means to encourage them to resist because the final deliverance will soon come, and since shortly afterwards Antiochus Epiphanes was driven out, his prophecy was interpreted by some Jews as referring to the expected Messiah-King, who would not be a particular individual, but a people. When Jesus was born centuries later, although everyone in Israel awaited the Messiah, not everyone imagined him in the same way: some awaited a man, others a collective Messiah called 'the little Remnant of Israel' (an expression from the prophet Amos 9.11-15), or 'the son of man' in reference to the prophet Daniel. Jesus is the only one (no one else does this) to use the expression 'Son of Man' coming on the clouds of heaven more than 80 times in the gospels, referring to himself, but his contemporaries could not recognise in Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter, the Messiah, i.e. 'the people of the saints of the Most High'. Moreover, Jesus substantially modifies the definition because, referring to Daniel, he says: "Then...you will see the Son of Man coming, surrounded by clouds, in the fullness of power and glory" (Mk 13:26), and again in the Gospel of Mark he adds: "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him" (Mk 9:31). Only after the resurrection will the disciples understand that the title of Son of Man on the clouds of heaven is attributed to Jesus, because he is both man and God, the first-born of the new humanity, the Head who makes us one Body and, at the end of history, we shall be as "one man, grafted into him and thus "the people of the saints of the Most High". While Daniel said a "Son of Man" Jesus changes it to "Son of Man"": son of man meant "one man", while son of man means "Humanity" and therefore "Son of Man" means Humanity. By attributing this title to Himself, Christ reveals Himself to be the bearer of the destiny of the whole of humanity, fulfilling the divine creation project, that is, to make humanity one people: "God created man in His own image...male and female He created them...He said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth" (Gen 1:27-28). For St Paul, Jesus is the new Adam: 'As by one man's disobedience all were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience all will be made righteous' (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:21-22, 45-49), while in the Fourth Gospel, Piato's phrase 'Ecce homo, Behold the man' (19:5) is always striking.

*Responsorial Psalm 92/93 (1,2,5)

*We proclaim God our King 

By proclaiming Christ our King we affirm our faith/hope with the courage to realise his kingdom, certain that by rising he has defeated death and by forgiving the murderers he has destroyed hatred. However, while we dare to say that Christ is already king, everything in the world seems to be going backwards: death kills, hatred spreads in all its forms of violence and injustice. Psalm 92/93 proclaims God's victory over the world in spite of appearances, and the Jews also celebrate God the King by having the same faith and hope as they await God's 'Day'. In proclaiming his victory over the forces of evil, however, they rely on the experience of the Exodus by worshipping God who by freeing Israel offered his Covenant, while we Christians rely on the resurrection of Christ. To sing the kingship of God this psalm looks to the model of the coronation of kings: in the throne room the new king, invested with the royal mantle, sat on the throne and, having signed the enthronement charter, took possession of the royal palace. At this point, the people shouted 'Long live the king,' an acclamation that in Hebrew is called 'térouah' and was originally a cry of victory against the enemy. In this psalm, the acclaimed king is God, and more than others he deserves the terouah because he has defeated the forces of evil: "The Lord reigns, he is clothed with majesty, he is girded with strength": these are the clothes of the Creator.  The Hebrew expression: "He girded his strength" evokes the gesture of tying a garment to his hips, as the potter does with his apron to work the clay".  Singing that his throne "is stable from everlasting, from eternity thou art", the psalm hints by contrast at idols that are within everyone's reach and evokes the fragility of earthly kingdoms, particularly the kings of Israel, some of whom reigned a few years, even a few days. Throughout the psalm, God is proclaimed king over creation because he dominates the forces of the waters that are often untamable for man: "more than the roar of rushing waters, more mighty than the billows of the sea, mighty on high is the Lord" (v.4). The billows of the sea recall the Sea of Rushes (in Hebrew Yam Suf, and suf means reed or rush)) identified with the Red Sea, which God made his people cross. Since then, the Lord's faithfulness has never faded, as verse 5 expresses so well: "Worthy of faith are all your teachings". The expression "worthy of faith" in other versions is rendered as "unchanging", a word that has the same root as Amen and evokes faithfulness, stability, truth, immutability, steadfastness. This is God's faithfulness to his people, of which the Temple of Jerusalem was a symbol, an icon of God's presence and a reflection of his holiness: "Holiness befits your house". Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem and pulled down the Temple of Solomon, deporting most of the population to Babylon, and having destroyed the kingdom of Judah in 586 BC, there were no more kings in Israel because the last one was Sedekiah who was captured, blinded and taken into exile. From that moment on, the expression: 'Holiness befits your house' celebrated God's sovereignty in the expectation of the Messiah-King, God's faithful image.  Every year, during the Feast of Tents (in the autumn), this psalm was taken up to celebrate in advance the fulfilment of the whole of history, the definitive Covenant, the Wedding between God and Humanity: in fact Israel with the whole of humanity will one day share the kingship of the Messiah, as the Queen sits next to the King.

Second Reading Rev 1:5-8

*He who is, who was, and who is to come

 "Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth": the phrases of this short text, which is the beginning of the Apocalypse, are dense and evoke the whole mystery of Christ and each word reveals an aspect of it. "Jesus" is the name of a man from Nazareth and means "God saves"; "Christ" indicates the Messiah filled with the Spirit of God; "the faithful witness" connects to Jesus' words to Pilate that we hear today in the gospel: "I was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth". The statement: "the firstborn from the dead" encapsulates the faith of the early Christians who saw in Jesus, a mortal man like everyone else, the firstborn of a long line, resurrected by God to lead all his brothers and sisters, and the phrase: "the Sovereign of the kings of the earth" reinforces the concept of the Messiah who placed all his enemies under his feet, as Psalm 109/110 sings. Since in Revelation numbers are symbolic and ternary expressions are reserved for God, the three qualifications: "faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth" attributed to Jesus affirm that he is God. The second sentence takes up and amplifies the first: "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen'. Here we find the traditional tenets of faith: Christ's love for all men; the gift of his life signified by the expression "blood shed" to redeem us from evil, while the statement: "He has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father" indicates that in Christ the promise "You shall be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" contained in the book of Exodus (19:6) has been fulfilled.  In the third sentence: "Behold, he comes with the clouds" it is the Son of Man, spoken of by Daniel in the first reading, who advances to the throne of God to receive universal kingship. The first dimension of his kingship is triumph. The second dimension is that of suffering: "Every eye shall see him, even those who pierced him, and for him all the tribes of the earth shall beat their breasts", a clear allusion to the cross and the soldier's lance (Jn.19:33-34). Here St John refers to the prophecy of Zechariah: "I will pour out upon the house of David and Jerusalem a spirit of kindness ... they will look upon him whom they have pierced ... they will mourn for him as for an only son ... they will mourn for him as for a first-born ... a spring will flow ... as a remedy for sin and impurity". ( Zech 12:10; 13:1).  With the spirit of benevolence God will transform the human heart and turning their gaze to the one they have pierced, men will see an innocent man unjustly slain in clear contrast to the religious authorities of the time. Looking at the crucified Messiah suddenly eyes and hearts will open and, when the hearts of all men will be transformed, Christ will be King because it is the opening of the heart that introduces us into the grace and peace of eternity in God: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world" (Mt 25:34). Finally, the final expression of the second reading: "He who is, who was, and who is to come" (v. 8) is one of the translations of the name of God (YHVH, Ex 3:14) in the Jewish commentaries (Jerusalem Targum). 

Gospel Jn. 18:33b-37

*So you are king?

John's gospel is the only one to report the long dialogue between Pilate and Jesus, a text of considerable interest for the Feast of Christ the King because statements about Christ's kingship are rare in the gospels and only during his passion does Jesus openly declare that he is king.  During his public life whenever they wanted to make him king he withdrew, when they publicised his miracles he imposed silence and this even after the Transfiguration. Only now that he is chained and condemned to death does he claim to be king, i.e. at the least convenient time according to human calculations.  Undoubtedly he has an alternative way of conceiving kingship and he explained it to the disciples: the leaders rule over the nations, but this must not be the case for you; if anyone wants to be great let him be your servant, if he wants to be first let him be servant of all, imitating the Son of Man who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom (i.e. deliverance) for the multitude (cf. Mk 10:42-45). It is during Pilate's interrogation that he declares himself to be the king of mankind, thus at the very moment when he gives his life for us showing that his only royal ambition is service. On closer inspection, in the dialogue between Pilate, a high representative of the Roman empire, and a man condemned to death, the parts are reversed: it is not Pilate who judges him but Christ who judges the world, and the Roman power ends up recognising Christ as the true king. Jesus was captured because the religious leaders, frightened by his success, acted deceitfully, fearing their destruction with the arrival of the Romans: "If we let them, the Romans will come and destroy us". It is a murder that stems from the will of the ruling priestly caste while for Pilate Jesus represented no danger. Today we read in John's gospel the first questioning of Pilate: "Are you the king of the Jews?" In this trial it is not the judge who questions the accused but the reverse and the sentence will be passed by the accused. In fact Jesus does not answer, but asks. "Do you say this of yourself or have others spoken to you about me?". And Pilate: "What have you done?  Jesus replies: "My kingdom is not of this world". Pilate insists: "So you are king?" and Jesus: "You say so" in the sense that if you are affirming it (su legeis) you have understood it well and therefore proclaim it. It is, however, a different kingdom from all earthly ones defended by soldiers and based on power, domination and lies. Mine, on the other hand, is the kingdom of truth that relies on no other defence than the truth: 'For this I was born and came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Whoever is of the truth hears my voice', and he adds: 'For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth'. And he concludes: 'Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice'. He does not say: 'Whoever has the truth', but 'whoever is from the truth', since truth is not a doctrine to be possessed but the believer's way of life. In the second reading from Revelation, John states that Jesus is the "faithful witness", the "only-begotten Son full of grace and truth," as we already read in the Prologue of his Gospel (Jn 1:14). If Pilate, a son of the Greco-Roman world, asks the question "What is truth?" (Jn18:38), the Jews, on the other hand, knew from the very beginning of the Covenant with God that truth is God Himself.  Truth in the Bible means God's "steadfast faithfulness" and has in Hebrew the same root as "Amen" which means stable, faithful, true, as it appears today in Responsorial Psalm 92/93. The Truth is God Himself so no one can claim to possess it but it is indispensable to listen to it and let oneself be instructed by it (cf. Jn 8:47). Only God can tell us "Listen", as the Torah continually repeats: "Shema Israël".  

Some Testimony on Christ King of the Universe: 

*St. Augustine, in his sermon on Psalm 2, writes: "Christ has no temporal kingdom, but he reigns in the hearts of men. His throne is the cross, His sceptre is love, and His crown is made of thorns. He is a king who does not conquer with weapons, but with truth and justice."

* Saint Nicholas Cabasilas Orthodox (14th century) is credited with this sentence: "Christ reigns because he has conquered our hearts, not with violence, but with sacrifice. His cross is his throne, and from the cross he judges the world with love, offering eternal life to those who submit to his divine will."

*St. Catherine of Siena, in her work "The Dialogue of Divine Providence" writes: 

"Christ is sweet king, because his kingdom is not founded on pride nor on strength, but on love and humility. He made of his flesh a bridge between heaven and earth, that man might cross it and reach the eternal kingdom. His crown is of thorns, a sign of the love with which he took upon himself the pains of his subjects; his throne is the cross, from which he ruled with mercy and justice."

*Dietrich Bonhoeffer Protestant pastor in his book 'Discipleship' writes: "Christ is the King who bears the cross, and his kingdom is the kingdom of the cross. Those who follow him enter into his lordship not with power or glory, but with the humility of one who accepts the weight of his yoke. Christ reigns over us because he chose to die for us, and in this is our true freedom."

*G.K. Chesterton in his book 'Orthodoxy' writes: "Christ is not only a king, but the king of paradoxes. His crown is made of thorns, yet it is the most glorious; his throne is the cross, yet it is the highest; his power is manifested in surrender, yet no one has ever reigned with greater authority. He is the king who turns sorrow into joy and death into life."

Happy Solemnity of Christ King of the Universe to you all!

+ Giovanni D'Ercole

God bless you! For the past few weeks I have chosen to offer not a homily but a service to those who wish: I present the Sunday Bible readings to aid understanding of the biblical text with a short commentary always starting with the word of God. I hope it may be useful to you: if you wish, let me know and I thank you for your attention." The Word of God is an uphill path, the more you strive, the more you advance towards the light " (paraphrase from St John of the Cross) " Each verse of the Bible is like a step: reading it is easy, living it is the real challenge of faith (paraphrase from "the Ladder of Paradise" by St John Climacus). Each week I will send the text on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning to allow time to read and meditate.

Here is next Sunday's.

XXXIII Sunday Ordinary Time (year B) 

Commentary on the readings [17 November 2024]

*First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel 12, 1-3

 *In the storm of persecution Faith in the resurrection is born 

The book of Daniel is named not after its author but after its protagonist, the prophet Daniel who lived in Babylon during the years of the last kings of the Neo-Babylonian empire and was written during the Maccabean revolution (2nd century BC). There are at least two important statements in today's text. First of all, Daniel comforts his contemporaries who were going through a difficult time. When he says: 'It will be a time of distress, such as there had never been', he is speaking of the future, but it is only in appearance because they were under occupation and persecution. Opposition books could not be circulated, so he pretends to speak of the past or the future, but in truth of the present, and readers understand and take the comfort they need. Reigning after the conquests of Alexander the Great and the first rather tolerant successors was Antiochus Epiphanes, sadly famous for his terrible persecution of the Jews. He placed himself at the centre of the Temple as a god and the Jews had to choose: submit or remain faithful to their faith, facing torture and death. Some bent, but many remained faithful and were killed. Daniel tells them that Michael, the leader of the Angels, watches over them and if they are now experiencing defeat and the horror of terror, they are nevertheless victorious in a battle that takes place both on earth and in heaven: the heavenly army has already won. Human history is a gigantic struggle in which the victor is already known, and this particularly concerns the people of the Covenant. 

To the message of comfort for the living Daniel joins a reference to those who sacrificed themselves so as not to betray the living God. Since God does not forsake those who die for him, those who die will thus be resurrected. The word 'resurrection', which is part of our vocabulary today, was virtually unknown at the time. For centuries, the question of individual resurrection did not arise as the focus was on the people and not on the individual, on the present and future of the people and not on the fate of the individual. In the history of Israel, interest in the destiny of the individual emerged as a conquest and progress during the exile linked to the idea of individual responsibility. It must always be remembered that faith in the faithful God matures with the events of history and Israel increasingly understands that God desires the good of man and never abandons him. The experience of the Covenant thus nourished Israel's faith and it was realised that if God wants man free from all bondage, He cannot leave him in the chains of death. Truth exploded when some believers sacrificed their lives for God and their death became a source of faith in eternal life. It was thus understood that martyrs will rise for eternal life: "Many of those who sleep in the region of the dust shall awake: some to eternal life, and some to shame and everlasting infamy". The book of Daniel considers resurrection only for the righteous, but later it will come to be understood that resurrection is promised to all mankind composed of good and bad human beings and indeed no one is totally good or bad. Finally, only when we are enlightened by the certainty that God loves us, can we understand that we will live forever.

Responsorial Psalm 15 (16), 5.8, 9-10, 11

*The great commitment in the image of the Levite 

In Psalm 15(16), of which today we meditate on just a few verses, it all seems simple when we take refuge in God because only in him is our good. In verse 5 we read: "The Lord is my inheritance and my cup: in your hands is my life" and continues "my inheritance is great" (v.6) and then states that "for this my heart rejoices and my soul exults; my body also rests secure because you will not forsake my life in hell nor will you let your faithful one see the grave" (v.8,9,10). In reality, under very simple appearances, Psalm 15/16 translates the terrible struggle of faithfulness to the true faith: exactly the same as Daniel's call not to deny the faith despite the persecution of King Antiochus Epiphanes. The struggle for fidelity marks Israel from the very beginning, ever since Moses during the exodus perceived the risk of idolatry: think of the episode of the golden calf when the people convinced Aaron to build it (Ex. 32). When they then entered the land of Canaan (between the 15th and 13th centuries BC), the danger of idolatry remained as they saw that everything was going wrong. War, famine, epidemic aroused the desire to rely on two certainties: The Lord and Baal because, in difficulties, one is tempted to resort to every god possible and imaginable. King Ahaz did it in the 8th century by sacrificing his son to idols, and his grandson Manasseh fifty years later. This is why the prophets fought against idolatry, which is the worst of slavery. This psalm therefore translates the preaching of the prophets in the form of a prayer: there resounds an invitation to the believers to follow the preaching, and at the same time it is a supplication to God to help everyone endure in the time of trial. It would also be helpful to read the verses not found on this Sunday (vv.1-4) where it is said, among other things, that "to the idols of the land, to the mighty gods went all my favour. They multiplied their sorrows those who run after a foreign god" and then states "I will not pour out their libations of blood, nor will I pronounce with my lips their names". In short, it is necessary to turn only to the God of the Covenant as the only one able to guide his people on the difficult path to freedom. Over the centuries, it has been understood that the God of Israel is the only God for all mankind. If there is an exclusivity for Israel, it is because he chose him freely and revealed himself to them as the one true Lord. It is up to Israel to respond to this calling by binding itself exclusively to him and, in so doing, fulfil its mission as a witness to the one God before the other nations. To express this mission, Israel in this psalm compares itself to a Levite: "The Lord is my inheritance and my cup, in your hands is my life" (v.5). It alludes to the singular condition of the Levites that, at the time of the partition of the Promised Land among the tribes of Jacob's descendants, the members of the tribe of Levi had received no part of the land and thus their portion was the House of God (the Temple), the service of God. Their whole life was consecrated to the service of worship; their livelihood was guaranteed by tithes and a portion of the crops and meat offered in sacrifice. Israel is at the heart of humanity as the Levites are the heart of Israel, both called to the direct service of the Lord, the source of joy. Bearing in mind the first reading that speaks of the resurrection of bodies (Dan 12), one understands that the eternity spoken of in this psalm is not about individual resurrection because the true subject of all the psalms is never an individual but the whole of Israel sure to survive being the chosen of the living God. And verse 10: "Thou shalt not forsake my life in hell, nor let thy faithful see the grave" does not express faith in individual resurrection but is an appeal for the survival of the people. Certainly when the prophet Daniel (first reading) proclaimed faith in the resurrection of the dead, this verse made such sense; later Jesus and now all of us can confidently say that our hearts rejoice and our souls are rejoicing because the Lord does not abandon us to death, but rather at his right hand, an eternity of joy awaits us.

*Second Reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews 10:11-14. 18

 Jesus delivers humanity from the fatality of sin 

The letter to the Hebrews, like and more than the other New Testament texts, aims to make it clear that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah-priest, and therefore the Jewish priesthood is superseded. Having ended the role of the priests of the Old Covenant, in the New Covenant the only priest is Christ. But what are the characteristics of the priests of the Old Covenant compared to Christ? The author focuses on two points: the liturgy of the Old Testament priests was daily and they always offered the same sacrifices; Jesus, on the other hand, offered a unique sacrifice. The worship of the Jewish priests was ineffective, since the sacrifices did not have the power to eliminate sins, whereas, with his unique sacrifice, Jesus eliminated the sin of the world once and for all. There are statements here that were important to the Judeo-Christian milieu of the time, such as the expression 'to eliminate sins' because the word 'sin' returns several times in this text. Experience says that after Christ's death/resurrection sins continue to exist in the world, so to say that Jesus took away the sin of the world is to point out that sin is no longer a fatality because, thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome it. Furthermore, when we read that "with one offering he has made perfect for ever those who are sanctified" we must understand that the term "perfect" does not have a moral meaning, but expresses fulfilment, completion. That is, we have been led by Christ to our fulfilment; thanks to him we have become free men and women: free not to relapse into hatred, violence, jealousy; free to live as sons and daughters of God and as brothers and sisters. In the celebration of the Eucharist we keep saying 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world'. This makes one think of the prophet Jeremiah (31: 31-33) who prophesied: "Behold, the days will come - the Lord's oracle - when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah...I will put my law within them, I will write it on their hearts", or of Ezekiel (36: 26-27): "I will take away from you the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and make you live by my laws". The early Christians knew that one must allow oneself to be led by the Holy Spirit, but an essential condition is to remain united to Christ like the branches to the vine.  We read again in the text: "Christ...is seated forever at the right hand of God and is now waiting for his enemies to be placed at the footstool of his feet" (vv12-14). The expression 'seated at the right hand of God' had been a royal title in Israel for centuries. On the day of his coronation, when he took possession of his throne, the new king sat at the right hand of God, and in this context to say that 'Jesus Christ sat forever at the right hand of God' means that Jesus is the true King-Messiah awaited. This concept is reinforced by what follows: "He is now waiting for his enemies to be set at the footstool of his feet". The tradition was that on the steps of the thrones of kings were carved or sculpted figures of chained men representing the enemies of the kingdom, and the king ascending the steps of the throne trampled on them, symbolically crushing his enemies, and this was not gratuitous cruelty but a guarantee of security for his subjects. Signs of these figures can be found in the thrones of Tutankhamun (discovered in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt), while in Israel, the only trace remains of what the prophet pronounced for the king in the coronation rite: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet". If Christ is indeed the Messiah, the awaited eternal king descendant of David, the old world is now over. One last clarification: why is it said: "the sacrifice of the Mass"?  In the Epistle to the Hebrews we read: "Now where there is forgiveness there is no more offering (sacrifice) for sin". The term sacrifice remains even though, with Christ, its meaning has changed: for him, "to sacrifice" (sacrum facere, to perform a sacred act) does not mean to kill one or a thousand animals, but to live in love and to give one's life for one's brethren, as the prophet Hosea already stated in the 8th century B.C.: "I want love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God more than holocausts." (6, 6).

*Gospel according to Saint Mark (13, 24-32)

Jesus uses the apocalyptic style here 

In Mark's gospel Jesus now changes style and approaches in his discourses the divination literature that was then very much in vogue. All religions were asking the same questions: Will mankind go irretrievably to ruin or will Good triumph? What will the end of the world be like and who will be the victor? They used the same images of cosmic upheavals, eclipses of the sun or moon, celestial characters, angels or demons. The Jews first and then the Christians borrowed this style but inserted the Gospel message, i.e. divine revelation. That is why, in the Bible, this literary style is called "apocalyptic" because it brings a "revelation" from God: literally, the Greek verb apocaliptõ means to reveal, in the sense of "lifting the veil that covers the history of mankind". At the time, it was like a cipher language, in code: it speaks of the sun, the stars, the moon and how all this will be shattered, even if it means something else. It is the victory of God and his children in the great battle against evil that they have been waging since the origin of the world. Here is the specificity of the Judeo-Christian faith for which it is a mistake to use the term apocalypse to speak of frightening events because in the language of the Jewish and Christian faith it is exactly the opposite. Revealing the mystery of God does not tend to frighten humanity, but rather to encourage people to face every crisis in history by lifting the corner of the veil that covers history in order to hold on to hope. Already the prophets in the Old Testament used the same imagery to announce the day of God's final victory over every evil force. We find in Joel (2:10-11): "The earth trembles, the sky is shaken, the sun and moon are darkened and the stars cease to shine. The Lord makes his voice heard before his host. Great is his army, mighty in carrying out his commands. Great is the day of the Lord, terrible indeed: who shall be able to sustain it?". I also recommend reading these others from the prophet Joel (3:1-5 and 4:15-16) and Isaiah (12:1-2). These are not stories to instil terror, but to announce the victory of the God who loves us. The message is always this: God will have the last word because, as Isaiah writes, evil will be destroyed and the Lord will punish the wicked for their crimes (cf.13:10); it is the same Isaiah who, a few verses earlier (ch.12:2), announced the salvation of God's children: "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, I will not be afraid, for my strength and my song is the Lord; he has been my salvation." These words, in which praise and faith in God as Saviour resound together with a deep sense of security and trust in divine protection, are part of a song of thanksgiving that celebrates the deliverance and support that God offers his people. In apocalyptic style, to proclaim faith is to assure that God is the master of history and one day evil will disappear. Therefore, rather than 'end of the world', it would be better to say 'transformation of the world' or rather 'renewal of the world'. All this emerges in this Sunday's gospel of Mark with one clarification: the definitive victory of God against evil only takes place in Jesus Christ. In the gospel we are only a few days away from Easter and Jesus resorts to this language because the battle between him and the forces of evil is now at its climax. To understand Jesus' message, we can turn to the gospel of John, when at the conclusion of his long discourse to the apostles he says: "I have spoken these words to you so that you may have peace in me. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world" (John 16: 33). And the parable of the fig tree that sheds its leaves fits well into this message, bearing in mind that the key to understanding is the adjective "near", "near": the signs only herald the nearness of the end, so beware of false prophets who see the end of the world now. Instead, we must watch and pray because the nearness of the end is for every generation - and this invitation is present throughout the Gospel.

Happy Sunday to you all!

+Giovanni D'Ercole

The King of the Universe: perhaps the least gifted?

(Dan 7:13-14; Rev 1:5-8; Jn 18:33-37)

All the kingdoms that followed before Jesus were inspired by the same brutal principle: competition [first Reading].

The strong have subjugated the weak, the rich have imposed themselves on the poor, the swiftest have enslaved the least gifted.

New rulers have installed themselves in place of their predecessors, without making the coexistence of peoples or daily life more human.

Thoughts and feelings remained identical: voracity, cruelty, overpowering.

Jesus interrupted the succession of fierce empires forever. He overturned values by placing not power but Communion at the summit.

He introduced a new criterion, that of the human heart - the opposite of the cruel instinct of beasts.

But Pilate has in mind only the characteristics of the kingdoms «from» (v.36) this world.

Domains brought about by ambition. Realities based on the use of force and the persuasion of money.

Jesus does not kill: He goes to die, He does not command but obeys; He does not ally himself and does not seek the great and powerful but places himself on the side of those who count for nothing.

To possess, to conquer, to exterminate, to flaunt, are not peremptory signs of strength, but of defeat: 'great' is he who serves.

Unfortunately, the script of kingship coming «from» this world is not only played by the leaders: the crowds like it too.

On the Palatine Hill, near the Circus Maximus, a graffito dating from around 200 depicts a person in adoration of the Crucifix portrayed with a donkey's head.

Truth of God, regality of man - and vice versa.

In the Gospel passage, John paints a picture of the underlying perplexities that plague the Proclamation even today.

Jesus asks the Prosecutor to think by himself; to think not as a dominant figure.

[The Lord had made an identical point to the guard who had slapped him].

Everyone turned against him, He even displeased his own people.

Perhaps the masses see the Lord's proposal as a threat to the false security that power is able to provide.

Never affect the petty idleness arising from an established, even resigned or bogus status - as long as it is not alarming.

Sometimes, sadly, the scripts of royalty and subordinates intersect and support each other.

Truth and Kingship.

Among all peoples the ideal of a successful “character” is the Sovereign: rich powerful free ruler.

To Pilate, perfectly placed in the power hierarchy, the Master produces a kind of mental crumbling.

It is the singular - truly Priestly - work of the personal journey of Faith: the invitation to question oneself.

Each one of us, as a King who does not allow himself to be intimidated by the same old sides from without, but demands a full life, his own.

Jesus at the end of his earthly life is quite silent. He waits for each one to speak out and choose.

[34th Sunday (year B)  November 24, 2024]

The King of the Universe: perhaps the least gifted?

(Dan 7:13-14; Rev 1:5-8; Jn 18:33-37)

All the kingdoms that followed before Jesus were inspired by the same brutal principle: competition (First Reading).

The strong subjugated the weak, the rich imposed themselves on the poor, the swiftest enslaved the least gifted.

New rulers installed themselves in place of their predecessors, without making the coexistence of peoples or daily life more human.

Thoughts and feelings remained identical: voracity, cruelty, overpowering.

Jesus interrupted the succession of ferocious empires forever. He overturned values by placing not power but Communion at the summit.

He introduced a new criterion, that of the human heart - the opposite of the cruel instinct of beasts.

Second Reading: from a tiny Aegean island, Patmos, an exiled Christian writes to seven Churches in Asia Minor shaken by the persecution unleashed by the emperor, exhorting them to perseverance in the faith. 

Christ is referred to as 'ruler of the kings of the earth' to invite us to evaluate world history with new eyes.

Everyone looked up to Domitian as the arbiter of destinies, the all-powerful man who (historically, in Rome as a defence against the conspiracies of senators and aristocracy, but especially in the East) passed himself off as 'god' and filled the empire with his statues.

It was not he who ruled the fate of the world.

Certainly the power of an empire was judged by the size of the territory over which it stretched. But the alternative kingdom does not occupy space, does not rely on resounding displays of strength.

Its members are not gendarmes, nor slaves or subjects, but 'priests'.

The only order and sign of such genuine priesthood is to be called upon to offer gestures of love.

"Courage," the author seems to say, "the history of the world is an intermediate affair: everything starts from God, and returns to Him.

If we acquire His eyes, the rulers' interlude will become brief.

Pilate only knows the immense territory over which Tiberius extends his dominion, he only has in mind the characteristics of the kingdoms 'from' (v.36) this world.

Domains brought about by ambition. Realities based on the use of force and the persuasion of money.

Jesus does not kill: he goes to die, he does not command but obeys; he does not ally himself or seek the great and powerful but takes the side of those who count for nothing.

To possess, to conquer, to exterminate, to flaunt, are not peremptory signs of strength, but of defeat: great is he who serves.

Unfortunately, the script of kingship that comes 'from' this world is not only played by leaders: the crowds like it too.

On the Palatine Hill, near the Circus Maximus, a graffito dating from around 200 depicts a person in adoration of the Crucifix portrayed with a donkey's head.

Truth of God, kingship of man - and vice versa.

In the Gospel passage, John paints a picture of the underlying perplexities that plague the proclamation even today.

Quoting Jesus: "From yourself do you say this or have others told you of me?" - and Pilate's reply: "Your nation and the high priests have delivered you up to me".

Jesus asks the Prosecutor to think for himself; to think not as a dominant figure. (The Lord had made an identical point to the guard who had slapped him).

Everyone turned against him: he displeased not only the titled people whose bag of religious commerce he had touched, but even his own people - albeit sheared and milked by the authorities.

In short, the victory of the ideology of power is certainly assured by those in office, but paradoxically also by the submissive.

Perhaps the masses see in the Lord's proposal an attack on the small tranquillities they carve out for themselves....

A threat to the false security that power is all too capable of ensuring, including a petty existence - but one of little responsibility.

Never touch the petty idleness that comes from an established, even resigned or fake status - as long as it is not alarming.

In the time of daily choices, the recognisability of a place - fixed - even subservient, is always useful to outsource one's Freedom to someone.

Thus avoiding the abnormal fatigue of questioning the great lines of history and chronicle, to which one has become accustomed.

Sometimes the scripts of 'royalty' and the subordinates intersect, supporting each other.

With a homologating outcome, characteristic of certain sectarian 'cultural' agencies, or areas of unilateral conditioning.

Hence an accumulation of educational and pastoral difficulties... in a world content with the immediate and easy 'little' - unfortunately also in the area of spiritual proposal.

And indeed in the Christian community what are the signs of the Kingdom of God? Or does it too repeat the score of kingship that comes 'from' this world?

Perhaps it will be today's varied break-ups - initiated by all those who are not content with titled tasks or the opinion of a pressure group - that will solve the real problems and put things right.

Truth and Kingship.

Among all peoples the ideal of a successful “character” is the Sovereign: rich powerful free ruler.

To Pilate, perfectly placed in the power hierarchy, the Master produces a kind of mental crumbling.

It is the singular - truly Priestly - work of the personal journey of Faith: the invitation to question oneself.

Each one of us, as a King who does not allow himself to be intimidated by the same old sides from without, but demands a full life, his own.

Jesus at the end of his earthly life is quite silent. He waits for each one to speak out and choose.

Kingship of man

New heaven, new earth,

through witness to the truth

1. Today St Peter's Basilica resounds with the liturgy of an unusual solemnity. In the post-conciliar liturgical calendar, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe has been linked with the last Sunday of the ecclesiastical year. And that is good. In fact, the truths of the faith that we want to manifest, the mystery that we want to live, enclose, in a certain sense, every dimension of history, every stage of human time and open up, at the same time, the prospect of "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev 21:1), the prospect of a kingdom, which "is not of this world" (Jn 18:36). It is possible that one misunderstands the meaning of the words about the "kingdom", pronounced by Christ before Pilate, about the kingdom that is not of this world. However, the singular context of the event, in the context of which they were uttered, does not allow them to be understood in this way. We must admit that the kingdom of Christ, thanks to which the extraterrestrial perspectives, the perspectives of eternity (Jn 18:37) are opened before man, is formed in the world and in temporality. It, therefore, is formed in man himself through "the testimony to the truth" that Christ rendered at that dramatic moment of his Messianic Mission: before Pilate, before death on the cross, asked of the judge by his accusers. Thus our attention must be drawn not only to the liturgical moment of today's solemnity, but also to the surprising synthesis of truth that this solemnity expresses and proclaims. This is why I have taken the liberty, together with the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, of inviting today those belonging to the various sectors of the lay apostolate of all the parishes of our City, all those, that is, who together with the Bishop of Rome and the pastors of souls of each parish accept to make their own the witness of Christ the King and seek to make room for his kingdom in their hearts and to spread it among men.

2. Jesus Christ is "the faithful witness" (cf. Rev 1:5), as the author of Revelation says. He is "the faithful witness" of God's lordship in creation and especially in human history. For God formed man from the beginning as Creator and at the same time as Father. He is therefore, as Creator and as Father, always present in his history. He has become not only the beginning and the end of all creation, but has also become the Lord of history and the God of the covenant: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, He who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Rev 1:8).

Jesus Christ - the "faithful witness" - came into the world precisely to bear witness to this. His coming in time! how concretely and suggestively the prophet Daniel had foretold it in his messianic vision, speaking of the coming of "a son of man" (Dan 7:13) and outlining the spiritual dimension of his reign in these terms: "He gave him power and glory and a kingdom; all peoples, nations and languages served him; his power is an everlasting power, which never fades, and his kingdom is such that it will never be destroyed" (Dan 7:14). Thus the prophet Daniel, probably in the 2nd century, saw the kingdom of Christ before he came into the world.

3. What happened before Pilate on the Friday before Easter enables us to rid Daniel's prophetic image of any improper associations. For here the "Son of Man" himself answers the question put to him by the Roman governor. This answer sounds like this: "My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought lest I should be delivered up to the Jews; but my kingdom is not of here" (John 18:36).

Pilate, the representative of the power exercised on behalf of mighty Rome over the territory of Palestine, the man who thinks according to temporal and political categories, does not understand this answer. So he asks for the second time: "So you are king?" (Jn 18:37).

Christ also answers for the second time. Just as the first time he explained in what sense he is not king, so now, in order to fully answer Pilate's question and at the same time the question of all human history, of all rulers and politicians, he answers like this: "I am king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Whoever is of the truth listens to my voice" (cf. Jn 18:37).

This answer, in connection with the first, expresses the whole truth about his kingdom; the whole truth about Christ the King.

4. In this truth are also contained those further words of Revelation, with which the Beloved Disciple completes, in a certain way, in the light of the conversation that took place on Good Friday in Pilate's Jerusalem residence, what the prophet Daniel had once written. St John notes: 'Behold, he comes on the clouds (this is how Daniel had already expressed it) and everyone will see him; even those who pierced him... Yes. Amen!" (Rev 1:7).

Exactly: Amen. This single word seals, as it were, the truth about Christ the King. He is not only "the faithful witness", but also "the firstborn from the dead" (Rev 1:5). And if he is the prince of the earth and of those who rule over it ("the prince of the kings of the earth" [Rev 1:5]), he is so because of this, above all, and definitively because "he loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us a kingdom of priests for his God and Father" (Rev 1:5-6).

5. Here is the full definition of that kingdom, here is the whole truth about Christ the King. We are gathered here today in this Basilica to accept these truths once again, with our eyes of faith wide open and our hearts ready to give the answer. For this is truth that particularly demands a response. Not only understanding. Not just acceptance by the intellect, but a response that emerges from the whole of life.

That response was beautifully pronounced by the Episcopate of the contemporary Church at the Second Vatican Council. One would even, at this moment, want to reach out to those texts of the Constitution Lumen Gentium that dazzle with the simple depth of truth, to the texts charged with the fullness of Christian 'praxis' contained in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, and to the many other documents that draw from those fundamentals concrete conclusions for the various fields of ecclesial life. I am thinking in particular of the decree Apostolicam Actuositatem on the apostolate of the laity. If I ask anything of the laity of Rome and the world, it is that they always keep an eye on these splendid documents of contemporary Church teaching. They define the deepest meaning of being Christian. These documents deserve more than simply to be studied and meditated upon; if we do not look to them for support, it is almost impossible to understand and realise our vocation and, in particular, the vocation of the laity, their particular contribution to the building of that kingdom, which, although it is not "of this world" (Jn 18:36), nevertheless exists here below, because it is in us. And, in particular, it is in you: lay people!

6. Christ ascended the cross as a singular King: as the eternal witness to the truth. "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18:37). This witness is the measure of our works. The measure of life. The truth for which Christ gave his life - which he confirmed with the resurrection - is the fundamental source of human dignity. The kingdom of Christ is manifested, as the Council teaches, in the 'kingship' of man. We must know how to participate in and shape every sphere of contemporary life in this light. Indeed, in our times, there is no lack of proposals addressed to man, no lack of programmes that are invoked for his good. Let us reread them in the dimension of the full truth about man, of the truth confirmed with the words and the cross of Christ!

(...)

Christ, in a certain sense, always stands before the tribunal of human consciences, as he once stood before the tribunal of Pilate. He always reveals the truth of his kingdom to us. And he always meets, on so many sides, with the reply "what is truth" (Jn 18:38).

Therefore let him be even closer to us. May his kingdom be ever more in us. Let us reciprocate him with the love to which he has called us, and in him let us love the dignity of every man more and more!

Then we will truly be sharers in his mission. We will become apostles of his kingdom.

(Pope John Paul II, homily 25 November 1979)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

On this last Sunday of the liturgical year, we are celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King, a Feast established relatively recently but which has deep biblical and theological roots. The title "King", designating Jesus, is very important in the Gospels and makes possible a complete interpretation of the figure of Jesus and of his mission of salvation. In this regard a progression can be noted: it starts with the expression "King of Israel" and extends to that of universal King, Lord of the cosmos and of history, thus exceeding by far the expectations of the Jewish people. It is yet again the mystery of Jesus Christ's death and Resurrection that lies at the heart of this process of the revelation of his kingship. When Jesus is hung on the Cross, the priests, scribes and elders mock him saying: "He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him" (Mt 27: 42). In fact, it is precisely as the Son of God that Jesus freely gives himself up to his Passion. The Cross is the paradoxical sign of his kingship, which consists in the loving will of God the Father in response to the disobedience of sin. It is in the very offering of himself in the sacrifice of expiation that Jesus becomes King of the universe, as he himself was to declare when he appeared to the Apostles after the Resurrection: "All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Mt 28: 18). 

But in what does this "power" of Jesus Christ the King consist? It is not the power of the kings or the great people of this world; it is the divine power to give eternal life, to liberate from evil, to defeat the dominion of death. It is the power of Love that can draw good from evil, that can melt a hardened heart, bring peace amid the harshest conflict and kindle hope in the thickest darkness. This Kingdom of Grace is never imposed and always respects our freedom. Christ came "to bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18: 37), as he declared to Pilate: whoever accepts his witness serves beneath his "banner", according to the image dear to St Ignatius of Loyola. Every conscience, therefore, must make a choice. Who do I want to follow? God or the Evil One? The truth or falsehood? Choosing Christ does not guarantee success according to the world's criteria but assures the peace and joy that he alone can give us. This is demonstrated, in every epoch, by the experience of numerous men and women who, in Christ's name, in the name of truth and justice, were able to oppose the enticements of earthly powers with their different masks, to the point that they sealed their fidelity with martyrdom. 

Dear brothers and sisters, when the Angel Gabriel brought the announcement to Mary, he predicted that her Son would inherit the throne of David and reign forever (cf. Lk 1: 32-33). And even before she gave him to the world, the Blessed Virgin believed. Thus she must certainly have wondered what new kind of kingship Jesus' would be; she came to understand by listening to his words, and especially by closely participating in the mystery of his death on the Cross and in his Resurrection. Let us ask Mary to help us too to follow Jesus, our King, as she did, and to bear witness to him with our entire existence.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 22 November 2009]

1. Today St Peter's Basilica resounds with the liturgy of an unusual solemnity. In the post-conciliar liturgical calendar, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe has been linked with the last Sunday of the ecclesiastical year. And that is good. In fact, the truths of the faith that we want to manifest, the mystery that we want to live, enclose, in a certain sense, every dimension of history, every stage of human time, and open up, at the same time, the prospect of "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev 21:1), the prospect of a kingdom, which "is not of this world" (Jn 18:36). It is possible that one misunderstands the meaning of the words about the "kingdom", pronounced by Christ before Pilate, about the kingdom that is not of this world. However, the singular context of the event, in the context of which they were uttered, does not allow them to be understood in this way. We must admit that the kingdom of Christ, thanks to which the extraterrestrial perspectives, the perspectives of eternity (Jn 18:37) are opened before man, is formed in the world and in temporality. It, therefore, is formed in man himself through "the testimony to the truth" that Christ rendered at that dramatic moment of his Messianic Mission: before Pilate, before death on the cross, asked of the judge by his accusers. Thus our attention must be drawn not only to the liturgical moment of today's solemnity, but also to the surprising synthesis of truth that this solemnity expresses and proclaims. This is why I have taken the liberty, together with the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, of inviting today those belonging to the various sectors of the lay apostolate of all the parishes of our City, all those, that is, who together with the Bishop of Rome and the pastors of souls of each parish accept to make their own the witness of Christ the King and seek to make room for his kingdom in their hearts and to spread it among men.

2. Jesus Christ is "the faithful witness" (cf. Rev 1:5), as the author of Revelation says. He is "the faithful witness" of God's lordship in creation and especially in human history. For God formed man from the beginning as Creator and at the same time as Father. He is therefore, as Creator and as Father, always present in his history. He has become not only the beginning and the end of all creation, but has also become the Lord of history and the God of the covenant: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, He who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Rev 1:8).

Jesus Christ - the "faithful witness" - came into the world precisely to bear witness to this. His coming in time! how concretely and suggestively the prophet Daniel had foretold it in his messianic vision, speaking of the coming of "a son of man" (Dan 7:13) and outlining the spiritual dimension of his reign in these terms: "He gave him power and glory and a kingdom; all peoples, nations and languages served him; his power is an everlasting power, which never fades, and his kingdom is such that it will never be destroyed" (Dan 7:14). Thus the prophet Daniel, probably in the 2nd century, saw the kingdom of Christ before he came into the world.

3. What happened before Pilate on the Friday before Easter enables us to rid Daniel's prophetic image of any improper associations. For here the "Son of Man" himself answers the question put to him by the Roman governor. This answer sounds like this: "My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought lest I should be delivered up to the Jews; but my kingdom is not of here" (John 18:36).

Pilate, the representative of the power exercised on behalf of mighty Rome over the territory of Palestine, the man who thinks according to temporal and political categories, does not understand this answer. So he asks for the second time: "So you are king?" (Jn 18:37).

Christ also answers for the second time. Just as the first time he explained in what sense he is not king, so now, in order to fully answer Pilate's question and at the same time the question of all human history, of all rulers and politicians, he answers like this: "I am king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Whoever is of the truth listens to my voice" (cf. Jn 18:37).

This answer, in connection with the first, expresses the whole truth about his kingdom; the whole truth about Christ the King.

4. In this truth are also contained those further words of Revelation, with which the Beloved Disciple completes, in a certain way, in the light of the conversation that took place on Good Friday in Pilate's Jerusalem residence, what the prophet Daniel had once written. St John notes: 'Behold, he comes on the clouds (this is how Daniel had already expressed it) and everyone will see him; even those who pierced him... Yes. Amen!" (Rev 1:7).

Exactly: Amen. This single word seals, as it were, the truth about Christ the King. He is not only "the faithful witness", but also "the firstborn from the dead" (Rev 1:5). And if he is the prince of the earth and of those who rule over it ("the prince of the kings of the earth" [Rev 1:5]), he is so because of this, above all, and definitively because "he loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us a kingdom of priests for his God and Father" (Rev 1:5-6).

5. Here is the full definition of that kingdom, here is the whole truth about Christ the King. We are gathered here today in this Basilica to accept these truths once again, with our eyes of faith wide open and our hearts ready to give the answer. For this is truth that particularly demands a response. Not only understanding. Not just acceptance by the intellect, but a response that emerges from the whole of life.

That response was beautifully pronounced by the Episcopate of the contemporary Church at the Second Vatican Council. One would even, at this moment, want to reach out to those texts of the Constitution Lumen Gentium that dazzle with the simple depth of truth, to the texts charged with the fullness of Christian 'praxis' contained in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, and to the many other documents that draw from those fundamentals concrete conclusions for the various fields of ecclesial life. I am thinking in particular of the decree Apostolicam Actuositatem on the apostolate of the laity. If I ask anything of the laity of Rome and the world, it is that they always keep an eye on these splendid documents of contemporary Church teaching. They define the deepest meaning of being Christian. These documents deserve more than simply to be studied and meditated upon; if we do not look to them for support, it is almost impossible to understand and realise our vocation and, in particular, the vocation of the laity, their particular contribution to the building of that kingdom, which, although it is not "of this world" (Jn 18:36), nevertheless exists here below, because it is in us. And, in particular, it is in you: lay people!

6. Christ ascended the cross as a singular King: as the eternal witness to the truth. "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18:37). This witness is the measure of our works. The measure of life. The truth for which Christ gave his life - which he confirmed with the resurrection - is the fundamental source of human dignity. The kingdom of Christ is manifested, as the Council teaches, in the 'kingship' of man. We must know how to participate in and shape every sphere of contemporary life in this light. Indeed, in our times, there is no lack of proposals addressed to man, no lack of programmes that are invoked for his good. Let us know how to reread them in the dimension of the full truth about man, the truth confirmed with the words and the cross of Christ!

We know how to discern them well! Is what they proclaim expressed in the measure of man's true dignity? Does the freedom they proclaim serve the kingship of the being created in the image of God, or on the contrary does it prepare for the deprivation or constriction of it? For example: does man's true freedom serve or does marital infidelity, even if sanctioned by divorce, or the lack of responsibility for conceived life, even if modern technology teaches how to get rid of it, express his dignity? Certainly all moral permissiveness is not based on human dignity and does not educate man to it.

How can we not recall, here, the diagnosis that the Cardinal Vicar made of the socio-religious context of our city at your assembly last 10 November? He pointed out the main 'sufferings' that anguish the city of Rome: the social insecurity of families with regard to housing, work, and the education of their children; the spiritual and social bewilderment of immigrants from rural areas; the incommunicability between families, who live in large working-class apartment blocks without knowing each other and without the courage to solidarise; organised crime, particularly in the service of drugs; crazy and unmotivated violence and political terrorism, to which must be added the multiple manifestations of immorality and irreligiousness in personal and social life.

The causes of these evils were identified, inter alia, in the decline of interest in the problems of education and schooling left increasingly at the mercy of minority, but highly disturbing forces; and in the disintegration of the family, subjected to the corrosive action of multiple environmental and customary factors. The deepest root of these must be found, however, as the Cardinal said, 'in the constant depreciation of the human person, of his dignity, rights and duties' and of the religious and moral meaning of life. The Cardinal Vicar also urged from all of you a courageous assumption of responsibility, placing before you some 'concrete perspectives of commitment', and precisely the construction of a true Christian community capable of proclaiming the Gospel in a credible manner; the cultural commitment of research and critical discernment, in constant fidelity to the Magisterium, in order to have a correct dialogue between the Church and the world; the commitment to contribute to the increase of the sense of social responsibility, stimulating in the clergy and in the faithful solidarity for the common good of both the ecclesial and civil Community; the commitment, finally, in the pastoral care of vocations, particularly urgent today, and in that of social communications.

Behold, dear brothers and sisters, there stand before you some precise lines of pastoral action, on which each one is invited to measure himself or herself, in coherent and courageous adherence to the demands posed by Baptism and Confirmation and confirmed by participation in the Eucharist. I ask each and everyone not to shy away from their responsibilities. I ask this on the liturgical Solemnity of Christ the King.

Christ, in a certain sense, always stands before the tribunal of human consciences, as he once stood before the tribunal of Pilate. He always reveals to us the truth of his kingdom. And he always meets, on so many sides, with the reply "what is truth" (Jn 18:38).

Therefore let him be even closer to us. May his kingdom be ever more in us. Let us reciprocate him with the love to which he has called us, and in him let us love the dignity of every man more and more!

Then we will truly be sharers in his mission. We will become apostles of his kingdom.

[Pope John Paul II, homily 25 November 1979]

On this last Sunday of the liturgical year, we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King. And today’s Gospel leads us to contemplate Jesus as he introduces himself to Pilate as king of a kingdom that “is not of this world” (Jn 18:36). This doesn’t mean that Christ is the king of another world, but that he is king in another manner, but he is king in this world. It is a contrast between two types of logic. Worldly logic is based on ambition, competition, it fights using the weapons of fear, extortion, and the manipulation of consciences. On the other hand, the logic of the Gospel, that is, the logic of Jesus, is expressed in humility and gratuitousness. It is silently but effectively affirmed with the strength of truth. The kingdoms of this world at times are sustained by arrogance, rivalries and oppression; the reign of Christ is a “kingdom of justice, love and peace” (Preface). 

When did Jesus reveal himself as king? In the event of the Cross! Those who look at the Cross cannot but see the astonishing gratuitousness of love. One of you could say, “Father, that was a failure!”. It is precisely in the failure of sin — sin is a failure — in the failure of human ambitions: the triumph of the Cross is there, the gratuitousness of love is there. In the failure of the Cross, love is seen, a love that is gratuitous, which Jesus gives us. For a Christian, speaking of power and strength means referring to the power of the Cross, and the strength of Jesus’ love: a love which remains steadfast and complete, even when faced with rejection, and it is shown as the fulfillment of a life expended in the total surrender of oneself for the benefit of humanity. On Calvary, the passers-by and the leaders derided Jesus, nailed to the Cross, and they challenged him: “Save yourself, and come down from the cross!” (Mk 15:30). “Save yourself!”. But paradoxically the truth of Jesus is precisely what is hurled at him in a mocking tone by his adversaries: “he cannot save himself!” (v. 31). Had Jesus come down from the Cross, he would have given in to the temptations of the prince of this world. Instead, he cannot save himself precisely so as to be able to save others, precisely because he has given his life for us, for each one of us. To say: “Jesus gave his life for the world” is true. But it is more beautiful to say: “Jesus gave his life for me”. And today, in this Square, let each one of us say in his or her heart: “He gave his life for me, in order to save each one of us from our sins”.

Who understood this? One of the criminals who was crucified with him understood it well, the so-called “good thief”, who implored him, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingly power” (Lk 23:42). But this was a criminal, a corrupt person, and he was there in fact because he had been condemned to death for all of the brutalities that he had committed in his life. But he saw love in Jesus’ manner, in Jesus’ meekness. The kingship of Jesus doesn’t oppress us, but rather frees us from our weaknesses and miseries, encouraging us to walk the path of the good, of reconciliation and of forgiveness. Let us look at the Cross of Jesus, let us look at the “good thief”, and let us all say together what the good thief said: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”. All together: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”. Ask Jesus, when we feel that we are weak, that we are sinners, defeated, to look at us, and say to him: “You are there. Don’t forget me”.

Faced with so many lacerations in the world and too many wounds in the flesh of mankind, let us ask the Virgin Mary to sustain us in our commitment to emulate Jesus, our king, by making his kingdom present with gestures of tenderness, understanding and mercy.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 22 November 2015]

(Lk 20:27-40)

The defeat of death is the cruel fate that has clouded the mind of all civilizations.

But if God creates us and calls incessantly to enter into dialogue, then what remains of us? Is the goal of all our turmoil a pit?

The Sadducees want to ridicule the doctrine of the resurrection dear to the Pharisees and - it seems - also to Jesus.

However, Master does not apply provisional categories of this world to dimensions that go beyond.

The ties also must be conceived in the relief of the divine reality.

Members of the priestly class did not believe in another life, and in the Torah it seemed to them that there was no note about the resurrection.

In short, they conceived the relationship with God in the dimension of life on earth.

In fact, the Pharisees believed in the raising of the dead in a very banal sense: a sort of improvement and sublimation of the (same) conditions of being natural.

For them, the existence of the afterlife was only an accentuated, ennobled and embellished extension of this form of our being.

Instead life «in the era, that» [v.35 Greek text] is not a strengthened existence, but an indescribable and new condition - as of direct communication. Comparable to the immediacy of love.

The body decays, gets sick and undergoes dissolution: it’s a natural cycle.

‘Resurrection of the flesh’ designates access to an intimate existence of pure Relationship, in our weakness and precariousness, assumed.

Evangelists use two terms to indicate the difference between these forms of life: (transliterating) Bìos and Zoe Aiònios [Life of the Eternal] which has nothing to do with the biological reality [v.36: «equal to angels»].

Life «in the era, that» is not an enhanced existence with respect to this mode of existence, but an indescribable and new condition - precisely, as of ‘direct communication’.

Comparable to the one-to-one of Friendship: a ‘being-with and for’ others; readily, everywhere.

Collimating with the way of existence of the Angels: they do not have a life transmitted by parents, but by God himself.

«About the bush...» - Jesus replies. He also silences the Sadducees by making them reflect; and He draws the foundation of the Resurrection (but as He understands it) precisely from Exodus.

Thus He shows that already in the Law there is a presentation of God incompatible with a destiny of humanity devoted to extermination.

The Father does not seek dialogue with the sons and then make them fall on the most beautiful.

Since creation, He takes pleasure in walking with man, and from the patriarchs he has been looking for empathy with us. His Love does not abandon.

In the archaic religious mentality the Most High was named after the region or the heights in its borders [es. Baal of Gad, Baal of Saphon, Baal of Peor, etc.].

The God of Israel already from the First Testament binds his heart to man - no longer to a territory: He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob.

The Father of life arouses all understanding, Alliances, and if the ally could be annihilated, the same divine identity would be shattered.

All the Scriptures attest to this: He is a God of the living, not of dust or of the nothingness.

This is why we call our missing loved ones «deceased» or «departed» - not "dead".

[Saturday 33rd wk. in O.T.  November 23, 2024]

And God binding His heart to humanity

(Lk 20:27-40)

The defeat of death is the cruel destiny that has clouded the minds of all civilisations, infusing disorientation and anguished thoughts about the meaning of life, about why each of us exists.

If God creates us and calls us ceaselessly, to enter into dialogue with us, then what is left? Is the goal of all our agitation a pit?

The Sadducees want to ridicule the doctrine of resurrection dear to the Pharisees and - it seems - to Jesus as well.

He, however, held that the Father was far more than a Living One... who finally began to raise corpses!

[This is why we call our departed loved ones 'deceased' - not 'dead'].

In the Semitic mentality, the norm of 'levirate' mirrored a feeble idea of existence after death - relegated to mere continuity of name.

The members of the priestly class did not believe in another life: they preached the religion that served to obtain blessings for existing on this earth in a comfortable manner - and that was enough for them.

In short, they conceived their relationship with God in the dimension of life on earth.

The Sadducees had already built their 'paradise' for themselves in the city and outside.

Their large villas with courtyards and private pools for ablutions were right on the hill opposite the Temple in Jerusalem, on the opposite side of the Mount of Olives (i.e. towards the west).

Their second homes - where they spent the winter - were in Jericho.

Also because of their direct interest in the sacrificial activity they carried out, they still believed that prophetic texts had no dignity as sacred Scripture: only the Law reflected God's will.

And in the Torah it seemed to them that there was no note about the resurrection of the dead.

So they also tried to frame Jesus, with an artfully constructed paradox, to highlight the contradictions of this belief - which only appeared from the 2nd century BC in the book of Daniel and in Maccabees.

They considered it absurd - therefore they intended to discredit the 'Master' [a term they used to designate him in order to ridicule him: v.28].

Indeed, the foothold was there, for the Pharisees believed in the resurrection in the trivial sense. A kind of accentuation, improvement or sublimation of (the same) natural living conditions - and bonds.

Thus not a definitive, boundless, qualitatively indestructible form.

In essence, in the 'world beyond' everyone would fully enjoy the family and clan affections of the previous form of life - and so on.

The 'afterlife' was to be nothing more than a sublimated, ennobled and embellished extension of this way of existing; without disease, suffering, various problems.

[In short, life only advanced; perhaps as it was once conveyed to us by willing catechists... but little attentive to the Word of God].

So precisely the Sadducees - conservatives - who only accepted the Pentateuch - where they maintained that there is no mention of another, further life.

In this way, they had an easy job of exposing the fragility of that popular belief, to which the leaders of Phariseeism were conversely attached.

However, the Master does not apply categories of this world, provisional, to dimensions that go beyond.

Even bonds must be conceived in the relief of divine reality.

In the Latin milieu, even today, the way of understanding the Resurrection is influenced not a little by the representational modes of the pictorial tradition.

Reading the representations to which we are accustomed... we notice that immediately the Risen One puts down the gendarmes and frightens everyone.

He emerges from the tomb with the banner of victory, strong and muscular. He bursts in as if coming back this way to beat his adversaries.

Descriptive and naturalistic claims that do not do credit to the Faith and almost ridicule the Gospels.

Conversely, in Eastern icons, the Resurrection is understood and depicted in a substantial, mysterious way: the Descent to the Underworld.

It is not a triumph of God, who imposes himself on the world. He has no need of it.

Rather, the theological event remains in support of the victory of his children, who receive life directly from the Father.

Here is the redemption of the ordinary woman and man [Adam and Eve] who are drawn from the tombs by the divine - not natural - power of the Risen Christ.

The ultimate world turns the idea of the Sheôl upside down and totally unhinges it, clearing away the darkness - and that great drama of humanity.

One enters God's world; one does not return this way - perhaps to live better: rejuvenated and healthy rather than sick, in a villa with a garden rather than a studio apartment.

Life 'in the age of that' [v.35 Greek text] is not an enhanced mode of existence, but an indescribable and new condition - as of direct communication.

Comparable to the immediacy of love: a being-with and for others. Collimating to the Angels' mode of existence (v.36): they do not have a life transmitted by parents, but by God himself.The body decays, falls ill and goes into dissolution: it is a natural cycle.

"Resurrection of the flesh" designates access to an intimate existence of pure relationship, to the very intimacy of God - in our weakness and precariousness, assumed.

Obviously we cannot believe that we are being brought into the Divine Condition if during our earthly course we have not experienced a constant existential death-resurrection vector.

It is the experience of gain in defeat; in particular, the discovery of an unthinkable life, which made us rejoice with Happiness. For Amazement: in the providential transmutation of our weak and obscure sides, from sluggish appearances to strengths.

Becoming evolutionary, perhaps the best of us.

The evangelists use two terms to indicate the difference between these two forms of being: (transliterating from the Greek) Bìos, and Zoè Aiònios.

The Zoë, Life itself of the Eternal, is keenly relational and experienceable - but it has nothing to do with biological existence and our carcass ["equal to the angels" v.36].

What does not die is not the DNA of the body, but the heavenly DNA, which we have received as a gift from the Father.

The divine Gold dwells in us and - if we wish - can surface already, in a full existence, of realisation of one's Vocation, in an atmosphere of Communion.

Life "in the age of the one" is not an enhanced existence compared to this mode of existence, but an indescribable and new condition - as of direct communication.

Comparable to the face-to-face of Friendship: a being-with and for others; readily, everywhere.

Collimating to the Angels' way of existence: they do not have a life transmitted by parents, but precisely by God Himself.

"About the Bush..." - Jesus retorts.

He also muzzles the Sadducees, making them think, treating them as incompetent.

He draws the foundation of the 'doctrine' of the Resurrection [but as He understands it] precisely from the book of Exodus.

Thus he shows that right from the scrolls of the Law there is a presentation of the Eternal One that is incompatible with the destiny of a humanity doomed to extermination.

The Father does not seek dialogue with His children only to have them fall at the most beautiful moment.

Since creation He has delighted in walking with man, and since the patriarchs He has sought empathy with us.

His Love does not abandon.

In the archaic religious mentality, each shrine was named after the deity, specified by its territory or the heights in its borders [e.g. Baal of Gad, Baal of Saphon, Baal of Peor, etc.].

A bad pagan vice that we have unfortunately inherited.

The God of Israel since the First Testament binds his heart to man - no longer to a territory: the 'God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob'.

It was possible for the three Patriarchs to have descendants, not by natural concatenation.

In that mentality, the only possibility of perpetuating life from generation to generation was to be able to pass on one's name to the firstborn male.

This happened instead by intervention from above, while the wives were sterile [infertile matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, long without heirs].

The Father of life gives rise to all understandings, covenants, and if the ally could be annihilated, the divine identity itself would crumble.

All Scripture attests to this: he is a God of the living - not of the dead (of dust, of insubstantiality, of nothingness).