Reflection for Sunday – November 24, 2024
Readings: Daniel 7: 13-14; Revelations 1: 5-8; John 18: 33b-37
Preacher: Lourdes Perez Albuerne
The Jewish authorities had given Pilate a man who was enigmatic. Sometimes he talked about things that were not understood. And the accusation that the Jews made of him is that he said he was King. Pilate wanted to know the truth that was enclosed in that strange person before him. And he asksed: Are you the King of the Jews? Pilate was not interested in religious problems among the Jews. He just wanted to know if this person was a danger to Caesar and therefore a threat to the position he held.
But let’s go further back in history. The question of the king and the kingdom had been misunderstood in the history of the Jewish people. Israel asked God for a messiah who would be a warrior king who would free them from the yoke of Rome. Not a king who would implement justice who would take care of the poor, the widows, the migrants and all those who were oppressed. A king like the other nations had.
They did not accept that God had sent them this itinerant preacher who defied the law and the religious authorities. Jesus answers Pilate’s question in language that is difficult for a person like him to understand. He does so with two statements: “My kingdom is not of this world.” He is not the king Pilate can imagine. He does not intend to occupy the throne of Israel or dispute Tiberius’ imperial power. Jesus does not belong to the system in which the prefect of Rome moves, sustained by injustice and power. It does not rely on the forces of arms. It has a completely different foundation. His kingship comes from God’s love for this world. His kingdom, in fact, is ” not of this world.” That is to say, not only is it not here, but it is not according to the ordering of the world, it is not according to power, force, attack and defense that inevitably end in war.
This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI at the end of World War I. He establishes this feast to remind Christians of the sovereignty of Jesus in the face of the many challenges that had been created by a misunderstanding of the meaning of king and kingdom; and above all, the meaning of truth which was different for Jesus from what the world understands. The Pope felt that the people of God, including the hierarchy of the Church, did not understand the reign of God that Jesus preached. Do we understand it today?
And Jesus goes on to explain to Pilate why He was here: “For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to be a witness of the truth.” What truth does Jesus speak of? It is not a theoretical doctrine. It is a call that can transform people’s lives and that will set them free.
He came to teach them to live in a very different way. Being faithful to the good news that He brings and preaches is an experience that leads to knowing a liberating truth, capable of making our lives more human.
Are we able to humbly discern what is true and what is false in our following of Jesus? Where there is liberating truth, no one is looked down upon because of their race, or their customs, for not being nice or not having money. Where there is liberating truth, the brother or sister who has health or emotional problems, or who lacks financial resources, is helped. But look closely at Jesus’ words.
The follower of Jesus is not a “guardian” of the truth but witness. Their daily work is not to dispute, fight, defeat adversaries—but to live the truth of the Gospel and to communicate the experience of Jesus, which leads him to change his life and his values. The Christian is not the owner of truth, but the witness. He does not impose his doctrine, he does not control the faith of others, he does not claim to know or have the truth in everything. By converting to Jesus, he spreads the attraction he feels for Him, he helps us to look at the Gospel, he puts the truth of Jesus at all times and everywhere. This is how we will convince many men and women that Jesus is the truth and the way that leads us to full happiness now, and in the future, to the eternal life with God.
She was a member of Steering Committee to start Progressive Credit Union, and has served as chair Women’s Foundation of Genesee Valley. She has served on the boards of the Drug Rehabilitation Task Force of the Catholic Family Center, the Volunteers of America and presently on the Board of St. Peter's Kitchen Inc.
She is married to Dr. Evelio Albuerne and they have three adult children and six grandchildren.
- Reflection for Sunday – November 24, 2024 - November 20, 2024
- Reflection for Sunday – March 24, 2024 - March 20, 2024
- Reflection for Sunday – February 19, 2023 - February 15, 2023
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