DAILY- HOMILY

NOVEMBER 22, 2009
SOLEMNITY, CHRIST THE KING
34TH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME – B

DANIEL 7:13-14
As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man
coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and
was presented before him, the one like a Son of man received dominion,
glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.

REVELATION 1:5-8
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and
ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us
from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests
for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever.
Amen. Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see
him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will
lament him. Yes. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord
God, "the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty."

JOHN 18:33B-37
Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered,
"Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?" Pilate
answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests
handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My
kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to
this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being
handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." So
Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I
am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to
testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my
voice."

REFLECTION
Perhaps many of us have asked the question: what is the truth about
the kingship of Jesus? What does Christ our King actually mean? We can
use three concepts that would somehow differentiate our understanding
of our earthly notion of king with that of the kingship of Jesus
namely, conquest, castle, and power.

Earthly kings speak of territories and lands they have conquered in
their desire to accumulate more wealth and influence over people.
Moreover, kings live in palaces and mansions which are heavily guarded
to ensure their protection from those who would attempt to grab their
present influence and power. Though they try to endear themselves to
the people by their socializing, this does not readily happen as they
are surrounded by their guards making them quite inaccessible to the
ordinary people.

When we speak of power, two things are in the minds of kings namely,
everything in this world ends and that there are people who are bent
to put an early end to things. The natural reaction to this is to
strengthen one's power — power over territories (get more), power over
financial rivals (buy out), power over whistle-blowers (coercion), and
power over civil law, moral law, and Christian law (dictatorship).

And what kind of kingship do we see in Jesus?

His conquest was not at all territorial. His conquest was over sin and
wrongdoing, a conquest over the darkness of being blind, and a
conquest over the loneliness of being widowed and ostracized.

Jesus did not boast of any castle. He would even utter "The Son of Man
has nowhere to lay his head." He just walked with his friends who were
around him that people were readily able to address him, question,
challenge, converse, and even touch him. With him, people remained
safe for he never harmed them. He only desired to reach as many people
as he can who wanted to be healed and affirmed.

Power-wise, he claims no exclusive power handed over to him by any
measure financial or material. Instead he understood power in terms of
sharing it. He empowered the sick through his healings, the dead by
raising them, the ostracized by restoring their dignity, and the
hungry and the poor by the promise of their membership in the kingdom
of his Father.

The so-called kings of the world eventually fall from grace and some
are even forgotten. But not Jesus, our king whose death was not the
end but rather the beginning of eternal life. From death came the
resurrection that gives us hope and a promise that if we profess his
kingship in that he conquers our hearts and lets his power of service
influence us, of a life of eternal bliss in his kingdom. This is the
truth about our Jesus, our king. Who do we then choose as our king?

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the strength and healing of:
- Eriberta Calvario
- Francis Torres
- Mon Torres
- Brenda Domingo-Solis
… for the personal intentions of
- Catherine and Selena
- Josheil Dapo
- Patrick C.
- Veronica
- Mary Deanne and family
- Pauline
.. Birthday: Ma. Cecilia Pe - Chua
… for the victims of natural disasters
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Cecilia B. Garrucho
- Birthday: Cecile Fernandez
- Birthday: Jonel Flojo
- Wedding Anniversary: Judith & Geraldo L. Yu
- In Memoriam (+): Yu Lim Giok Chang (1916-2005)+
… for the healing and peace of all families

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers
and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

**************************************************
Parish Priests' e-mail:
Fr. J. Cesar R. Marin, S. J. parishpriest@marythequeen.org

Assistant Parish Priests' e-mails:
Fr. R. Hart, S. J. rodneyhart@marythequeen.org
Fr. Thomas O'Gorman, S. J. thogorman@marythequeen.org
**************************************************

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