Ordinary time, 21/11/2021 Jn 18, 33-37
Bearing witness to the truth.
We celebrate today the last Sunday in ordinary time, the feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. I remember that the Great Jubilee in 2000, the Catholic Church celebrated 2000 years of Christianity with a motto: Jesus Christ, Yesterday, Today, and forever. That is what we, as Christian, believe. And we are called to bear witness for that
We have heard today’s readings and the Gospel that Christ is the King, the ruler, his sovereignty is eternal…Saint John in the book of the Apocalypse said: this is the truth. Besides, Jesus confirms with Pilate: I am a king, I was born for this, I came into the world to bear witness to the truth.
Bearing witness to the truth is what Jesus does: he came to bear witness for God and his love. And we are called to do the same. People may say, this kind of truth is objective because what you believe is not what I believe; what you see is not what I see; what you think, see, touch… maybe not what happened. It’s true. However when we hear something from someone. The most important maybe not what happened but who is the one saying that. His words are reliable or not depending on who is he? We count on him, and his words. Nowadays, we have seen the faith is failing down. I think that on one hand, we are more and more sceptical; and on another hand, there are few reliable witnesses. Jesus himself bears witness for the truth and what he had seen, as he said: “ I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice” Jn 18,37. Do we trust in him? Do we count on his words?
We are not only called to bear witness but also to pray and build the kingdom of God in our life as we are saying in Our Father's prayer “Thy Kingdom come, and thy will be done on earth as is it in heaven”. A kingdom where Jesus Christ is King and the rules and law are just only one “love one another”.
God’s kingdom is not only after this life but now. That was what Father D’Alzon, our founder whom we also celebrate today, wished by giving to the assumptionists' motto: “Thy Kingdom come”. God’s kingdom should be for us an experience in the present, in the companionship with Jesus; when the sick are healed; where people who are despised are accepted; where people who have lost hope come to life again and regain their joy and youthfulness of spirit.
God’s Kingdom should be for us an experience in the present and this experience strengthens our hope for its coming in its fullness. Hope is also the word of the first week of Advent. We look forward to a future in which God will restore everything and put everything to rights and gather everything into his Kingdom. As St Peter said it in his letter:
“In accordance with his promise, we wait for a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness is at home.”
Pray brothers and sisters, may God strengthen our faith and give us his grace so that we can bear a witness for him and build his Kingdom in our daily life.
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