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WORD FOR MISSION Every week CIAM offers
to lay, religious people and priests an itinerary of reflections on the
Sunday Liturgy in a missionary prespective. These are elements for a
missionary meditation, individual or in community, on the Word of God ,
which constantly and surprisingly continues to enlighten, strengthen
and sustain the missionary journey of the Church, for the life of the
World
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The Kingdom of a crucified God, which will not fail  Solemnity of CHRIST, UNIVERSAL KING XXXIV Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B – 26.11.2006
Daniel 7:13-14 Psalm 92 Revelation 1:5-8 John 18:33-37
Reflections What a strange way to proclaim oneself King! Christ, during his Passion, in dialogue with the Roman Procurator, has the signs of a king: a crown on his head, a stick in his hand, a purple cloak, the respectful bows of the soldiers… all of them signs of a king who has been defeated! At this point everybody is convinced: the people in the square, the Roman soldiers, are convinced they have brought him down, destroyed him. Pilate is amazed by the serenity of that man, in that terrible state, who continues to call himself a king, even though of a kingdom not of this world. Pilate is quite unable to understand this language, and even less equipped to carry on a discussion regarding truth (vv. 36-7). The questions of his inquisition are aimed towards a political end: for him it is enough to have ascertained that this man, reduced to such a state, does not constitute a threat for the Roman Empire.
It will be that same Pilate, the representative of the most powerful empire in the world, to proclaim the royal state of Christ, with the sign nailed to the top of the Cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (Jn.19:19). Jesus embodies the true “son of man” that mysterious personage — the beginning of a new people! — proclaimed by the prophet (1st Reading) who receives from God the power and the kingdom, over all peoples, a Kingdom that will never be brought down. The people of Daniel, for the present, is being oppressed, but never gives up the grand dreams for the future. The people of the new Kingdom will have Christ as its point of focus. He has been pierced, but he is the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega (2nd Reading).
Jesus does not renounce the title of King, but empties it of all the vanities of the kingdoms of this world, and enriches it with new, Gospel content: the one who is first must serve the others; he does not take the powerful and rich as allies, but opts to be on the side of the lowest of all; he does not give orders, but obeys; he kills nobody, but give His life for all; the important thing is not to be served but to be servants.
Pilate shows everyone this man, the defeated king, crowned with thorns… Jesus has already proclaimed his identity, his Gospel, many times. Those who wanted to understand have understood. Now Jesus stands there, in front of them all, waiting in silence. Each one must make his personal response, make his choice for the rest of his life: opt for the easy way of power and wealth, or for triumph, making himself a poor and humble disciple of a defeated king, who is crucified — but is risen! All for love! To follow in the steps of a defeated king might seem a receipe for disaster, but the Kingdom of God has no end! The Pope repeated this not long ago to the Bishops of Switzerland, with a wide-ranging and creative commentary on the Parable of the ones invited to the big Feast (see Lk.14:15-24). Despite the continual refusals that come from human freedom, God does not fail. He finds new ways to carry out His plan for the salvation of the whole human family. (*)
He wants to involve as many of his friends as possible and commit them to the Mission in the whole world. Besides the work of missionaries that goes on every day, hot always seen but reaching down to single persons, there are always the many initiatives that make the work of evangelisation more visible. For example: in October, the First Missionary Congress for the East was held in Thailand. Only a week ago the First Missionary Congress of Western Africa came to an end in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), and it was followed closely by the African Missionary Congress, that will be held in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania). In Rome, an international Congress, “Europe, Land of Mission” has just come to an end (16-20 November). Today (Feast of Christ the King) the “Evangelisation Campaign 2006” is being launched in Brazil, and will last for the whole of Advent, on the theme: “Disciples and Missionaries! These are just a few of the initiatives in different continents that should help to increase missionary fervour for the Kingdom of God.
The Pope’s words (*) “God does not fail. Or, to be more precise, God always fails at the start: he lets human freedom exist, and this always says ‘No!‘ But the imagination of God, the creative force of His love, is greater than the human ‘no‘… God goes beyond Hebraism and embraces the whole world, to bring it into the banquet of the poor… The empty room becomes an opportunity to call a bigger number of persons. The love of God, the invitation of God, spreads wide… The Church of the pagans will be formed. And it has formed and continues to be formed… God does not fail, even today. Even though we experience numerous ‘no’, we can be sure of that… In our own times we know very well the ‘saying no’ of many who were the first to be invited. Effectively, Western Christianity, that is the new ‘first-called’, for the most part make excuses, they have no time for the Lord. We know the churches that are becoming emptier, the seminaries that are emptying, the religious houses that are more and more empty; we know all the ways in which is expressed the ‘No, I have other important things to do’. And it frightens us and disturbs us… But He does not fail. Even today he will find new ways of calling people, and He wants to have us with him as his messengers and his servants.” . Benedict XVI Homily at the Mass with the Swiss Bishops, 7th November 2006
In the steps of Missionaries - 26/11: St. Leonard of Porto Maurizio (1676-1751), an itinerant Franciscan priests who preached missions to the people. He set up the devotion of the Way of the Cross. - 26/11: Bl. James Alberione (1884-1971), Founder of the Pauline Family (around 10 institutes) to make the Gospel more present in the means of Social Communication, and for the fostering of vocations. - 26/11: Memory of Cardinal Charles Lavigerie (1825-1892), Bishop of Algiers, and Founder of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers). - 29/11 and following days: the Blessed Edward Burden (+1588), George Errington, (+1596) and companions; St. Cuthbert Mayne (+1577), Sts. Edmund Campion (+1581) and companions; Bl. Richard Langley (+1586) and many other priests and lay people martyred in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. - 29/11: Blessed Denis Berthelot and Redento Rodríguez, Carmelites, who were enslaved and martyred by Moslems at Aceh (Sumatra, Indonesia) in 1638. - 30/11: St. Andrew, Apostle, the brother of St. Peter. He preached the Gospel in Greece, where he died by crucifixion. - 1/12: Bl. Clementine Anuarite Nengapeta (1940-1964), a Congolese nun who was killed at Isiro during the Simba revolution, She is a martyr of chastity and forgiveness. - 1/12: Bl. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), priest, killed at Tamanrasset, in the Algerian desert, by a band of robbers. He is a sign of love for the Eucharist, of mission and of dialogue . - 1/12: International AIDS day (instituted by UNO and the WHO). - 2/12: Bl. Liduina Meneguzzi (1901-1941), a member of the Salesian Sisters of Padua, who died at Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Compiled by Fr. Romeo Ballan, mcci - former Director of CIAM, Rome Translated by Fr. J.M. Troy, mccj Website: www.ciam.org “The Word for Mission” ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
