Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned
Jesus and said to him, “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.” (John 18:33-37, NABRE)
And so it ends… and begins again, alpha and omega, birth and death.
It is altogether fitting that as we close in on the end of the liturgical year, today’s Gospel reading takes us back to Pilate’s verbal toying with Jesus: are you a king, or are you not? Not in a way you could understand, because you don’t know truth, Jesus in essence responds.
Truth is hard. Love is hard. Jesus shows us the definition of both. He showed us how to live for the Father and how to die for others—with truth and love, not faltering or whining or complaining. The hope of eternal life He purchased for us by His sacrifice inspires us to pick up our personal crosses when we fail, and follow anew.
Soon, our liturgical year will begin anew, with the prelude of the birth of a seemingly helpless baby in a crude box. On December 21, we will see the end of our six-month march to shorter days. Our calendar year will begin anew not long after. Beginnings and endings, endings and beginnings. As long as we listen to His voice, we need not fear either.
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