Everything you have said in today’s gospel, Lord, is now happening: so many of us are facing so many forms of persecutions, being maligned and hated by so many people filled with evil thoughts and deeds. The other day you told us how false prophets would come claiming to be you as savior and they, too, are now in our midst with mouths full of blasphemies and deceits, sowing confusion and division among us as a people.
I am not complaining, Lord Jesus. I am even thanking you for warning us about these trials and tribulations, assuring us that we need not worry how to defend ourselves from their attacks for not even a hair on our head will be destroyed (Lk.21:14,18).
All I ask you, Lord Jesus Christ is to bless me with the grace of perseverance (Lk.21:19), that amidst this plague that have come upon us as a nation and as a Church, I may sing with the victors of heaven the song of the Lamb John heard in his vision of heaven (Rev.15:2-4).
Let me persevere in loving you Jesus even if I am a sinner.
Let me persevere in following you Jesus even if I often stumble and fall.
Let me persevere in serving you Jesus even if I am self-centered, seeking recognition. AMEN. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022.
*Photo above by my former student, Arch, Philip Santiago, Basilica della Santissima Trinita at Fatima, Portugal during his pilgrimage October 2018. I have always loved this photo shared by Arch. Philip: at the back of the modern metal cross is a mosaic of the Lamb seen by John in Book of Revelation; at the left side is the mosaic of the BVM with Saints Francisco and Jacinta, visionary children of Fatima and to the right is the mosaic of St. John the Baptist. Very modern rendition of old concept in Eastern churches of images above the door of Jesus also at the middle flanked by BVM as the start of the New Testament and John the Baptist who closed the Old Testament. Beautiful images of perseverance in Christ!
LordMyChefSundayMusic//Solemnity of Christ the King-B//25 November 2018
What’s on your mind, Who’s in your heart?
The trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate occupies a very important role in the gospel of John which is also full of symbolisms like our Sunday music by Sting of the Police. Unlike the other three evangelists, John mentioned only in passing – just a sentence – that Jesus was brought to the high priest Caiaphas (Jn.18:24) and spent great details in narrating to us His trial before Pilate. This is the first time, and the only time in all gospel accounts that Jesus is face to face with a representative of the world’s political power to show us that His kingdom is “in this world but not of this world.”
Jesus Christ is king when in our hearts He reigns supreme, when we see Him among others as our brothers and sisters in Him. More than our thoughts and ideas, more than our feelings and assumptions are persons to be loved and respected. To recognize Jesus our King is to follow Him by taking up our cross because His kingdom is based not on force or power but on love expressed in humility, kindness, patience, and mercy that are often seen as weakness in the world. Yes, one may say His kingship is out of this world but that is exactly what the world needs these days! Jesus Christ is the King of the Universe because He is also the “king of pain” who bore all sufferings for us because of His immense love for us.
“King of Pain” was written by Sting from their album “Synchronicity” released in 1983. Sting admits that “King of Pain” is about the pains of his separation from his first wife. To heal his soul, he went on a vacation to Jamaica and while looking at the sun with a friend who is now his second wife Trudie, Sting remarked “There’s a little black spot on the sun today.” He then paused a few minutes and said, “That’s my soul up there.” He went into his room to write its lyrics that evoke love and submission to pain, something not far from Christ’s call to us all that whoever wants to be great in His kingdom must be the slave of all like Him who came “not to be served but to serve and to give his life as ransom for many” (Mk.10:44-45).
There’s a little black spot on the sun today
It’s the same old thing as yesterday
There’s a black hat caught in the high tree top
There’s a flag pole rag and the wind won’t stop
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running ’round my brain
I guess I’m always hoping that you’ll end this reign
But it’s my destiny to be the king of pain.
There’s a little black spot on the sun today, that’s my soul up there
It’s the same old thing as yesterday, that’s my soul up there
There’s a black hat caught in a high tree top, that’s my soul up there
There’s a flag pole rag and the wind won’t stop, that’s my soul up there
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running ’round my brain
I guess I’m always hoping that you’ll end this reign
But it’s my destiny to be the king of pain.
There’s a fossil that’s trapped in a high cliff wall, that’s my soul up there
There’s a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall, that’s my soul up there
There’s a blue whale beached by a springtide’s ebb, that’s my soul up there
There’s a butterfly trapped in a spider’s web, that’s my soul up there
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running ’round my brain
I guess I’m always hoping that you’ll end this reign
But it’s my destiny to be the king of pain.
There’s a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
There’s a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
There’s a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
There’s a skeleton choking on a crust of bread
There’s a red fox torn by a huntmen’s pack, that’s my soul up there
There’s a black winged gull with a broken back, that’s my soul up there
There’s a little black spot on the sun today
It’s the same old thing as yesterday
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running ’round my brain
I guess I’m always hoping that you’ll end this reign
But it’s my destiny to be the king of pain
King of pain
King of pain, king of pain, I always be king of pain
