INTERIOR CASTLE (Homily for the Feast of Christ the King)
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2024
- INTERIOR CASTLE
Homily for the Feast of Christ the King,
21 November 2021, John 18:33b-37
Today’s Feast is addressed to the Pontius Pilates of this world. I am referring to arrogant leaders who are so sure of themselves, but who suddenly become very insecure and defensive before a harmless teacher like Jesus of Nazareth, who never claimed to be a king; he proclaimed only God as King. They are unsettled by the fact that people see in Jesus one who truly represents God’s kingship. Face to face with Jesus, Pilate suddenly feels the nakedness and emptiness of his supposed kingship.
John is very clever in the way he portrays the scene of the encounter between Pilate and Jesus. The contrast is very striking: Jesus is consistently calm and serene; Pilate is both nervous and aggressive. I imagine him shouting at Jesus and saying, “Do you admit the criminal charges of sedition that have been filed against you? That you are claiming to be the King of the Jews and are questioning the legitimacy of the kingship of the Roman emperor, whom I represent in your country?”
Jesus answers the question with a question, “Are you saying this on your own, or have others told you about me?” And the question gets Pilate very upset. He gets even more unsettled when Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus is driving him crazy. He does not say he is a king and yet he is talking about “his kingdom”. And now, what Pilate really wants to know is, “Where is this kingdom of yours?”
One of the spiritual masterpieces written by the great woman doctor of the Church, Saint Teresa of Avila, has an interesting term for the kingdom that Jesus spoke about to Pilate. She called it an INTERIOR CASTLE. Many people have tried to destroy it but they have not succeeded.
In his preachings, Jesus had always spoken about the Kingdom of God. He even told people where to find it. He said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” He was definitely not talking about a castle made of stone that Pilate thought he could easily destroy or demolish. And so Jesus said to him, “My Kingdom is not of this world.”
You see, the problem with the kingdoms of this world is, they are showy but they don’t last very long. They come and go, they sprout and disappear like the grass of the field. Name an empire that arose in any part of the world in all its splendor that has not eventually disintegrated. The Babylonian empire, the Persian empire, the Hellenistic empire, the Roman empire, the Byzantine empire, the Ottoman empire. They’re all gone. They were not as formidable and as invincible as people thought they were.
Our first reading today from the Book of Daniel gives us an idea what the worldly kingdoms are like. They are all about the vanity of powerplay, all about the desperate effort to control or to lord it over other people. You should read the whole chapter seven of the book of Daniel to be able to understand his vision.
The prophet is describing four kingdoms that he sees in his dream. They are all trying desperately to compete for power. Their common denominator is their behavior: they manifest what is most beastly, what is monstrous, what is most cruel and inhuman about us human beings. The first is behaving like a lion with the wings of an eagle. The second like a bear with three tusks in its mouth, and the third like a leopard with four heads. The fourth is supposed to have been the most ferocious; it had ten horns and one of the horns is described in a familiar way. The prophet says it loved to talk dirty. It spoke arrogant words, blasphemous language.
Then the prophet ends with a vision of the one who receives the Kingdom of God. He is no longer represented by a monster or an intimidating beast, but by a plain human being. He is not trying to play god. He is not competing for power. Jesus actually spoke very often about this vision of Daniel in the Gospels. He calls him “Bar Nasha” in the Aramaic language, literally “Son of Man”, but I prefer to translate it as THE CHILD OF HUMANITY. Sa Tagalog, ANG ANAK NG TAO, or better yet-Ang ANAK NG SANGKATAUHAN.
Jesus spoke about this figure to James and John when they were competing for positions of power and the other apostles got angry with them because they also wanted power for themselves. He told them to be like the Anak ng Tao “who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life for the redemption of many.”
This was the “king” whom Pilate ridiculed. He kept threatening Jesus that this claim to kingship was a dangerous thing, that it was an act of SEDITION, that it could get him convicted as a terrorist on the basis of his anti-terror law; it could get him executed as a subversive on the cross.
You know, three years ago, when I was criminally charged myself of such atrocious things as sedition, inciting to sedition, cyber libel, obstruction of justice and even estafa, along with thirty-five other people(among them fellow bishops and priests)....
Salamat sa pinakamanda at panghuling pamamaalam na huling araw ng liturhiyang taon..ang pagpupugay sa ating KRISTONG HARI ng uniberso...hari ng mga hari, ang pangalang banal, ang UNA at HULING (alpha at omega) DIYOS NG SALINLAHI.🙏🙏🙏
Thanks be to God ❤️🙏💕🌹💜💙♥️
Thank you Bishop Ambo for the wisdom of your homily and may God bless you and your ministry
Thanks be to God! Amen 🙏
Happy feast day of Christ d king god bless,Amen Amen
Thank you very much Bishop for your beautiful and inspiring homily!
Very brilliant and inspiring homily. Thank you God for archbishop Ambo’s gift of life , honesty and wisdom. Keep it up!!!!👏👏👏☝️☝️☝️☝️💙💙💙
Standing ovation for your excellent homily, Bishop!!!
You are a blessing to the filipino church bishop! 🙏🙏🙏 thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts. You always give us very sensible homilies.
Good afternoon, ho, Bishop David. An interesting and ehlightening homily ..thank you ho. God bless you .
Maraming salamat po, Bishop Ambo. We are sorry for your loss, but also pray that your brother's soul is now resting in Heavenly Power.
amen
Amen ... mas radical ang magmahal... may we find our true King so we can ba part of His Kingdom. Thank you po for this powerful homily.
Inspiring homily that touches one to love and discover God more. Feels like I want to hear more of this kind. We pray that God will protect you always God bless you Bishop
Thank you Bishop for your inspiring homily. God bless
He is 62 and he looks like a teenager. Ave Maria from Cork Ireland
Amen po Bishop thank you for your homilies well explained and so understandable,so inspiring.Praise God for you.God Bless always!🙏
napakaganda ng homily nyo Bishop Ambo. Praise the Lord
Beautiful homily as always. God bless you po, Bishop Ambo. Stay safe.
Amen 🙏. Thank you, Bishop Ambo for the very beautiful and inspiring homily today.
THANK YOU LORD JESUS. Thank you Bishop Ambo.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏.
Thank you Bishop. I am overwelm of your homily...so clear ... Praise the Lord our King ! May the Holy Spirit keep the fire burning in our hearts in serving our King.
Halleluja !
God bless you and your ministry, Bishop!
May God keep you safe always!
Happy FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING Sunday 🙏🏻💒📖📿🙌🏻💐🕊❤💙👑⚜🇵🇭VIVA CRISTO REY! #500YearsOfChristianity #GiftedToGive #WeGiveOurYes
"Mas radikal ang magmahal!" Brought me to tears. Thank you.
Thank u immensely for d vry inspiring homily, Padre. God richly bless u!
relevant and informative homily as always Bp. Ambo. May God bless you always.