In order to teach Spanish at Greenville High School in the year 2000, I had to sit for the Praxis teacher exam in Spanish. One of the sections covered Spanish history and culture. I remember one of the questions asking the name of the palace built by King Philip II of Spain in the 16th century. The name of that palace is El Escorial, built from 1563 - 1584, located about 45 miles from Madrid. It is the largest renaissance building in the world, containing more than 4,000 rooms and housing a monastery, a basilica, a royal palace, a library, a museum, a university, a high school, and hospital. I got to visit this structure in 2003, the first time I visited Spain. It was incomprehensible to think that a king had such an opulent palace.
Located about six miles from El Escorial is the Valley of Fallen, a basilica and monument carved into the sign of a mountain, topped by one of the largest crosses in the world. Francisco Franco, the dictator of Spain for many decades, built this monument that houses the remains of than 40,000 men and women who were killed in the Spanish civil war in the 1930s. Franco himself was buried there after his death, but his body was removed by the Spanish government in 2019 due to the complicated history the Spanish Civil War has in that country.
Our world has seen many powerful leaders and many different kings and queens. We see political power gained and lost in an instant. We see palaces and moments built by regimes that had power but then lost it. While the kings of this earth amass great fortunes and live in great palaces, Jesus tells us he is a very different king, as he explains to Pilate in today’s Gospel that his kingdom does not belong to this world.
In the gospel Jesus testifies that he is not this kind of king. In fact, he says that his kingdom is not of this world. Jesus is telling us that the values of his kingdom have not yet permeated our world. We see the violence and crime in our cities. We see how many people treat other with disrespect and anger. Yet there are aspects of Christ’s kingdom here on earth, evident in the hearts of his disciples, evident in their good works and in their way of life.
Jesus states that he has come to "be a witness to the truth” - the truth of his kingdom. We who strive to follow Christ’s truth know that our efforts to sow seeds of Christ’s peace and love are not in vain. Earlier in John’s Gospel, Jesus stated that those who are members of his flock and who follow his truth hear his voice and listen to him; Jesus knows them, and they in turn follow him. Unfortunately, Pilate does not follow Christ’s truth and does not truly hear the truth that he speaks.
We lives as the people of Christ’s truth by helping to prepare the world for his coming. Next weekend, we will enter the holy season of Advent in preparation for Christ’s birth into the world. While it is easy to get caught up in the busy holiday season of December, we can focus our hearts on the mystery of Christ’s birth that we will celebrate at Christmas. Blessings to all of you today as we end our Church’s liturgical year and as we get ready for our celebration of Advent next Sunday.
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