(Adults, you could read the first paragraph of the reflection to the child, then read the Gospel, and then continue with the reflection.)
This Sunday is a special feast in the Church. It is called the feast of Christ the King. Who is Christ? Christ is a name that is used for Jesus. It means "one who is anointed," one who is chosen by God for something special. So, this feast is for Jesus, chosen by God for something special, the King. Is Jesus a king?
Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?”
We are not the only ones who ask if Jesus is a king. This man—Pilate—he asks, too.
Jesus says,
“You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.
Jesus talks about being born, about coming into the world. Soon, it will be the season of Advent, when we prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth. Jesus comes into the world to show us the truth.
What is the truth?
Truth is what is real. Truth is what never changes. Sometimes, the truth is hidden, but Jesus comes to show the truth to us. Jesus helps us to find the truth.
Jesus says,
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Jesus speaks about listening to his voice. This is important to him. He often talks about listening to his voice because his voice is very special. When Jesus tells us that he is the Good Shepherd, he says,
the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
His voice leads the sheep. They are his own sheep. They belong to him.
When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
The sheep follow his voice. They hear his voice, and they follow when he calls. That means they listen. They listen to his voice. But wait! Remember? Jesus says,
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
The sheep listen to his voice, so they belong to the truth.
But we know the sheep belong to the Good Shepherd.
Could the Good Shepherd be the truth?
The Truth calls his own by name.
The Truth leads his own, and his own follow him.
The Truth never changes.
Pilate says that Jesus is a king, but we say that Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
We say that he is the Truth.
We say that Jesus is the King.
Jesus is the Christ, the one chosen specially by God to be the King—
the King who calls his own by name,
and leads all who belong to him,
to the Truth.
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