10 Vol. LX, No. 1 Magnificat His kingdom is established. This is the kind of servant He is looking for. This is the kind of disciple, the kind of apostle our King needs. This is how He establishes His kingdom: on the ruin of our ego. Unfortunately, human beings have to go through many storms to get rid of their ego. It is always the same logic. That is why I remind you of the circumstances surrounding the kingship of Jesus from the moment of the manger, through the Kings. The proud, those who do not want Jesus’ kingship, are troubled. As mentioned above, the next occasion that Jesus speaks of His kingship is before Pilate. Are you a King? – I am a King. This is why I was born, and why I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. After Jesus proclaimed Himself King before Pilate, the latter sent Him to Herod, who had Him decked out in a white robe for his amusement. In those days, to identify madmen, they were decked out in a white robe; it was the robe of fools. The Gospel tells us that Herod and his entire guard scorned Jesus and made fun of Him.12 I tell you all this to bring our King to light, to invite you to follow Him. It is hard to find appropriate adjectives for Herod, that vile creature who made fun of Jesus; he decked Him out in white to ridicule Him, scorn Him, mock Him. Beware, my brothers! When we give in to our ego, our self-love can drive us to the vilest depths. We must not give ourselves any chances, we must be pitiless towards our little self. Then Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate. The Roman Procurator is looking for a way out. In an attempt to appease the hatred of the multitude, Pilate presents Jesus to them, saying: “Do you wish that I release to you the King of the Jews? Which one do you want? Barabbas, the 12. Cf. St. Luke 23:11. greatest criminal in Palestine, or Jesus, your King?” – “Barabbas! Barabbas! And that One, crucify Him!”13 That is how they treated Jesus. “We do not want this King!” My God, what a terrible lesson! Let me repeat: if we give in to our vanity and do not attack it head-on, if we do not put the axe to the root of the tree of this vanity, this ego, we end up choosing Barabbas. We do not want this King,” shouted the crowd. We do not want Him to reign over us.14 Not Him! He is not the kind of King we were dreaming of. This is not the kind we want.” What the people did then, all human beings are threatened with if they are not on guard, if they are not careful of the enemy. It is the me that ruins people... Let us get back to Pilate, who does not know what to do. He wants to find some kind of expedient: he is going to have Jesus chastised and then set Him free. So he hands Him over to the soldiers, who take Him to their quarters to scourge Him. They begin by stripping Him of His clothes. If you want to follow your King, my brothers, in this royal year, strip off your ego. Strip off your ego. To make fun of Him, the soldiers clothe Jesus in a scarlet cloak: “You want to be a king? Fine!” That scarlet cloak is just an old rag found in a corner somewhere, probably all soiled. “You are a king? A king needs a crown.” They crown Jesus with thorns. The crown of thorns is the foremost symbol of the ignominy of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was the emblem of Our predecessor, Gregory XVII, and it is Ours also. Our Father John Gregory had a passionate desire to follow Jesus, scorned and debased. We wish to follow in his footsteps, and wish to communicate to you, my dear brothers and sisters, this same passionate desire to follow our King. 13. Cf. St. Matthew 27:15-26; St. Mark 15:6-15; St. Luke 23:13-25; St. John 18:39-40. 14. Cf. St. Luke 19:14.
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