22 November 2026 · Syro-Malabar Rite
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“Jesus answered, “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. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”” John 18:37
The liturgical year ends with a crown. On the last Sunday of Qudash Edtha the Church proclaims Christ the King. Pope Pius XI instituted the feast in 1925 (Quas Primas) for a world that was trying to organise itself without God; the question is no less urgent today.
The readings show two kinds of kingship. Melchizedek, “king of Salem” (peace) and “priest of God Most High”, brings out bread and wine and blesses Abraham: a mysterious figure of Christ, King and Priest, who offers bread and wine. Centuries later Israel demands “a king like other nations”, and God tells Samuel: “they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” Every time we choose earthly powers over God, we repeat Israel's demand.
Before Pilate, bound and condemned, Jesus says: “My kingdom is not from this world.” His kingship does not come from armies, money or votes; it comes from the truth. “For this I was born… to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” His throne is the Cross; his crown is of thorns.
Revelation shows the end: heaven opened, a rider called Faithful and True, his robe dipped in blood, his name “The Word of God”, and on his robe: “King of kings and Lord of lords.” The Church, the Bride, ends her year by bowing before her King and Bridegroom. The question for each of us: does Christ reign in my home, my work, my phone, my choices?
Theme: “Jesus, reign in me.”
On the last Sunday of the year the Church proclaims Christ the King: Priest-King prefigured by Melchizedek, rejected by Israel's demand for an earthly king, crowned with thorns before Pilate, and revealed as King of kings.
“And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth.”” Genesis 14:18–19
“He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God.” Revelation 19:13
Apply: Receive Communion this Sunday as an act of homage to your King.
“And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”” 1 Samuel 8:7
“Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”” John 18:36
Apply: Name one thing that rules you instead of God, and dethrone it.
“To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away.” Daniel 7:14
“On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”” Revelation 19:16
Apply: Consecrate your family to Christ the King this week.
The year ends at the feet of the King.
Let him reign in our homes, our work and our hearts.
Take-home resolution: Pray the Litany or an act of consecration to Christ the King as a family.
Dear brothers and sisters, the liturgical year ends today with a crown. We proclaim Christ the King. Next Sunday a new year begins with the announcement of his coming; today we kneel before him as Lord of all.
In the first reading a mysterious king appears: Melchizedek, king of Salem, which means peace, and priest of God Most High. He brings bread and wine and blesses Abraham. The Fathers of the Church saw in him a figure of Christ, King of peace and eternal Priest, who offers bread and wine that become his Body and Blood.
Then we hear a sad story. Israel tells Samuel: “Give us a king like other nations.” God says: “They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king.” Brothers and sisters, how often do we do the same? We let money be king, or power, or what people say, or our phone. Christ is not removed from his throne by atheists only; he is pushed aside quietly by Christians who let other things rule.
Before Pilate Jesus stands bound. Pilate asks, “Are you a king?” Jesus answers: “My kingdom is not from this world… I came to testify to the truth.” His throne is the Cross; his crown is of thorns; his power is love. And Revelation shows him at the end: King of kings and Lord of lords.
So today, at the end of the year, let us ask honestly: does Christ reign in my home? in my business? in my words? in my screen? Let us give him the crown today. Jesus, reign in me. Amen.
Today we crown Christ as King. But His crown was made of thorns and His throne was a cross.
📖 Zechariah 9:9
📖 John 18:36–37
Apply: Ask what kind of power you seek in your life.
📖 Isaiah 53:3–5
📖 Luke 23:35–43
Apply: Pray: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
📖 Psalm 72:1–4
📖 Colossians 1:13–20
Apply: Give Christ the first place in one area of life this week.
Christ the King reigns from the Cross and invites us to reign with Him by serving.
The question is not whether Christ is King, but whether He is King of my heart.
Take-home resolution: This week I will let Christ reign in one area of my life that I have kept for myself.
Dear brothers and sisters, on this last Sunday of the liturgical year we proclaim Christ as King of the universe. We sing, we crown His image, we carry Him in procession. But let us remember what kind of crown He wore on earth: a crown of thorns.
When Pilate asked Jesus whether He was a king, Jesus answered: my kingdom is not from this world. He came to testify to the truth, and everyone who belongs to the truth listens to His voice (John 18:36–37). Pilate had soldiers, a palace and the power of Rome. Jesus had nothing but truth and love. Yet two thousand years later Pilate is remembered only because his name is in our Creed, and Jesus reigns in the hearts of millions.
Above the Cross the soldiers nailed an inscription: this is the King of the Jews (Luke 23:38). They meant it as a mockery, but it was the truth. Christ reigns from the Cross. His power is not to take life but to give it. And the first one to recognise His kingship was a dying criminal who said: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered: today you will be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:42–43).
So the real question today is not whether Christ is King of the universe. He is, whether the world accepts it or not. The question is whether He is King of my heart. Does He reign over my tongue, my money, my phone, my family, my work, my politics? Or have I kept some area of my life closed to Him, a little kingdom of my own?
As we end this liturgical year, let us open every door to Christ. Let us serve as He served, especially the least of His brothers and sisters. And when we receive Him in this Holy Qurbana, let us say with the good thief: Jesus, remember me in your kingdom. That prayer is enough to save a whole life.
Pope Pius XI established this feast in 1925 (Quas Primas), when nations were turning away from God. Its message is even more urgent today.
📖 Daniel 7:13–14
📖 Revelation 1:5–6
Apply: Pray the Creed slowly, attentive to the words about Christ.
📖 Isaiah 9:6–7
📖 1 Corinthians 15:24–28
Apply: Pray daily: Thy kingdom come.
📖 Psalm 72:12–14
📖 Matthew 25:31–40
Apply: Do one concrete act of justice or charity this week.
Christ's Kingship is the foundation of our hope and our mission.
Every Christian shares His royal office by serving.
Take-home resolution: This week I will pray Thy kingdom come with attention and do one act of justice.
Dear brothers and sisters, this feast is younger than many of us think. Pope Pius XI established it in 1925, in the encyclical Quas Primas. Europe had just come out of a terrible war, ideologies were rising that put the State or the race in the place of God, and many nations were living as if God did not exist. The Pope proclaimed: Christ is King, of individuals, of families and of societies.
Why is Christ King? First, by His very nature: He is the eternal Son of God, through whom and for whom all things were created (Colossians 1:15–17). Second, by conquest: He redeemed us, not with silver or gold, but with His precious blood (1 Peter 1:18–19). Third, because the Father has given Him all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Daniel saw one like a son of man receiving an everlasting dominion (Daniel 7:13–14).
His Kingdom is already present and not yet complete. The Second Vatican Council says that the Church is the Kingdom of Christ already present in mystery (Lumen Gentium 3). It grows quietly like a mustard seed. But it will be fulfilled only when Christ comes again in glory, when He hands over the Kingdom to the Father and God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24–28; CCC 671). Until then we pray every day: Thy kingdom come.
Does this feast have anything to say to society? Yes. The Catechism teaches that Christians have the duty to bring the spirit of the Gospel into the life of society, its customs, laws and structures (CCC 2105). That means defending the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death, working for justice and peace, caring for the poor and the migrant. It does not mean forcing faith on anyone; the Church respects freedom of conscience. We propose Christ by our witness.
Through Baptism we share in Christ's royal office, which means to serve (CCC 786). The King washed feet. So let us end this liturgical year by renewing our allegiance to Christ, and let us show it by serving the least of His brothers and sisters. Then His Kingdom will come, a little more, in our homes and in our land.
Children, what does a king wear? A crown! And what does he sit on? A throne!
Jesus is a King too, the greatest King of all! But his crown was made of thorns and his throne was the Cross, because he loved us so much.
Let's make Jesus the King of our hearts. Say together: “Jesus, you are my King!”
Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, reign in our hearts, our families and our society. Make us belong to the truth and listen to your voice, until we see you in your glory. Amen.
On the last Sunday of the liturgical year the Syro-Malabar Church keeps the feast of Christ the King, and the four readings ask one question: who is the true king? In Genesis a mysterious king of Salem, who is also a priest, comes out with bread and wine and blesses Abram. In 1 Samuel Israel asks for a king “like other nations”, and God says that they have rejected him. In Revelation heaven opens and the Rider called Faithful and True comes, bearing the name “King of kings and Lord of lords”. In John the King stands bound before Pilate and says that his kingdom is not from this world. The line runs from a priest-king with bread and wine to a King who reigns by the truth and by his own blood.
Setting.
Chapter 14 is unlike the rest of the Abraham story. Four kings from the east have raided the cities of the plain and carried off Lot, Abram’s nephew. Abram pursues them with 318 trained men, defeats them north of Damascus and brings back the captives and the goods (14:14–16). On his return two kings come out to meet him: the king of Sodom, whose people have been rescued, and Melchizedek, king of Salem, who appears here for the first and only time in the story.
The King’s Valley lay near Jerusalem (2 Samuel 18:18), and Psalm 76:2 calls Jerusalem “Salem”. Jewish and Christian tradition has generally identified Melchizedek’s city with Jerusalem.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.” (14:18)
Bread and wine were refreshment for tired soldiers, but the text joins the gift at once to his priesthood. So the Church has always seen more here: a priestly offering of bread and wine.
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth;” (14:19)
Melchizedek blesses twice: first Abram, then God (14:20). Blessing comes down from God to man and rises back from man to God. This is the shape of every liturgy.
“And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything.” (14:20)
By the tithe Abram recognises Melchizedek as God’s priest. Hebrews draws the conclusion: “It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior” (7:7).
“that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours” (14:23)
Abram will not owe his wealth to Sodom, whose people were “great sinners against the Lord” (13:13). His security is God’s promise, and in the next chapter God tells him, “your reward shall be very great” (15:1).
How the Church reads it.
Psalm 110:4 says of the king in Zion: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5–7 applies this verse to Christ, a priest not from the tribe of Levi (7:14) who holds his priesthood permanently (7:24); Melchizedek, who “remains a priest forever” (7:3), is a likeness of the Son of God. The Catechism sees in Melchizedek a prefiguring of the priesthood of Christ (CCC 1544), and in his bread and wine a prefiguring of the Church’s own offering (CCC 1333). St Cyprian of Carthage, writing about the cup of the Lord, says that Christ offered the very thing Melchizedek had offered, bread and wine, that is, his body and blood (in substance).
Setting.
Samuel is the last of the judges and also a prophet (3:20). Israel is a league of tribes with no king; God himself is their king, and in a crisis he raises up a judge. Now Samuel is old, his sons are corrupt, and the Philistines are a constant threat (chapters 4–7). The elders come to him at Ramah, his home town, with a request that will change Israel’s history.
Long before, Gideon had refused a crown with the words, “the Lord will rule over you” (Judges 8:23). Deuteronomy 17:14–20 foresees a king, but a king who must not multiply horses, wives or silver, and who must read the law all his days.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” (8:5)
The fault lies in the last words. Israel was called to be “a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6), not one kingdom among many.
“Samuel prayed to the Lord,” (8:6)
Hurt and displeased, Samuel does not answer at once. He brings the matter to God. This is a first lesson for every pastor.
“for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” (8:7)
God comforts his prophet and tells him the truth: the request is not finally about Samuel’s age or his sons. It is a question of trust in God.
“and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” (8:9)
God respects their choice and still guides them. He does not abandon a people who choose badly.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism notes that after David, Israel gave in to the temptation of becoming a kingdom like other nations, while the Kingdom promised to David would be the work of the Holy Spirit and would belong to the poor according to the Spirit (CCC 709). God does not cancel the monarchy; he takes it into his plan. From it come David, the promise of an everlasting house (2 Samuel 7), and at last the Messiah, the Son of David (CCC 436–440). A request that began as a rejection becomes, through God’s patience, the road to Christ the King.
Setting.
Revelation was written for churches in Asia Minor at a time of pressure and persecution, probably near the end of the first century. In its visions Rome appears as “Babylon”, and chapters 17–18 tell of her fall. Then heaven rejoices, and the marriage of the Lamb is announced (19:6–9). Today’s passage opens the last section of the book: the victory of Christ over every power opposed to God.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God.” (19:13)
The robe is bloodstained before any battle is fought. Many interpreters, ancient and modern, see here his own blood, the blood of the Lamb who was slaughtered (5:6, 9). The image also recalls Isaiah 63:1–3, the one who comes with garments stained from the wine press.
“From his mouth comes a sharp sword” (19:15)
The weapon is in his mouth, not in his hand. It is his word, as in Isaiah 11:4: “he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth”.
“On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”” (19:16)
The great emperors of the East were called “king of kings” (Ezekiel 26:7; Daniel 2:37), and Deuteronomy 10:17 calls God “God of gods and Lord of lords”. The title is written where all can read it: on the robe and on the thigh, where a rider’s sword hangs.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that Christ’s reign is already present in the Church but is yet to be fulfilled “with power and great glory” at the King’s return, and that Christians, above all in the Eucharist, pray “Marana tha”, “Our Lord, come!” (CCC 671). Revelation gives no licence for violence. Its King conquers by his blood and his word, and his followers conquer “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (12:11). To persecuted Christians the vision says: the powers that frighten you are not the last word; the last word belongs to the Word of God.
Setting.
John tells the trial before Pilate in seven scenes, moving between outside and inside the headquarters (18:28–19:16). The religious authorities stay outside so as not to be made unclean before the Passover (18:28). Inside, Pilate questions Jesus alone. Today’s passage is the first inside scene.
Pontius Pilate was the Roman prefect of Judea from about AD 26 to 36. Only the Roman governor could carry out a death sentence (18:31). The charge that would concern him was political: a man claiming to be “King of the Jews” was a rebel against Caesar.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Are you the King of the Jews?” (18:33)
In all four Gospels this is Pilate’s first question to Jesus. The same title will be written over the Cross in Hebrew, Latin and Greek (19:19–20).
“My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.” (18:36)
Here “the Jews” means the authorities who handed Jesus over, as often in John, not the Jewish people as a whole: Jesus, his mother and his apostles were Jews. The proof that his kingdom is different is simple: no one fights for him. In the garden he told Peter to put away his sword (18:11).
“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (18:37)
“Born” and “came into the world” speak of the Incarnation. “Listens to my voice” recalls the Good Shepherd: “My sheep hear my voice” (10:27). The King is the Shepherd, and his subjects are those who listen.
How the Church reads it.
St Augustine, preaching on this verse, notes that Jesus did not say “My kingdom is not here” but “is not from here”: his kingdom is in this world until the end, but it does not take its origin or its strength from the world (in substance). Pope Pius XI instituted the feast of Christ the King in 1925 with the encyclical Quas Primas, for a world that wished to live as if Christ had no claim on society. The Catechism recalls that before Pilate Christ declared that he came to bear witness to the truth (CCC 2471), and that the Church shows forth the kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies (CCC 2105). The Second Vatican Council describes his kingdom as “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace” (Lumen Gentium 36).
Was Melchizedek an appearance of Christ himself?
The Church reads Melchizedek as a real king-priest and a figure of Christ, not Christ himself. When Hebrews says he is “without father, without mother, without genealogy” (7:3), it means that Scripture records none, so that he “resembles the Son of God”. He is a sign that points ahead.
If asking for a king was a rejection of God, why did God allow it?
God respects human choices and works even through poor ones. The monarchy brought many sins, but God made of it the house of David, from which the Messiah was born. This is the pattern of salvation: God draws good out of what we spoil.
Does “my kingdom is not from this world” mean that faith has nothing to say about public life?
No. It means that Christ’s kingdom does not come from worldly power and is not spread by force. But it touches everything: Christians are called to bring the light of Christ into family, work, society and politics, with respect for the conscience of others (CCC 2105; Gaudium et Spes 76).
The Syro-Malabar year closes with the Church looking at her Lord. The weeks of Qudash Edtha have shown the Church as God’s dwelling and as the bride; today she sees her Bridegroom as King. Melchizedek’s bread and wine point to the Holy Qurbana, where the King gives himself as food, and the Rider’s robe dipped in blood points to the Cross, which the East Syriac tradition honours as the sign of victory and of the Lord’s return. Next Sunday the new year opens with Suvara, the season of the Annunciation: the King of kings comes first as a promised child.