On this last Sunday of the liturgical year, we often focus our attention on the end of time and the world to come. Without doubt, knowing where we are going and that this world is passing away has a big effect on how we live. However, today’s gospel also gives us two key insights that directly effect our day to day life in a big way.
Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate is trying to figure out who Jesus is, but he’s only considering it in an earthly sort of way. Is Jesus a threat? Is he a political rival? Jesus is a king, but he’s much more. This leads us to the first of the key things we have to know, namely, our identity. Jesus knows that he is the beloved son of the father. Do you know your identity?
Secondly, Jesus tells Pilate, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” Could any of us answer clearly if questioned why we were born or why we came into the world? What a question! Yet it’s the most important question we need to answer. In short, what is our mission?
Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman wrote a prayer he entitled “The Mission of My Life” wherein he offers this insight:
God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
In our times, it is easy to become so busy that we spend most of our time doing lots of things without giving much thought to why we are doing them. Like any of the animals, we can get stuck in a very basic cycle of “Eat. Survive. Reproduce.” We need to do those things, but only human beings are capable of asking the question, “What’s it all about?”
At the end of his life, Jesus was so certain of who he was and what his mission was that he could even face death. Take some time today to pray about these two most important questions you can ask in your life: “Who are you – What’s you identity?” and “What is your mission?”