Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
First Reading
A reading from the prophet Daniel
His sovereignty is eternal.
I gazed into the visions of the night. And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man. He came to the one of great age and was led into his presence. On him was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship, and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire be destroyed.
Responsorial Psalm
The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
1.The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed; the Lord has robed himself with might, he has girded himself with power. R.
2. The world you made firm, not to be moved; your throne has stood firm from of old. From all eternity, O Lord, you are. R.
3. Truly your decrees are to be trusted. Holiness is fitting to your house, O Lord, until the end of time. R.
Second Reading
A reading from the book of the Apocalypse
The ruler of the kings of the earth … made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God.
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. It is he who is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. This is the truth. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’ says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
Gospel
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
You say that I am a king.
‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked. Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?’ Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.’ ‘So you are a king then?’ said Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’
