Today is Sunday 26 May, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, beginning the 8th week of Ordinary Time. The monks of Pluscarden Abbey sing Passer invenit sibi domum. “The sparrow has found a home for itself, and the dove a nest where she may lay her chicks: - your altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God! Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they will praise you for ever.” Passer invenit sibi domum, et turtur nidum, ubi reponat pullos suos: altaria tua Domine virtutum, Rex meus, et Deus meus: beati qui habitant in domo tua, in saeculum saeculi laudabunt te. Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 28:16-20 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ All four gospels tell a story which many in today’s world have forgotten, or have never even known. It is the story of how Jesus became the king of the world. That’s where we have been going, ever since, back near the beginning, Jesus came into Galilee announcing that ‘heaven’s kingdom is at hand’. Is this how you think of the Gospels? This is the great message of the whole gospel. Jesus is King and Lord, not just ‘in heaven’ (that would be quite a ‘safe’ idea) but on earth as well. But what – what on earth, we might say – does that actually mean? If Jesus is really King and Lord, why is the world still in such a mess? How does he exercise this ‘lordship’? How does this sovereignty, claimed so strongly in this passage, work out on the ground? As you hear this short passage read again, ask yourself this question: how did Jesus come to this point of being king? You might like to end this time of prayer with those encouraging words of Jesus: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Speak with Jesus as one friend speaks to another about what these words mean to you today. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.