1. -- Lanie
LeBlanc OP
2. --
Carol & Dennis Keller
3. --
Brian Gleeson CP
4. --
5. --(Your
reflection can be here!)
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1.
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Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the
Universe 2019
We live in troubled times, an understatement for sure!
Many things clutter our lives and some justifiable concerns
and even calamities pull us in many different directions. In
the middle of all the clamor, let us remember that today's
Feast is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of
the Universe.
In the letter to the Colossians, we read/hear many things
that solidify the rightful place of Jesus, namely, his
preeminence. The one that causes me to pause and take a very
deep breath is "in him all things hold together." For me,
that is one of those truths that holds me together!
Our situations, however troubled, are not as dire as the
one of the two men who were crucified with Jesus. Yet, one
of them had the presence of mind to see Jesus for who he
really was. He responded to grace.
The Risen Lord is alive among us today. Let us remember
the promises of Jesus and accept the graces that are
bestowed on us. Let us rejoice that the King of the Universe
reconciled all things through himself and invited each of us
to Paradise with him as well.
Blessings,
Dr. Lanie
LeBlanc OP
Southern
Dominican Laity
lanie@leblanc.one
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Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the
Universe November 24, 2019
2nd Samuel 5:1-3; Responsorial Psalm 122;
Colossians 1:12-20; Gospel Acclamation Mark 11:9-10; Luke
23:35-43
"Thy Kingdom come; they will be done on earth as it is in
heaven!" These words from Jesus’ prayer ought to come to our
lips this final Sunday of our Liturgical year. There are so
very many thoughts, so very many pilgrimages to pursue as we
think about the closing of this year.
We ought to take measure of how we’ve done. For most of
us, this will likely mean how we have faired in business,
socially, politically, or economically. Yet the most
important measure is truly how we’ve faired as family –
parents, siblings, children. For it is through family that
we first learn how to work together, to share, and most
importantly how to love. In family we have the first measure
of how we have built up the Kingdom of our Lord. We must
remember and begin to act liturgy. For the very deepest
meaning of liturgy is building up the Community that is our
city, our state, our nation, and most clearly our world. For
the Greeks who created the word "liturgy" that is the
meaning. Liturgy for those proud citizens of those early
city-states is what true, committed, and patriotic citizens
do on behalf of their state. What they do for the state is
build up the infrastructure, the culture, and the vitality
necessary for the common good of each citizen. Liturgy in
our Christian understanding has as its goal the building up
of the Kingdom of God. "Thy Kingdom Come, thy will be done."
How have we measured up this past twelve months? Have we
brought unity? Have we lived in solidarity with the
extraordinary, the average, and the very poorest among us?
Have we supported and lifted up the lives of those in our
communities? Or have we worked incessantly to build up
ourselves to the detriment of all others? This question
comes from our reading this Sunday from Paul’s letter to the
Colossians. "He is before all things and in him all things
hold together. He is the head of the body, the church, that
in all things he himself might be preeminent. For in him all
the fullness was pleased to dwell and through him to
reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of
his cross, through him, whether those on earth of those in
heaven." That is the Kingdom of God – that we reach fullness
of our creation, that we live in peace, that we be
reconciled to one another and so become the living Body of
Christ.
As we think about this aspect of Christian life – the
living in community, the coming together to share our
experiences and our gains – we must remember we are
completing the work of God’s creation. God could have
finished it without us. But in his great love for us he
allowed and gave us a place in bringing creation to
fullness. Our lives are more than whether we get to heaven
or not. Our lives build up or tear down the Body of the
Christ. All that is – as Paul insists – comes from him. "For
in him were created all things in heaven and on earth."
The first reading reminds us of how a vital kingship was
established in Israel. Saul was first anointed but quickly
fell into error. He lost his way and in the process his
confidence of God’s presence. He went to a fortune teller to
discern his future, calling up through that teller the
spirit of Samuel who had anointed him king. In the end, Saul
fell on his own sword, despairing of the work of God for the
nation. David was the replacement. David committed to Israel
that he would serve the nation. His efforts, as he committed
to the elders, would be for the good of the nation and its
security and prosperity. The kingship of David is viewed
idealistically even though David made many, many mistakes.
That should remind us of ourselves. We are called by God to
build up the Kingdom of God. Yet often as we succeed, we
become prideful, arrogant, and lose sight of our mission.
Clarity of that mission comes to us in the ministry of
Jesus. He went about teaching, healing, and freeing citizens
from addictions and possessions by evil spirits. All his
work was always about bringing to the community of God those
who had become diseased, ostracized, rejected, and
forgotten. Their absence diminishes the strength and beauty
of the community. There are none who can be thrown away,
ignored, denied dignity and worth whose absence is not
harmful to the common good of the community. The kingship,
the reign of Jesus when it is fully lived brings a unity, a
solidarity, and a vitality to community. In our time we’ve
learned that our community is more than a neighborhood, more
than a faith tradition, more than a nation. We are a global
community that embraces every tribe, every language, every
race, and every people. That is the reign of God we
celebrate today. We should question ourselves this week-end:
will the movements of our hearts embrace all peoples, all
languages, all colors, and all traditions of living? Do we
resent others? Do we look on others with fewer resources,
less education, less power, less wealth as unworthy of our
respect? As Christians we must ask ourselves if we truly
believe that we are the Body of Christ? Are we welcoming to
all who come to us? What have we done to heal, to free, and
to invite others to share in the Body of the Christ? Do we
preach by our example to others of the reign of God Jesus
brings to us? In what other way will we ever be able to
establish the Reign of God – the Kingdom of Heaven/God
except to live as the Body of The Christ. The living example
of that Reign is Jesus on the Cross. He prayed at the last
before his resurrection, "Father forgive them!" So must we
forgive as we wish to be forgiven?
Luke’s gospel declares Jesus is Lord and King. This is no
pompous, arrogant ruler frightening his subjects with stern
judgement. This is the King who is with us; he is one of us.
The religious and secular rulers of his time find his
message silly and meaningless. Their goal is power, wealth,
and fame. Those were the three temptations Jesus the
evangelists summed up at the beginning of his ministry.
Those temptations constantly attacked him as he brought the
message that God loves each person and even each one of us.
Wouldn’t it have been easier to control, to bribe, or to
lead by being a celebrity? God’s love is never about power
and wealth. God’s love is about extending to each person and
each bit of creation the vitality and permanence of God’s
life. The conflict Jesus endured is ours as well. Religious
and secular leaders are often victims of the way of the
world, believing that power and control is the way to the
Kingdom of God. They rely on wealth to demonstrate their
correctness. They often display their power and wealth as
evidence that God is with them. All the while they stand in
the courtyard shouting, "Crucify him, crucify him!" That
which divides us, separates us from one another is not of
the Reign of God. That which draws us together in healing,
sharing, and respect are evidence of the Reign of God at
work in our world. We must be careful to discern what is of
the Kingdom and what is of the evil one.
Luke presents the King of the Universe as reigning from
the wood of the cross. We’ll celebrate Mass with heavy gold
vestments and incense and triumphal music. How contrary to
the death on the cross is our celebration. Yet, it is in
this contradiction that we have the lesson we desperately
need in our time and place. We proclaim the gospel of the
crucifixion of our Lord. Our King is one of us. His kingdom
is the kingdom of life not of death. By entering death and
beating it to pieces won the battle with death. Jesus is The
Christ, the Lord of Life. He conquered death by bringing
together, by healing the divisions among us. The glue that
holds together, that makes us into one Body is the Love of
God presence among us. That Love is in fact how we describe
the Life of God. Whoever wishes to live forever must
practice that love now, in our time and place. Each
generation must rise to the challenge brought by the
cultures of their time and place. Most often energies
expended in religious and secular politics divide us one
from another. Division is the source of their power.
Division is effective when it comes through fear and hatred.
It brings with it violence and death. Jesus The Christ’s
message is about universal life. No one is excluded – born
or unborn, citizen or refugee, criminal or law-abider, young
or aged, healthy or sick, rich or impoverished, educated or
ignorant, or even sinful or righteous. It is a very, very
difficult task for each of us to live in this culture of
life that Jesus reveals.
It is a trick of the evil one to take a small and
critical part of the Culture of Life and endorse it
whole-heartedly. At the same time, the evil one attacks the
other equally important elements of the Culture of Life. The
evil one is pre-eminently skilled at this shell game. The
power of The Christ’s Death and Resurrection is sufficient
to embrace all creation and install the Reign of Heaven.
Pray that we are not deluded by the efforts of those who
would divide the Body of the Christ. For it is within the
Body of the Lord that we are saved from the violence and the
fabrications of the way of the world.
As we complete this liturgical year, it’s time for us to
review how we’ve lived and modeled the Gospel of Life. Are
we more focused on a culture of death than we are of a
Culture of Life? For it is in the Culture of Life that is
the Reign of God that, "He will wipe away every tear from
their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there
be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former
things have passed away." May the Kingdom, the Reign of the
Lord of Life reach its fullness with our help and living!
Carol &
Dennis Keller
dkeller002@nc.rr.com
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3.
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WELCOMING JESUS CHRIST AS OUR KING
A man called Michael has told this story about being a
witness to the truth in an everyday situation: He recalls
what happened:
My wife and I are building extensions on our house, and
while that’s going on we decided to move out and rent.
Earlier this year a hailstorm damaged some parts of our
town, so I went over to our old house to check for damage. I
looked it over and found no new damage.
My wife mentioned that some people were claiming for a
new roof from insurance companies. I thought about this and
decided that it would be easy to do. But something inside me
said it was wrong. I told my wife what I thought, expecting
an argument, but to my surprise I didn’t get one. My builder
asked me, ‘Why is everyone in your street getting a new roof
and you’re not?’ I answered that I was just trying to be
honest. He turned his head with a blank stare that said to
me ‘You’re off your rocker’, and to tell the truth I was
starting to think the same way. But again there was this
feeling inside.
Recently, [he continues], my wife was visiting three
doors down from our old house. They have a new roof courtesy
of the hailstorm. She came home and said, ‘You won’t believe
this, but on their kitchen table were one hundred and two
photos of the new roof. It has all gone wrong.’
Michael explains his stance:
When I was a kid, a teacher who was a nun said that our
guardian angel is that little voice inside us that steers us
in the right direction. I still believe this. I also believe
that what you say and do affects everyone around you. Surely
this is the living God at work.
Michael’s story suggests how seriously he takes the
answer that Jesus at his trial gave to the question put to
him by the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate: ‘So you are a
king then?’ ‘Yes, I am a king,’ Jesus said, ‘ … 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’ (John
18:37)
Jesus is a king all right - the king of kings, and the
lord of lords, in fact. He is our King, our Leader, one whom
we respect, honour and love, one to whom we readily and
gladly bend the knee and bow the head.
Was it not to bring in that new world that he called ‘the
kingdom of God’ the very reason that he came among us? Did
he not come to earth to change our hearts, to rid us of all
evil and all sin, to redeem and liberate us? Did he not come
to bring us and everyone else God’s gifts of justice, joy,
peace, health and wellbeing? Did he not come to bring an end
to all hostility, all wars and all terror? Did he not both
live and die to set people free from hunger, poverty, want
and disease? Isn’t that the very reason too that he calls
each of us by name, hugs each of us to his heart and stays
with us till the end of the world and beyond?
The kingship of Jesus, then, is not like that of other
kings and rulers. It is not about wealth and power,
domination and control. It is not about military might,
conquests and national security. It is not about palaces,
estates, splendour, riches and magnificence. No! His
kingship is about truth, honesty and integrity. It is about
goodness and generosity, service and self-sacrifice, justice
and love. It is about mercy and care - mercy and care for
all people, but especially for those who are poor,
broken-hearted, neglected or ignored.
Witnessing to the truth was something that Pilate was
finding very hard to do. He had already found Jesus
innocent. If he was to act on that truth, surely he would
have set Jesus free. It seems, then, that while he may have
been sincerely concerned about Jesus’ safety, he was not
concerned enough that Jesus was innocent. For he refused to
act on that fact, that truth, when it was in his power to do
so.
What about us? Do you and I really qualify as subjects of
his kingdom? Do we belong to him or not? Do we call him ‘Our
Lord’’, and if we do, do we actually mean it and live it?
Today our liturgical year is coming to an end. Next
Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent, and the start of the
Year A Cycle of Readings. Today, Jesus our King is inviting
us to bring this year of the Church to an end by choosing
him once again as our Leader, Lord and Saviour, and by
recommitting ourselves to his rule in our lives by living
his teachings and values. With the help of his amazing
grace, then, are you and I ready and willing to renew our
commitment to him during the rest of our prayer-time
together today?
If we are ready and willing, let’s make that commitment
right here and right now, make it from the heart, make it
for real, and make it for keeps!
"Brian Gleeson
CP" <bgleesoncp@gmail.com>
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5.
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Volume 2 is for you. Your thoughts, reflections, and
insights on the next Sundays readings can influence the
preaching you hear. Send them to
preacherexchange@att.net. Deadline is Wednesday
Noon. Include your Name, and Email Address.
-- Fr. John
