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Writings by Harry Martin, Permanent Deacon.

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Feast of Christ the King

Christ the King

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Solemnity ~ 20 November 2022 ~ Bible Readings for Mass: I: II Samuel 5:1-3; Responsorial: Psalm 122; II: Colossians 1:12-20; Gospel: Luke 23: 35- 43

Jesus Christ ~ King of Kings

Long ago there was a garden. The beauty, life, and joy could not be fully expressed in words. There was no need or sorrow for death, violence, anger or greed did not exist. Peace and contentment flowed in an abundance beyond measure. Innocence and the freedom of simplicity had established an order of care and stewardship that nourished life in abundance. This was the garden of God, the garden of the heavenly King and Creator. And it was good. Until.

It was good until the fallen angel, the enemy of God came and brought the seeds of envy, hate, and doubt that would be sown in the hearts of the two people, our spiritual parents. This would bring their expulsion from the garden. It would result in the beginning of immense suffering and sorrow for all creation. Sin would infect and prevail among those God had made, in love, in his image. And the enemy of God, the devil rejoiced. For he thought he had won. The prince was sure he had conquered the King.

Millenia later there was a young man who had been chosen by God to reign and lead his chosen Hebrew people. The young man, David, while called by God had experienced countless trials and tests as he sought to follow the Shepherd of his soul, his Lord. The old enemy, harboring intense anger in the stubborn refusal of God to surrender his throne, had used demons of jealousy and hate to try and destroy this young man. But faith in God prevailed. David was anointed, king. And even more. He was promised a son of his that would one day reign forever as the Lord, the King of Kings. This King would rule from a heavenly city, Jerusalem, from the house of the Lord.

It would be in that city of God that this King of Kings would come, victorious, riding on the colt of an ass. Yet again and in the evilest and dark of ways fallen angel deceived and led this King, Jesus, to be betrayed, condemned, and crucified. As the nails were pounded into the hands and feet of God’s only Son the evil one was ecstatic! The harsh clang of hammer and nail was, to the evil ears a cacophony of delight. What had begun in a garden so long ago was going to be finished. Here and now! As Jesus was dying on the cross the hate-filled taunts of those who served the prince of lies resounded with the cries of the men on their crosses. Satan smirked when he heard one of the thieves call out to Jesus to remember him when he came into his Kingdom. The evil one shook his head with arrogant joy as he thought of the kingdom the tomb would hold for Jesus. So great was his pride he never heard the promise of God that on that very day he would be with him in paradise. All seemed so settled in the heart of darkness when Jesus uttered his final words. “It is finished.”

It is over two thousand years later. The battles of good and evil, sin and salvation seem more intense than ever. Wars and rumors of wars, great destructive pandemics, storms, and strife of every description seem to prevail. The cruel reality of the powers of darkness cannot be denied. To trust in God, to hear and believe the promises and power of the King of Kings, Jesus the Christ is a quest of heart-rending difficulty for many. And, once again, the evil one smiles with the sense, the darkest of hopes, that God has failed. And he would be correct. Except for God.

“Brothers and sisters: Let us give thanks to the Father, who has made us fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:12

The great celebration of Christ the King comes at a point of time every year that offers us eternal hope. As it was. in the Garden, as it was with the reign of King David, as it was on Calvery with Jesus The King and as it is now… Jesus Christ, our God, reigns! Infinite are the lessons we could explore about Jesus our heavenly King. Yet one is always and especially relevant now. Jesus the King reigns, yesterday, tomorrow, and even today.

Jesus Reigns, over the past. Whether we fear the reality of the original sin we have inherited from our early parents or whether we struggle with questions and perhaps the guilt of matters past we must remember. Jesus is Lord. On the cross, he won and brought us forgiveness and peace. Prayerfully we must seek and allow the Spirit of God to search the dusty memories and fears of the past and bring them under the shed blood and healing mercy of our King, our Savior, our God who reigns. And freed from the past we can better learn that worries of the future are not what God our King has provided for us.

Christ Reigns, over the future. Great are the very real concerns of what may happen tomorrow. But, when we are honest we must admit we simply don’t know all the future will or may bring. Indeed there will likely be struggles, sorrows uncertainties. We will each be called by God to cross the threshold of eternity. But if our faith is in Christ our Savior, our King great is the holy hope and promises of our eternal home in God’s mercy. So whether it be uncertainty about a job, an health matter or eternity may we remember Jesus, our Lord reigns!

Jesus, Reigns…Today. Real are the tangled webs of the past that would seek to trap and hinder us from following God. Today. Piercing can be the siren cries from the future that would seek to draw us in worry and anxiety upon the rocks of the future upon the shoals of what may, or may not ever happen. Christ our King calls us to trust, follow, and love Him today! It is in the eternal freedom of the cross that the Holy Spirit brings us to dwell, to practice the very real Presence of God in the midst of our day. Today. With the family, at work, during Mass, whatever moment we are in is a moment where Jesus would have us know He is in control. Perhaps we, our life may not be. God is still there and will lead us through whatever storm or blessing we are in.

To realize this great grace and provision of God has infinite and eternal possibilities. But to experience this, to experience more fully, Christ our King we need only to pray and trust..”Thy Kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

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Christ the King

Sunday 22 November 2020

Mass Readings: I: Ezekiel 34:11-12,15-17; Responsorial: Psalm 23; II: I Corinthians 15:20,26, 28: Gospel: Matthew 25: 31-46

This final Sunday of the Church year we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. This year we also see this holy feast leading us to the celebration of Thanksgiving Day.

And, of course it culminates this profound year of our Lord, 2020. In a year of extraordinary stress and strife we have all shared the struggles of the Covid 19 pandemic and an economy in upheaval from a very sick world. Also a presidential election unlike no other in political rancor that although over is still being fought in a troubled mind unable to accept defeat. We also have faced another intense rounds of wildfires and great weather challenges stemming from our common home, the earth, struggling to respond to the effects of climate change. It is a year in which it has been a battle to resist the fears and worries of all these very real trials.

But this celebration of our Lord of Lords reminds us that for every day of worldly trials, for all of eternity JESUS WAS, IS, AND EVER WILL THE KING of KINGS.

Christ does not smile upon these very real sorrows. He does not send them. They are the tragic results of humanity failing to allow God to be…God. They are the consequences of people thinking and believing they are in charge or in control, that the efforts humans alone are the source of health, wealth and prosperity. These sorrows we encounter as humanity are fruits of egos intent on taking and holding all that in which they assume they are to wear the selfish odious robes of entitlement. But our King has another, better way.

First let us briefly look ahead to the Feast of Thanksgiving. While this is a national holiday it is deeply rooted in the Judeo-Christian faiths of our country. in The Old Testament Nehemiah, after a prolonged struggle of the Jews seeking to rebuild Jerusalem were brought together to celebrate… Thanksgiving (Nehemiah 10). In their time of trials and uncertainty they were called to remember God had never left the throne. Yes their conflicts were very real. But the Truth of God working in and through them, the Truth of the King of Kings was rediscovered as they simply were thankful. As we prepare for Thanksgiving this year may we, as we get the turkey, ham, tofu or whatever, gather all the many blessings in our heart for which we are to be thankful. And as we do may we renew our own realization that Jesus is the King of Kings.

As we celebrate, perhaps not in the numbers and ways of other years, remember that our Lord wants to come to our homes and hearts this week and always.

But how are we to better realize, prepare, LIVE in the Truth Jesus is the King of Kings?

The Bible readings for this holy Mass provide us an answer of great power. Actually the readings for the Masses of the past weeks help us better understand as well. We have shared parables from Matthew’s sharing message of Jesus as He spoke of His Second Coming (Matthew 22-25). Jesus uses examples of the virgins and their lamps, the servants and the master accounting for the talents they are given. Our Lord also contrasts these lessons with His words for the scribes and Pharisees in which they are rebuked for their empty traditions, pious practices, their proud knowledge of the rubrics of their faith and their profound spiritual self-assurance. Jesus leads us now to the lesson of the judgement of the goats and sheep.

While this may seem a harsh example of the treatment of animals it was a reality and context in which the people of Jesus’s day quickly could understand. A goat could not pretend to be a sheep nor a sheep belong with the goat herd. It isn’t about the animals. The message is about the actions Jesus is looking for in the hearts and lives of His faith-filled followers.

Our Lord Jesus is looking for His servants to be..serving. The essential qualities, the hallmarks of a true servant of Christ is a servant alive in the Corporal Works of Mercy. The King of Kings expects His servants to be servants of mercy-filled love.

Jesus Reigns! Even in a year as difficult as this year that is passing, JESUS REIGNS! The power and truth of the reign of Jesus in our lives is realized and discovered in the ACTS shared above. Now some would say: I helped with St. Vincent De Paul, until the pandemic. I visited the nursing home, attended funerals..and so many other real and merciful acts should be recognized as currently not allowed. And our King knows and understands all this. Jesus knows there are also retired nurses and doctors, there are grandparents, teachers and so many others who have served with their whole hearts and are now unable to respond, as once was done. Jesus knows and understands. And He allows these times for vital reasons. Our King seeks to teach and prepare us for even greater and deeper ways of tending the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked.

The sickness of souls, the hunger of the impoverished soul, the humble nakedness of those shamed by others (or themselves) is a pandemic far great than a physical virus. And it is something to which our King calls us all to respond. We are not called to be judges but servants who cleanse and bind wounds. We are not called to condemn the starving who eat whatever may be found in their effort to survive but to bring the nourishment of hope and peace and of souls and body, as God enables. We are not to turn away in disgust from those who may be naked in their sin but to cloth them with fabrics of mercy and love. These corporal and spiritual acts of mercy are needed now more than ever. They are done when and where the physical acts can be done. They are done in prayer and understanding of those so impoverished. Perhaps it is with a neighbor or family member wandering on the dark streets of the soul longing for help to find their way home, to the Savior, King and to family. These acts are done with the balm of forgiveness, wrappings of hope, and nourishing words of encouragement. We would recognize that the sick, wounded, starving may not always respond as we think they should. It will take time, prayer, patience, mercy. Just as on our own journey.

This Feast of the King of Kings, this Feast of Thanksgiving may we feast as servants that cause our Holy King to know and celebrate with us in feasts of mercy, healing and His loving hope. For Jesus is Lord! Alelluia!

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THE KING IS COMING!

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THE KING IS COMING!

We gather this 33rd, Sunday, the last Sunday of Ordinary Time.   As we prepare for the Feast of Christ the King next Sunday and the rapid approach of Advent we are reminded of the end of times, of  seasons and the end of all time that heralds the return of Christ the King.  These reminders we hear from the Word of God.  The signs of seasons ending we see in the leaves falling and chilly nights.  The signs of  approaching eternity we see in events all around when seen in the Light of God’s Word.  We are reminded that THE KING IS COMING and that He has created and redeemed us for eternity.

This truth usually presents our souls with many questions and even  perhaps fears.  Yet if we heed God’s Word, especially as proclaimed in our Entrance antiphon today, we can be encouraged.  :  “The Lord said: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction.  You will call upon me, and I will answer you, and I will lead back your captives from every place.” (Jer. 29:11-14). To better understand and prepare for the Coming King let us explore 3 questions.

WHEN? – The challenges of  time…Our diverse understanding (calendars, hours) all  teach us time is a very finite grace to prepare for eternity.  Our Infinite and Eternal God and King cannot, will not, be confined to the very finite capacity of our intellect and our efforts to organize and manage His schedule.  This great mystery is confirmed in our Gospel as Jesus reminds us that the generation to which He was speaking over 2000 years ago would see all fulfilled yet that only His Father knows when these things will occur.  Whether we look at our own crossing of eternity’s threshold or the second great coming and return of Christ for all eternity, those times are in God’s heart.  It is not ours to know “WHEN”.  It is ours to be growing evermore ready for our King to come….at… ANY  TIME.

WHERE? – What is the geography of the return of Jesus?  It is all around us.  For as we heed the world we see God’s working in the testings of fires, wars, politics and disasters.  God, in His holy love, allows us to encounter consequences of rebellion and to repent and return to Him.  Even the Godly are allowed to share in these suffering to proclaim the eternal mercy, hope and love that transcends all earthly sorrow or cares.  But the most holy place God would seek to reign, first and always is in the human heart, our human heart through His mercy and grace.

WHAT? Are we to do to be preparing for our coming King?  To follow the way of life and joy proclaimed in our Psalm today, the follow to, walk in His Faith, Hope and Love with Courage, realizing that as St. Claude de Columbaire said: “What have you to fear from a hand that was pierced  and nailed to the Cross for you?”  It is as we follow, taking His hand we then will, with Thanksgiving“ that… We proclaim your death O Lord and profess your resurrection until you come again.”  May our lives and words share our hope and joy that the King is Coming!

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