Dear Friends,
Kate and Will are coming across the pond in early December,
for visits to New York and Washington. Regrettably, little George will stay
home, but his time will come. Americans
are looking forward to having Will and Kate here. We like them as young
persons, creating a life and a family together. Moreover, they are royalty, and
royalty fascinates people worldwide.
A few years ago, a study was done of the people of Norway, Belgium and England,
countries where royalty are still the symbolic heads of state. It revealed that
royalty conveyed to the people of these lands a certain regal pride in
themselves. They participate in the aura of their rulers – need them to sense
their own dignity.
That participation in royalty shows up liturgically next
Sunday, when we celebrate the feast of Christ the King - not an ancient feast,
but one established by Pope Pius XI, 1925. At that time, a wave of anti-church
sentiment in the world was making Catholics feel less sure of themselves, less confident of the potential in
the Gospel and our own potential to live by it. This feast seemed to help a
considerable number of Catholics through a difficult time. We participate in
the power for good that is in Christ, as we give, receive, welcome, lift up,
bless and encourage goodness in this world.. Over the years, we have had to
work at seeing this feast as valuable for
ourselves.
This feast invites us to
be committed to the truth of who we are. Jesus, throughout the Gospel is
eloquent about the fact that he is who he is, and does not accept the images
and aspirations others put on him. He is totally devoted to the reign of God
breaking into human life. As individuals and as a community, we are responsible
to shape ourselves as believers creating
the world as a place where God’s reign, God’s kingdom can happen.
A second invitation inherent in this feast is to be committed to the truth of who God is.
The people of Jesus’ times wanted him to be messiah according to their design.
They could not accept him as the companion of the outcast, the stranger, the
prostitute, the ungracious and ungrateful. Our times also want to dictate to
God what kind of God to be. We want to restrict God’s presence in human life –
to locate God in some proper place, exclusively in our tabernacles, churches
and holy places. We want God to serve our needs, to play it our way. When the
answer to our prayer is no, or our
life takes a bumpy turn, we are tempted to push God away. You are not the God I
want!
This week, Let’s stretch
ourselves toward this coming feast. It offers us an opportunity to renew our
commitment to God’s truth and our own, and to celebrate our own dignity with
Christ as our Sovereign.
Please join in a
Fresh Wind program on Wed., Nov. 19, 7
to 8.30 pm. at the SSJ Motherhouse
Psychiatrist Dr. Jack McIntyre will be our featured
speaker, offering insight to our use of
The Internet: Its Gifts and
Pitfalls.
