The collection at all of the student Masses this weekend
will go to the relief efforts in the Phillipines. 100 % of what you give will go to Catholic
Relief Services who are on the ground there helping the people in that awful,
awful situation. Please be generous.
I hope that you are full when you are home for
Thanksgiving. I’m not advocating
gluttony…but I won’t be able to stop you anyway. I mean, stuff-ing happens. What I am talking about is being full of
virtue when you go home. I definitely
want you to evangelize your family and friends, but know that it can be hard to
do this with words. So, teach them about
Christ in your actions…through your virtue.
If we focus on one – generosity – then be full of generosity. Be generous in your cheerfulness, your joy,
and enthusiasm to see your family and friends.
Be generous in helping out around the house – that will freak them
out. I know that you are going home to
get some rest, and you should. But, for
some, home is more stressful than here.
But, be generous in helping out, especially with the meal on
Thursday. My family has relegated me to
clean-up after dinner. They don’t even
ask me anymore to bring anything, much less cook anything. My job is dishes, and I try to be generous in
doing that. Be generous in praying for
your family. Pray for them on your way
home. Pray for peace and reconciliation
in your family, if needed. Pray for safe
travel of all of your family members. Be
full of generosity!
Today, the Church celebrates the solemn feast of Christ the
King of the Universe. The majestic
language of St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians helps us to enter into this
feast so well. He really nails it! “For
in him were created all things in heaven an on earth…all things were created
through him and for him. He is before
all things, and in him all things hold together.” Think of all the kings who have ever
lived…all the kings in history. They
can’t touch this! Or, think of all the
“kings” of our world…kings of the culture….celebrities. They can’t enter into this. Christ is the King of Kings. In him all things were created. All things were created through him and for
him. He is before all things. He has power over all things. He is King of the Universe! This helps us to see the majesty and glory of
Christ the King.
But, then, we hear the Gospel passage about Christ on the
Cross (Lk 23:35-43). He certainly
doesn’t look like a king at that scene.
He is mocked as being a king…"the king of the Jews”. They give him a crown…but it is made of
thorns. He is given a throne…but it is a
cross. In fact, all of the things and
people at the scene are created through him.
It’s pretty incredible to think that He created the tree on which he
would die. He created the people who
would kill him. So, he is definitely the king of the scene.
Someone asked me last week, ‘what is the deal with the Cross
for Christ or for Christians? Is
suffering just something to endure and then you receive your reward for it in
Heaven?’ Well, yes, that’s part of it. But, the Cross is where Christ takes sin
head-on. He enters into his suffering
and death in order to reign over sin. He
becomes King of sin…King of suffering…King of death. Through his death and resurrection, he wins
victory for us. The people there said, “(come
down from the Cross and) save
yourself”. He could have. He could have saved himself. But, he chose to save us. He chose to win victory over sin for us.
St. Paul writes that he made “peace through the blood of his
cross”. Blood is a symbol of life. So, the Cross is a symbol of life, not
death. It is a symbol of victory, not
defeat. It is a symbol of power, not
powerlessness. It’s like we can put
“#winning” next to the Cross! He is
King of the Universe, not just the good parts, but the bad or ugly parts, too. He is winning and reigning over the bad parts
from the Cross and in his death and resurrection. It’s like at last week’s Healing Mass: you
came to him and said, “Lord, reign over the bad parts of my universe. Take them, Lord, and heal them, win victory
over them for me”. Or, when you go to
Confession, you are saying, “Lord, you have power over all things. Free me of my sins, and help me to reign over
them”.
At this and every Mass, we commemorate Christ’s sacrifice on
the Cross. We celebrate and receive His
precious, life-giving Blood and Body. And,
we ask Him to reign through us. When we
unite our suffering to His…when we take up our share of the Cross, we become
sharers in his victory on the Cross. We
share in His kingdom. May the Lord reign
through us on earth and in Heaven forever.
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