Today is the Feast of Christ, the King of the Universe. This is the last Sunday of the liturgical year and next Sunday we begin the new Church year with the First Sunday of Advent. The Feast of Christ the King is a fitting close to the liturgical year as we look forward to the second coming of Christ at the end of time. In last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus reminded us that no one knows when the end will come, but He warns us to be prepared. Today we are called to acknowledge Jesus as our King and recognize that He should rule our lives in every way. Sometimes this is very difficult for us to live out because we want to be in charge of our own lives. We don’t want someone else telling us what to do because we can figure things out for ourselves. The world has great need to realize that Jesus is our King and the more we look to Him to rule over us the better off the world will be. When the leaders of the world realize that Jesus is the King of the Universe, and they are called to rule in His Name the better they will be able to lead us to the TRUTH and that is Jesus Himself.
So, as we celebrate this feast let us pray that we can let Jesus rule over us because no one cares more about us, and no one loves us more than He does. Pray that we will be given the grace to listen to Jesus in every aspect of our lives. The modern world tries very hard to keep Jesus in the churches and out of our schools, marketplaces, and seats of government. The world seems to be saying if you want Jesus then go to church but leave Him there and don’t try to share or announce the gospel to your brothers and sisters in the world. This is the exact opposite of what Jesus told us when He told His apostles and us to go into the whole world and announce the Gospel. We must not be afraid to let Jesus be our King and truly RULE our lives.
Thursday is Thanksgiving Day, a time for us to stop to thank God for all the many blessings He has bestowed upon us. Thanksgiving Day gives all of us the opportunity to recognize that it is God who has given us all the good gifts we have received. We cannot truly celebrate this holiday apart from God. The very word, “thanksgiving,” implies that it is God we are thanking because who else could we possibly be grateful to for all that we have? The origins of this holiday are deeply rooted in our desire as a nation to give thanks to Almighty God. No one could possibly or realistically argue that the celebration of this holiday is really all about God, our Almighty Father. Even those who would like to ban God from all aspects of public life cannot deny His presence in this holiday. Otherwise, it would really make no sense at all because to give thanks means to acknowledge that we have received some kind of gift from someone. If it was not God, then who are we thanking? Are we thanking fate or good luck or some other entity? It is very clear from the words of Abraham Lincoln, who established this holiday, that we are thanking God, the Creator of all things. This is what we believe as a nation. We are thanking the same God who gave us the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as Thomas Jefferson stated in the Declaration of Independence.
Our Thanksgiving Day Mass will be at 9 AM in the church. Please bring some canned or nonperishable food or paper products to bring up in the Offertory Procession. These goods will go to help area families at Christmas time.
INCENSE: There seems to be more discussion about the use of incense at Mass over the past several months. Fr. Pat used the incense at all the weekend Masses he celebrated. The use of incense at Mass and other times of worship is a tradition that goes back to the time of Moses. The incense reminds us of our prayers rising to heaven as well as a way to honor and reverence holy people and objects. Hence, we incense the altar, the Gospel Book, the gifts of bread and wine, the people, the priests, and most of all the Eucharist. The use of incense is a very important part of our worship and tradition. It is unfortunate that it often bothers some of the people causing them to have issues with their breathing. I also like the use of the incense, but I cannot swing the censor due to the problems I have with my feet. In the past I have used incense from time to time, especially on certain holy days. We will continue to use incense, but we will do so in somewhat of a limited way. Fr. Robinson and Deacon Rich also like to use incense, so Fr. Robinson will use incense at the Masses he celebrates for the most part. We will try to tone it down and use incense that is more tolerable to a person’s senses. To make this information known, starting the first Sunday of Advent, we will designate which priest will be celebrating which Masses in the bulletin by using the priest’s initials in the Mass schedule which appears in the bulletin. I hope this will be helpful to everyone. Coming to Mass should be a prayerful experience. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
