Understanding the Feast of Christ the King
Summary of Headings
- Feast of Christ the King and Announcements
- The Importance of Christ's Kingship
- Historical Context and Pius XI's Encyclical
- Living as Faithful Subjects
- The Role of Silence in Spiritual Life
- Conclusion and Call to Action
Feast of Christ the King and Announcements
Today is the Feast of Christ the King. There are several announcements. The second collection is for the building fund. Please help us out. Things are moving along very well. The city with contracts, things like that. So hopefully in about three to four weeks we should actually own our new property. And once that happens everybody will receive an email so that we can do a ceremony out there to bless the territory and all the rest of the property. And also to give thanks to God that things are moving along. But in the meantime, I'm going to bug the heck out of you to see if we can get some more funds to please try to reduce the amount we're going to have to borrow. To try to cover these costs. So that we can get into the new church as soon as possible. I think everybody's a little frustrated with our current situation.
Just a reminder that at the end of the Mass, at the conclusion of the Mass, we're going to have the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a procession. Taking the Blessed Sacrament out to the neighborhood. And then we're going to come back and have benediction. Please, the weather's nice right now. But please say amen. And we're going to say a prayer to Saint Philomena during the Mass to make sure that she helps us make sure that it stays clear and beautiful for this procession. So we can take Christ and proclaim him our King in front of the world. After that we will have a potluck. Everyone of course is not just invited but very much encouraged to stay and enjoy. To celebrate such a great feast. And then there's also the pageant of the children who are dressing up as saints. In honor of All Saints Day which is next Saturday. So please stay and participate in that. I'm notoriously bad at guessing who the saints are. But at the very least it's a lot of fun.
The Importance of Christ's Kingship
This coming Saturday, November 1st, is the first Saturday of the month. So we have our monthly all-night adoration. There's a sign-up sheet in the vestibule. Please make sure you sign up. It's one of the most important apostolates we have. Just to be able to spend time with the Blessed Sacrament. As he said to the Apostles. In the garden. Could you not watch with me one hour? It's one night a month. Please keep signing up. And it is important that we actually sign up. Because that way we have an idea of who's going to be here. But also there has to be a guaranteed minimum of two people for each hour. For us to leave the Blessed Sacrament exposed. So please take that into consideration. November 1st.
Speaking of November 1st. Is a holy day of obligation. One of the few. So it is mandatory. That we attend Mass on that day. If there is no grave inconvenience. And so therefore we will have two Masses. One at 8 a.m. And one at 10 a.m. I know it's a different schedule from the usual Saturday schedule. But please pay attention. Every. On Saturday. November 1st. We'll have a Mass at 8 a.m. And a high Mass at 10 a.m.
Historical Context and Pius XI's Encyclical
All Souls Day. Normally will be celebrated on November 2nd. But because this year it falls on a Sunday. It needs to be transferred. So it will be celebrated on November 3rd. Monday. That's when we will have the three Masses. For the repose of the souls in Purgatory. So please make sure you come. And the Masses will begin at 6.30. And they'll just run right on top of each other. So 6.30. 7 o'clock. 7.30. 7.30 will be the one where we distribute Communion. So please make sure you attend.
Don't forget about the Plenary Indulgence. That can be won for a soul in Purgatory. During this time period. By visiting a sanctuary. Or a cemetery. Or a church. To say a prayer. Say some prayers for the poor souls in Purgatory. It also requires us to say prayers for the Catholic intentions of the Holy Father. It also requires us to go to Confession. And Communion within the eight days before or after of November the 3rd. So please keep that in mind. There are also envelopes in the. Vestibule. For you to be able to note down all the. The souls that you wish to be remembered. During the month of November. Because during the entire month. We will have for every Mass on the main altar. We will keep those intentions. As our primary intention for the Mass. So please make sure you participate in that. For the repose of the souls.
Living as Faithful Subjects
Remember there's no. Apart from the Devotion of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There's no Devotion. That doesn't deal directly with Christ. That is. Shall we say more fruitful. Because the souls obviously that we free from Purgatory. With our prayers and sacrifices. Will have a special care of us. While they when they get to Heaven. So it's very important that aspect. But also it's just a question of mercy. Because surely we would want the same to be done to have done for us. If we find ourselves in that same position. To free people from the torments of Purgatory. And to give them eternal happiness in Heaven.
Thank you. Thank you. Just a reminder that next Sunday November the 2nd. Children's Catechism will start. There's a sign up sheet in the vestibule. Still several people I know who have not signed up. So please make sure you take care of that. If you have children who especially the children who are getting ready to receive a Sacrament. Please make sure they are signed up. Also confirmation sign up. The sign up sheet is there. This confirmation ceremony will be on January 18th. Please if you haven't received the Sacrament of Confirmation. Make sure you do sign up.
The Role of Silence in Spiritual Life
Also we received a couple of complaints about parking. I understand there is absolutely no parking around here. I am very sorry about that. But it's also another reason for me to encourage you to help us build a new church. We need more parking. I understand actually very little of the parking that we use is actually our property. It's at the mercy of the city and of the generous property owners. But please make sure we do not park on our neighbors properties. Several of them do not park on their, no parking signs on their fences precisely because of that. We have to make sure that we aren't blocking them in by parking on the street in front of their house or anything like that. It's just simple courtesy. Please make sure that we are being charitable to our neighbors around here. Also this lot here right on the side of the church. Several people park here of course. And that's the one parking area that we actually own. And there's been a complaint that people space their parking out too much. So there's a limited amount of parking that's able to be done. So please in charity to each other try to economize on how much space you take when you park your car. Thank you.
Conclusion and Call to Action
The epistle of the Feast of Christ the King is taken from St. Paul's letter to the Colossians chapter 1. Brethren, giving thanks to God the Father who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For in him were all things created in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and in him. And he is before all. And by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body of the church, who is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may hold the primacy. Because in him it hath well pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell. And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things on earth and the things that are in heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And the Gospel? The Gospel according to St. John, chapter 18. At that time Pilate said to Jesus, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus answered, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee up to me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from hence. Pilate therefore said to him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Thus for the Gospel, please be seated.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. And such a beautiful feast. Christ the King. Such an important one too. It is crucial for us to understand what it means. Way back at the dawn of creation, God gave an image to the angels. He created them and he gave them an immediate test. He showed them an image of what his providential plan would be. And for some reason, Lucifer, the greatest of the angels, rejected the plan. He would not serve. Non serviam. I will not serve. He rejected it, even though he knew the consequences of his actions. He knew he could not fight God. He knew he could not resist God's plan. He knew that he was not more powerful than God. And yet he still rejected him. He was cast into hell by Saint Michael. Qui suit Deus? Who is like God? He was, and then therefore, every plan that he set forth from that day, every temptation he had, he rejected. Every temptation that he caused, every victory that he won, was always at the cost of himself because God was able to overturn his plan and use it to God's own glory. One of the most humiliating factors that we can possibly imagine. The most intelligent, most powerful creature being thwarted at every turn. Impossible, trying to resist, trying impossibly to resist the power and the will of God.
And yet, here we are in this world today. And this is exactly what we see all around us. And unfortunately, this is exactly what sin is. Us foolish creatures, pretending as though we had power over God. Pretending as though we could thwart the will of God and the desires of God. That by our little expressions of freedom, of resisting the will of God, disobeying his commandments, disobeying his will, we think that we can overturn somehow or gain control over God. We think that we can overturn somehow or gain control over God. We think that we can overturn somehow or gain control over our own lives. And overturn his power over us. This is according to Pius XI, who a hundred years ago, this year, established the feast of Christ the King with his magnificent encyclical Quas Primas. This is what he warned the nations of the world. That they may reject Christ. Because remember he was writing in the aftermath of World War I, where the maps were divided up and the Catholic and Christian empires were destroyed. Except that of England for some reason. Everything was cast aside. Christ was no longer king in any country in Europe. And that is what Pius XI was fighting against. That is why he established this feast day. As a universal feast day of the Holy Roman Church. He insisted that all the nations listen. Because Christ is king. By his very nature. He is God. And therefore he is king. But by his nature as man as well. He is the first creature. As Saint Paul refers to him in the epistle today. First of all creatures. Because he is the most perfect, the most excellent. Being our Lord Jesus Christ. Bound in the hypostatic union to the divinity. He is the first also because he is our redeemer. He came down and he redeemed us from our sins. He bought our souls back. With his own blood. With his own sacrifice. Not something he needed to do. Not something that he gained by. But he did it voluntarily. So he is our creator. And he is our redeemer. Twice over. Therefore he is king. In that regard. He is king by his divinity. He is king by his humanity. And he is king of all nations. Just as he died for all people. Whether we recognize it or not. Whether we accept it or not. Whether we receive his mercy or not. He died and he wants to save all. He rules and he wants to rule over all. And all the revolutions that happened. Overturning the order of God. Overturning the power. The political power of God in this world. Doesn't change a thing. All the anti-Catholic legislation. All the anti-God legislation. That may happen in every country across the world. Does not change the fact that Christ is king. It does not change the fact that they still owe their allegiance to him. And it does not change the fact that we all as individuals owe our allegiance to him. It doesn't change the fact that for any way. In any way, shape or form. We do not owe our lives and our souls and our eternal salvation to him. And that's it. And that must be the focal point of our entire lives.
It's easy for us to moan about all the problems in the world. And it's easy for us to condemn all the rejection of Christ that we see all around us. But what are we doing about it? We have an obligation. A solemn obligation to restore all things in Christ. As is the great motto of Saint Pius X. We have an obligation to declare Christ our king. No matter what the consequences. We have that great example before us of Saint Philomena. We have her shrine here in this chapel. She was given the opportunity to be the empress of the entire empire. She was given the chance to marry the most powerful man on earth. And she was threatened with death if she did not comply. And give up her faith. And she sacrificed her life at 13 years old to declare Christ as her king. We all have to do that. We all have to be ready to do that. Now probably we won't suffer the same fate she did. But we certainly will have that choice in our day to day lives. Is Christ our king or isn't he? Do we yell from the rooftops that he is our king? But then in the privacy of our own homes do we behave as though he weren't? Do we pay attention to him first and everything else second? Or is it vice versa? Do we just give him the leftovers of our time? The reason why Cain's sacrifice was not found to be agreeable before God but Abel's was. Was because Abel gave the best and the first of everything that he had. Whereas Cain gave the leftovers. The things that were least important to him. We cannot be like that. We have to be like Abel and give the very best of ourselves to God. Construct our day around him. And everything else must be a consequence of that. We must learn to crown Christ our king every day of our lives. In every action that we perform. In every word that we utter. It doesn't have to be those exact words. Christ is my king. It doesn't have to be that. But it has to be so filled with the spirit of that doctrine. Of that teaching. Of that fact. That everybody should be able to see that this person is truly dominated by Christ. We should be absolutely controlled by him. We should be his willing and faithful slaves. In everything that we do. Because he is king. Because he is Christ.
Anacleto Gonzales Flores was one of the great leaders of the Cristero movement in Mexico during the war of the Cristeros. And he was a leader of a youth movement called the ACJM. Which was a youth movement. That he started. Or that he didn't start. But he was one of the leaders of it for many years. And one of the things that he insisted. As the persecutions were beginning to warm up against the church. And as the Cristero movement was starting to arm itself. He warned them that before being soldiers. They had to be saints. And before fighting for their country. They had to be holy. And that is something we all must remember. It's easy for us to declare that we're going to go out into the world. And we're going to conquer it for Christ. And we're going to win over this country. Or that country. Or we're going to get into politics for this reason or whatever else. First and foremost we must be saints. First and foremost we must be dominated by the grace of God. First and foremost every action that we perform must be influenced and guided by that same grace. We must be illumined by the Holy Ghost. Guided by his hand. Moved by the power and the will of God. Uniting constantly our will to his. Avoiding occasions of sin. Not letting the spirit of the world contaminate our actions. Or control our minds. Following God no matter what it takes. We don't have an excuse. We don't have the excuse of ignorance. Or darkness. Or lack of knowledge. Or not knowing God. Not only do we have the faith. We have everything we need to bolster the faith. We have scriptures. We have tradition. We have the mass. We have the sacraments. We have the Holy Eucharist. We have confession for when we fail. We have all of these things at our disposal. We have no excuses not to live as though Christ truly is the dominating influence and power in our life. Because he is our king. That is something we must proclaim with faith. And with pride. Which is why we will process out with him. Presenting him to the world. Calling to them that Christ is king. Come closer. Come know your king. But also fearlessly declaring that we are his faithful subjects. No matter what you say. No matter what the reaction may be. We fight and we defend the rights of Christ the king. First and foremost in our own souls. Second in our own homes. Third in the rest of society. The whole world needs this simple prince of peace. They need to recognize the futility of trying to reject him. Of trying to control their destiny. It doesn't work that way. And we need to do the same.
So how do we start? What is the very first thing that we should do to try to declare Christ our king? It's a familiar word for all of you. Silence. Not just external silence. That's always great. But the internal silence where we can hear the voice of God. This is why it's so important to come into church early. Before mass. So that you, not just so that you can get a good spot. That's important too. But it's so that you can calm your mind. And prepare yourself for the incredible action. The prayer of our lord. The Lord Jesus Christ himself. And the sacrifice that is being performed for you on this altar. That you can actually be a part of. You can actually participate in it by sacrificing yourselves in union with him. But in order for that to happen our minds must be in silence. Our minds must be in silence. We must be quiet. And all the world and all the influence and all the temptations. And all the noise. That we have going on in our mind must be silenced. But this must happen every day. This must happen every day. When we wake up in the morning. We're still groggy. We're still, you know, we've got to brush away the cobwebs in our own mind. But the very first thing that we should do. Is offer our day to God. And that's why we need silence. Take five minutes. When you first wake up. To kneel down. Brush away those cobwebs. Silence all the noise. Of all the preoccupations. Of what's going to happen during the day. And give everything to God.
When you come home in the evening. When you're about to go to bed. You have to do your examination of conscience. Practice that silence again. Brush it away. Clean it away. Practice silence in your own mind. Focus on what you're about to do. If it's hard to brush it all away. Then imagine just dropping it at his feet. Imagine a sanctuary. As St. Therese talks about. A chapel in your own mind. You can imagine this very chapel. In your own mind. And you bring in all of these cares and worries and concerns. And you drop them at his feet. You deposit them in the tabernacle. You put them in his sacred heart. And that gash that he has from the spear. Wherever you want to put it. Just give it to him. And get it out of your own mind. And you're going to be able to do it. That little silence at the end of the day. Will do so much for your peace of soul.
It's also crucial before the rosary. The rosary is a meditation tool. We've talked about this many times. But part of it is going to be the two minutes before the rosary. Where we practice that silence. To just clear everything else away. Focus on what we're about to do. That intimate connection we're about to have with Our Lady. That silence is how we're going to do it. And that silence is how we're going to hear the voice of Christ. When we hear the voice of Christ. We'll be able to follow what he tells us to do. We'll be able to obey him. Accept his authority. And follow him through thick and thin. And through all the different situations we have in our lives. We will be guided by him. We will be conscious of his presence. And protected by him. And therefore we'll be able to live truly following his order. And therefore living as if he were truly our king. Accepting him and proclaiming him through everything that we do. Influenced by him and filled with him. And by doing so we will share him with everybody. And maybe he will be able to touch somebody else with grace. Because of what we do and what we say. What a beautiful thing to be the instrument of God's grace. And then from there we can touch the rest of society. These countries that so desperately need him. They don't understand. They all claim they want peace. They all claim they want silence. But they don't understand that the only way to peace is through Christ. Accepting Christ as their king. But like Lucifer they'd rather not. Let's not make that same mistake. Let's not kick against the goad. Rather let us fully and willingly accept the kingship of Christ. A man who is truly our king. Embracing that doctrine with all of our hearts. So that we may be able to live his faithful subjects here on earth. And be eternally happy in his kingdom of heaven. Que viva Cristo Rey. And the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen. Amen.