Novena of the Immaculate Conception

"We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful." With these words in 1854, Pope Pius IX in the Papal Bull ineffabilis Dei, declared Mary's Immaculate Conception to be dogma. Pius was simply affirming a long-held belief of many Christians East and West before him, that Mary was conceived free of the stain of original sin, on account of Christ's work, in order to bear God-made-flesh.

Therefore we pray : Novena of Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Virgin! Mary, conceived without sin! Remember, thou wert miraculously preserved from even the shadow of sin, because thou wert destined to become not only the Mother of God, but also the mother, the refuge, and the advocate of man; therefore, with the most lively confidence in thy never-failing intercession, we most humbly implore thee to look with favor upon the intentions of this novena, and to obtain for us the graces and the favors we request. Thou knowest, O Mary, how often our hearts are the sanctuaries of God, Who abhors iniquity. Obtain for us, then, than angelic purity which was thy favorite virtue, that purity of heart which will attach us to God alone, and that purity of intention which will consecrate every thought, word, and action to His greater glory. Obtain also for us a constant spirit of prayer and self-denial, that we many recover by penance that innocence which we have lost by sin, and at length attain safety to that blessed abode of the saints, where nothing defiled can enter.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Thou are all fair, O Mary.
Thou art all fair, O Mary.
And the original stain is not in thee.
And the original stain is not in thee.
Thou art the glory of Jerusalem.
Thou art the joy of Israel
Thou art the honor of our people.
Thou art the advocate of sinners.
O Mary.
Virgin, most prudent.
Mother, most tender.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with Jesus our Lord.
In thy conception, Holy Virgin, thou wast immaculate.
Pray for us to the Father Whose Son thou didst bring forth.
O Lady! aid my prayer.
And let my cry come unto thee.

Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one, look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me of thy beloved Son the forgiveness of all my sins; that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection, thy holy and immaculate conception, so, hereafter I may receive the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him whom thou, in virginity, didst bring forth, Jesus Christ Our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.

Overview of the Month

December , the Month of Holy Nativity and of The Immaculate Conception is rich in other great feasts as follow : the main Feasts of Advent are St. Francis Xavier (December 3), St. Nicholas (December 6), St. Ambrose (December 7), Immaculate Conception (December 8), St. Damascus (December 11), Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12), St. Lucy (December 13), and St. John of the Cross (December 14).

Christmastide begins with the First Vespers (Evening Prayer) of Christmas on December 24th and ends on the Sunday after Epiphany. Christmas and Easter are the only solemnities with octaves attached in the revised calendar. The Christmas octave differs from Easter in that it includes some major feasts: St. Stephen (December 26), St. John the Evangelist (December 27), Holy Innocents (December 28) and the feast of the Holy Family (December 30). The octave closes on January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
The optional memorial of St. Juan Diego (December 9) is superceded by the Sunday liturgy.

2. First Sunday of Advent, Sunday
3. Francis Xavier, Memorial
4. John Damascene, Opt. Mem.
6. Nicholas, Opt. Mem.
7. Ambrose, Memorial
8. Immaculate Conception, Solemnity
9. Second Sunday of Advent, Sunday
11. Damasus I, Opt. Mem.
12. Our Lady of Guadalupe (USA), Feast
13. Lucy, Memorial
14. John of the Cross, Memorial
16. Third Sunday of Advent, Sunday
21. Peter Canisius, Opt. Mem.
23. Fourth Sunday of Advent, Sunday
24. Christmas Eve, Sunday
25. Christmas, Solemnity
26. Stephen, Feast
27. John, Feast
28. Holy Innocents, Feast
29. Thomas Becket, Opt. Mem.
30. Holy Family, Sunday
31. Sylvester I, Opt. Mem.

Rejoice , today is the 1st Sunday of Advent

We begin now a New year of grace - a new season of Hope - a new posture of longing for the fulfillment of the reality that has come to us already, which speaks of a future completion for those who have faith!

We begin the Season of Advent.

The first two weeks focus - as a tie-over from the last year - on the Second Coming of Jesus; the third and fourth weeks of Advent will prepare us to celebrate the anniversary of Jesus’ first coming: at Christmas.

The gospel passage today - as the readings from the last couple of Sundays - is about STAYING AWAKE! BEING PREPARED FOR THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN! Only if we are “tuned in” to the spiritual realities of the coming of Jesus, will we be able to benefit from his arrival! We must be “spiritually awake,” “spiritually prepared” for the coming of the Son of Man! We do this by seeking the knowledge of who he is - who he revealed himself to be when he came the first time - what his arrival meant for us - and how it needs to affect our daily conduct!

The only way the people of God of the Old Testament could know that they were pleasing God was to follow an enormous amount of legal prescriptions - the Law of Moses was complex and demanding. Jesus summarized the entire Law of Moses by one simple law - simple but of a magnitude that cannot be measured: LOVE!

If we truly LOVE, after the manner which Jesus showed us - to the point of self-sacrificing death (if necessary), then we will be doing all of the Mosaic Law - and any other kind of legal prescription. For true love means loving God first, because he first loved us (this: after we have come to know him by hearing about him and studying about him); then, loving our brothers and sisters who we can see (not being able to see God physically), as we love and respect and take care of ourselves.

The formula is simple: all we really need to do is to do what Jesus said: “Love one another as I have loved you!” If we really understood that one sentence - our lives and the lives of the entire world would be different! There would be peace - there would be justice - there would be holy people on the earth!

In the first reading today from the Old Testament, we see that the people of God rejoiced because they could “go and climb the mountain of the Lord - to the house of God - so that he could instruct them in the way in which he wanted them to live - so that they could walk in his paths!” For they knew this was the only way that they would end up in his Kingdom eternally - by following specific laws that he gave them and taught them himself.

We, the new people of God, can do the same thing: we can “climb the mountain of the Lord’s teachings”- we can “go to the Church” - and find the God’s teachings as they are conceptualized and preserved in the great Deposit of Faith - and be instructed in his ways! For from the Lord’s mountain - from the Church - teaching shall go forth to all nations - and people will learn how to live peaceably and justly, with mutual affection and understanding. And one nation will not raise the sword against another!

At the top of the Lord’s mountain stands Jesus the Teacher! Jesus the Lord! Jesus the Savior! Jesus the Redeemer! Jesus the King of all kings! When we listen to the Church, we listen to Jesus! And we shall be guided in right paths!

There is so much to learn about our Catholic faith - and life as a Catholic. Perhaps during this Advent Season we can deliberately and consciously take time to study our faith more deeply. We need to avail ourselves of every opportunity and means to obtain greater, deeper and more complete knowledge of Jesus, his Father, and the Holy Spirit: who makes it all clear and understandable - and who empowers us to do what it suggests doing!

Let us “go to the Church!” Let us listen to the Word of God as it is proclaimed in many a varied ways - and may our lives become different - as we journey to our heavenly homeland - to the place that is promised us - the place of beatitude that is the object of our hope!

Let us rejoice in the light and Hope of Advent!

Pope John Paul Il present in the chapel of Reuilly on May 31,1980 prays to Mary

Let us listen to the teachings of our unforgettable Pope John Paul II

Mary, conceived without sin
Pray for us who have recourse to you
Mary, such was the prayer that you inspired in Saint Catherine Labouré, in this same place, now, one hundred fifty years ago; and this invocation, thereafter engraved on the Medal is now worn and recited by so many faithful throughout the whole world! You are blessed among all women!
Blessed are you who believed!
The Almighty has done marvels for you!

The marvel of your Divine maternity!
And,in view of it,
The marvel of your Immaculate Conception!
The marvel of your fiat!
You have been so intimately associated with the work
of our Redemption,
associated with the cross of Our Saviour; your heart was transpierced by it, along side his heart. And now, in the glory of your Son you intercède continuously for us, poor sinners.
You watch over the Church, of which you are the Mother. You watch over each one of your children.
You obtain for us, from God, all these graces which the rays of light radiating from your open hands symbolize,
With the one condition that we dare ask you for them, and that we draw near to you with the confidence and the simplicity of a child.
And it is, in this way, that you lead us constantly towards your Son Jesus.

The message of Our Lady,how we can perceive the Medal

A message of Faith

We find there, in brief, the essentiel beliefs of Christianity.
The Son of God became man to save us by His Death and Resurrection.
Into the world, the work of God, entered "sin", the work of man. Christ saves us by His cross.
The Church is the "People of God":
The Church, founded upon Peter and the Apostles (twelve stars), is on its way to the Kingdom where all human beings, without distinction, are invited to enter.
Mary has a privileged place in this Divine plan:
She was conceived without sin.
She is inséparable from Jesus whom she gives us and to whom she leads us (M).
She suffered with Him for us (transpierced heart).
She appeared to us in her Glory,
·as a pre-eminent effect of the Redemption 1 saw her beautiful and in the perfection of her beauty").
·as interceding for us (rays).

A message of Hope

In reality, Hope is:
The virtue of Christ's growth in us:
Amid all our sorrows, we live in joy and radiate joy: "The persons who wear this Medal will receive great graces."
Our Hope is Christ, and through Mary's hands, we place ourselves in Christ's hands: "We have recourse to You."
The virtue of prayer, and especially the prayer of petition:
Mary is Mother of "ardent Love, of holy Hope" and instructs us on the object of our prayer: the reign of God within us.
Mary, totally under the influence of God, also tells us what must be the "driving force" of our prayer: the Spirit of Christ.
0 Mary, Mother of God and Mother of ail humankind, you know our earthly needs and you know Gods plan for us, teach us to conform our desires and our actions to the will and the love of your Son.

A message of Charity

The "Miraculous Medal" tells us again of:
The Love of God, our Father, for us:
He bestows on us his innumerable graces: "Come to the foot of this altar; there, graces will be poured out on you."
The Heart of Christ, pierced by the lance and crowned with thorns, is the very source of this Love.
The love which God expects of us in return:
The Medal was given to us at the dawn of a scientific age and an epoch of dechristianization.
It reminds us that, in this technological world, we must never lose sight of the divine destiny of humanity:
"You have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent, and you have revealed them to the humble."
The love which we should have for one another:
In Jesus Christ, we are all sons and daughters of the same Father and have Mary as Mother.
Mary, who is only interested in our good and our salvation, teaches us to "carry each other's burdens."
The great obligation we have to be Apostles:
The Medal is a catechesis within everyone's reach, a privileged instrument for the apostolats. It should be distributed with faith and love.
To wear the Medal is to confide ourselves to Mary knowing that she intercèdes for us and always leads us to our Lord.

28 November : Feast of Saint Catherine Labouré

Saint Catherine Labouré Daughter of Charity, Servant of the Poor
"I was only an instrument,it was not for me that the Blessed Virgin appeared.If She chose me,who knows nothing,it was so that we could not doubt her."
Sister Catherine Labouré

Who was the seer the Blessed Mother entrusted with such a great revelation? At the time of the apparitions, Catherine Laboure was a simple, devout French peasant girl of 24 who had been in the novitiate of the Daughters of Charity in Paris for only three months. There seemed to be nothing remarkable about her. When she had entered the Order as a postulant seven months earlier, she could barely read, and it was only because a sympathetic sister undertook to tutor her that she became literate.
Catherine had been born in a tiny village near Dijon, France, on May 2, 1806, the ninth of eleven children. Her father was a prosperous farmer who had once studied for the priesthood. Her mother was a former schoolmistress. When Catherine was only nine years old, her mother died; in the midst of her terrible grief, Catherine turned to Our Lady. Climbing up on a chair one day, she reached for a statue of the Blessed Virgin that stood high on a shelf in her mother's bedroom and throwing her arms around it cried, "Now, dear Blessed Mother, you will be my mother." That incident, with its hint of irrevocable dedication, symbolic of the eventual turning of humanity towards Mary, might be seen as the real beginning of the Marian Age.
At the age of 12, Catherine had to take over the running of her father's household, then comprising six family members and 14 hired men. She carried out her heavy responsibilities capably while finding time for her spiritual life. Every morning she walked six miles to Mass in the predawn darkness, and throughout the day she managed to slip away to the village chapel across the lane form her home, there to pray before a weatherworn old painting of the Annunciation.
When she was 18 she had her first mystical experience, a dream in which an elderly priest beckoned to her and told her that God had plans for her life. In her dream, Catherine, fearful, ran away from the priest. Some time late, while visiting a hospice run by the Daughters of Charity, Catherine saw a portrait of St. Vincent de Paul, the Order's founder, and recognized him as the priest in her dream. She knew then that God wanted her to enter the Daughters of Charity. When Catherine was 22, having turned down several marriage proposals, she asked her father for permission to enter the religious life. At first her father refused, even sending her to Paris to work in her brother's cafe to dissuade her, but two years later he relented.
In the novitiate Catherine began to have a number of extraordinary experiences- visions of the heart of St. Vincent de Paul and of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. She reported these mystical experiences to the confessor, who advised her to keep silent about them.
Then on July 18, 1830, the Eve of the feast of St. Vincent she saw the Blessed Mother for the first time. Just before midnight Catherine was awakened by an angel resplendent with light, who appeared as a young child. She followed him to the chapel, where all the torches and tapers were burning brightly. The angel led her to the sanctuary and announced, "Here is the Blessed Virgin; here she is!" There was a rustle of silk and suddenly Catherine saw a beautiful lady seating herself in the blue velvet chair reserved for the director of the sisters. When the angel said again in a loud voice, "Here is the Blessed Virgin," Catherine immediately fell to her knees on the altar steps, and resting her hands on the Virgin's lap, looked up into her eyes. For the next two hours, the sweetest moments of her life she later wrote, Catherine and the Blessed Mother had an intimate conversation. Catherine was told about her mission and about future events, some to take place very soon, some many years off. The times were evil, she was told, and great sorrows would befall France and the whole world. The French throne would be overturned; there would be religious persecution. "But come to the foot of the altar," she was encouraged. "There graces will be shed upon all, great and small, who ask for them."
A week after this apparition Charles X, the King of France, was deposed, the palace of the Archbishop of Paris sacked, and priests and bishops beaten and killed.
Four months later, on November 27, 1830, Catherine was praying in the chapel with the community when Blessed Virgin appeared for the second time. Clothed all in white, she stood in the sanctuary near a painting of St. Joseph, holding a small golden globe surmounted by a cross. Her feet rested on a white globe, around which was coiled a serpent, green in color with yellow spots. Brilliant rays radiated from gemstone rings on her fingers. Her face was of indescribable beauty.
Catherine had an inner locution, an explanation of the vision. The globe represented the entire world, especially France, and it also represented each person in particular. The rays of light streaming form her hands represented the graces Our Lady sheds on those who ask for them, Some of the rings gave no light, however, representing graces that people neglected to ask for.
Suddenly the globe in the Virgin's hands disappeared and she lowered her hands, brilliant rays still streaming from them. An oval frame formed around her, within which was written in letters of gold: "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."
Catherine heard interiorly the direction to have a medal made on this model. Then the tableau seemed to turn and Catherine saw the reverse of the medal, the M, the Cross, and the two hearts.
Suddenly the vision disappeared from Catherine's sight, "like a candle blown our," she later wrote. Then began Catherine's lifelong task of fulfilling her mission while guarding her identity, for she understood that in giving the medal to the world, she herself was to remain unknown.
After the apparitions finished, Catherine lived out her life quietly and humbly as a Daughter of Charity at a hospice for elderly men outside of Paris. She worked in the kitchen, washed and repaired clothes, nursed and saw to the spiritual needs of the men. During the forty-six years that Catherine worked at the hospice, not one of her charges died without receiving the last sacraments.
Although there was some suspicion in the community that Catherine might be the "sister of the apparitions," the seer just laughed at such suggestions when they were brought up. She performed many daily duties humbly and obediently.
In describing her prayer life during those years she related that each day she put herself before the Lord saying, "Lord, here I am. Give me what you wish." If He gave her something, she was happy and thanked Him. If He gave her nothing, she thanked Him still. She would then tell Him all that came into her mind, her sorrows and her joys; then she would listen.
In 1876, a few months before her death, Catherine- knowing she had not much time left on earth and following the Virgin's instructions- admitted to her superior that she indeed was the "sister of the apparitions." Up to that time she had told no one except her confessor.
Catherine died peacefully on December 31, 1876. She was buried in a small chapel at the hospice. When her body was exhumed in 1933 as part of her beatification process, it was found to be incorrupt. Today Catherine Laboure's body, still beautifully preserved, can be seen and venerated in the chapel of the Daughters of Charity at 140 Rue de Bac in Paris.
Catherine Laboure was canonized on July 27, 1947, by Pope Pius XII, who declared her the "saint of silence and the duties of her state." Her feast day is November 28. The preceding day, November 27, is the feast of the Miraculous Medal, which received liturgical approbation when a Mass and Office were assigned in its honor in 1895, one of only three sacramentals in the history of the Church to be thus liturgically honored. (The others are the Rosary and Brown Scapular.)
There are two theological doctrines associated with the Miraculous Medal apparition. The first, Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces, has not yet been defined by the Church but is considered certain by many theologians.

The second, the Immaculate Conception, was infallibly defined by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854, twenty-four years after the apparitions. The definition of the doctrine, which had been developing over many centuries, was most certainly hastened by the Miraculous Medal revelation- specifically the words Catherine Laboure saw encircling the image of Our Lady in 1830: "O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." Indeed, the Pope himself asserted that the impetus for his pronouncement came from France. In "Defining the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception," Pius IX decreed:
We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.
Four short years after Pope Pius IX's pronouncement, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception would be confirmed by the Blessed Mother herself in apparition to St. Bernadette of Lourdes

27 November : Feast of the Miraculous Medal

The Miraculous Medal comes directly from the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother; it is a gift from Heaven which has never ceased to effect marvels of grace throughout the entire world. This medal is a very simple and very efficacious means to benefit from the protection of Mary in all our necessities, both spiritual and temporal.

On November 27, 1830, in a residence of the Daughters of Charity, at the Chapel of the Rue du Bac in Paris, the Most Blessed Virgin appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré (1806-1876) for the second time. On this day the Queen of Heaven was seen with a globe under Her feet and holding in Her hands, at the level of the heart, another smaller globe, which She seemed to be offering to Our Lord in a gesture of supplication .

First apparition : In 1830 Catherine was blessed with the apparitions of Mary Immaculate to which we owe the Miraculous Medal. The first apparition came on the eve of the feast of St. Vincent, July 19. The mother superior had given each of the novices a piece of cloth from the holy founder's surplice. Because of her extreme love, Catherine split her piece down the middle, swallowing half and placing the rest in her prayer book. She earnestly prayed to St. Vincent that she might, with her own eyes, see the Mother of God. That night, a beautiful child awoke her from her sleep, saying: "Sister Labouré, come to the chapel; the Blessed Virgin is waiting for you." When Catherine went to the chapel, she found it ablaze with lights as if prepared for Midnight Mass. Quietly, she knelt at the Communion rail, and suddenly heard the rustle of a silk dress. The Blessed Virgin, in a blaze of glory, sat in a chair like that of Saint Anne's. Catherine rose, then went over and knelt, resting her hands in the Virgin's lap, and felt the Virgin's arms around her, as she said: "God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world." A pained expression crossed the Virgin's face. "Come to the foot of the altar. Graces will be shed on all, great and little, especially upon those who seek them. Another community of sisters will join the Rue du Bac community. The community will become large; you will have the protection of God and Saint Vincent; I will always have my eyes upon you." (This prediction was fulfilled when, in 1849, Fr. Etienne received Saint Elizabeth Seton's sisters of Emmitsburg, MD, into the Paris community. Mother Seton's sisters became the foundation stone of the Sisters of Charity in the United States.) Then, like a fading shadow, Our Lady was gone.

Four months passed until Our Lady returned to Rue du Bac. Here are Catherine's own words describing the apparition:

"On the 27th of November, 1830 ... while making my meditation in profound silence ... I seemed to hear on the right hand side of the sanctuary something like the rustling of a silk dress. Glancing in that direction, I perceived the Blessed Virgin standing near St. Joseph's picture. Her height was medium and Her countenance, indescribably beautiful. She was dressed in a robe the color of the dawn, high-necked, with plain sleeves. Her head was covered with a white veil, which floated over Her shoulders down to her feet. Her feet rested upon a globe, or rather one half of a globe, for that was all that could be seen. Her hands which were on a level with Her waist, held in an easy manner another globe, a figure of the world. Her eyes were raised to Heaven, and Her countenance beamed with light as She offered the globe to Our Lord.

"As I was busy contemplating Her, the Blessed Virgin fixed Her eyes upon me, and a voice said in the depths of my heart: ' This globe which you see represents the whole world, especially France, and each person in particular.'

"There now formed around the Blessed Virgin a frame rather oval in shape on which were written in letters of gold these words: ' O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.' Then a voice said to me: ' Have a medal struck upon this model. All those who wear it, when it is blessed, will receive great graces especially if they wear it round the neck. Those who repeat this prayer with devotion will be in a special manner under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.'

"At the same instant, the oval frame seemed to turn around. Then I saw on the back of it the letter 'M', surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it, and under the monogram of the name of Mary, the Holy Hearts of Jesus and of His Mother; the first surrounded by a crown of thorns and the second transpierced by a sword. I was anxious to know what words must be placed on the reverse side of the medal and after many prayers, one day in meditation I seemed to hear a voice which said to me: ' The 'M' with the Cross and the two Hearts tell enough.' "

Sister Catherine faithfully accomplished the mission Heaven had entrusted to her. In 1832 the medal was struck and immediately underwent a extraordinary diffusion throughout the world, accompanied by unceasing prodigies of cures, protection and conversion. Thus it came to be known as the Miraculous Medal.

Let us wear this medal of the Most Blessed Virgin with respect, and often repeat with confidence and love, the invocation by which Our Heavenly Mother desires that we implore favors:

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

God bless you all abundantely . Amen

Daily inspiration and reflection : Proverbs 3:25-26

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

With Jesus as our confidence, we have nothing to fear. The Lord has command over all things and promises to keep us from being taken out of His hand.

Lord, I thank you for Your love that keeps me securely in Your hands! Help me to depend on You when evil comes to tempt me. Thank You that I have nothing to fear, for You are always with me.

25 November : Feast Christ the King

Today the Church celebrates the end of the liturgical year with the feast of Christ the King.

Christ the King Sunday used to be celebrated on the last Sunday of October, but in 1969 the church calendar was reformed and now it is celebrated on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, which is the Sunday before Advent, which is today.

It is an appropriate time to remember that Christ is king as we begin the journey into Advent and the Christmas seasons. Jesus isn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but rather he is placed in a manger in a dirty cave used to house animals during the cold nights. And Jesus doesn’t reign from a gilded throne, but rather from a cross used to execute criminals.

These seasons of the church year and its festivals and feast days are meant to remind us that God doesn’t operate the way that we expect people to operate. Shepherds were hired hands out to make a buck and earn the best living they could afford. And pagan kings that were meant to willingly go to sacrifice and appease the gods for the good of the people often dressed up slaves and criminals in royal robes to take their places.

But Jesus is king because He is the good shepherd who gathers the flock together and offers them safety. And Jesus is king because He willingly goes to the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.

Just as Pious XI instituted this special day in 1925 so that Christians could remember that Jesus was the true ruler of our lives we should remember that Christ is the ultimate ruler not because he received the most votes or because he staged a successful coup or because he inherited a crown, but because he is the one who gathers us in safety and judges us with righteousness, justice, and forgiveness.

Meditation for Feast of Christ The King

Paul’s letter to the Colossians 1:11-20 gives an affirmation of God’s love and caring for every person on the face of the earth and the earth itself.

“The Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light. Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins. He is the image of the unseen God and the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers – all things were created through him and for him. Before anything was created, he existed, and he holds all things in unity. Now the Church is his body, he is its head. As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way; because God wanted all perfection to be found in him and all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross."

The kingdom that Christ reigns over is not of this world, but is the everlasting kingdom to which we are called after living in this material world. The kingdom is a spiritual kingdom where peace and harmony and elation of being with the angels and saints and most especially the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, abounds.As King, Christ has the ultimate say on who will and will not be welcomed into this kingdom.

The Gospel from Luke 23:35-43, “Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews’. One of the criminals hanging there abused him. ‘Are you not the Christ?’ he said. ‘Save yourself and us as well.’ But the other spoke up and rebuked him. ‘Have you no fear of God at all?’ he said. ‘You and I received the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for the crimes we committed. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus,’ he said ‘remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ ‘Indeed, I promise you,’ he replied ‘today you will be with me in paradise.”, strengthens the concept that Christ is the power through which we gain eternal life in the paradise that is the Kingdom of Heaven.

In First Chronicles 29:11 we read this statement “Lord, you are great and powerful. Glory, majesty and beauty belong to you. Everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you. Lord, the kingdom belongs to you. You are honored as the One who rules over all.” and in Matthew 5:19 we read these words of advice as to how we can gain entrance to the Kingdom for which Christ is king; "Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”The Commandments we have been called to live by are simple according the Christ; as found in Matthew 22: 38-39

“Love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind, soul and body and the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself”, and in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount where he gave us the Beatitudes telling us the way to treat our fellow humans.

As we are about to enter into the time of preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ, the season of Advent, it is a excellent time for us to make an evaluation of how well we are doing in our daily lives preparing for our admittance into the Kingdom of Christ, Heaven, when our time here on God’s earthly plain is over.Are we mindful of the needs of others, are we caring and accepting of all of God’s children not just those we consider acceptable because they conform to our way of thinking? Do we discriminate against others because of Race, creed, marital condition, sexual orientation or political party? Christ gave us the example, He did not reject anyone who came to Him and neither should we. In this time where people are thinking of giving gifts to their family and friends let us acknowledge the gifts God, our father, has given us and use them to the benefit of all especially those who have not been so blessed.By doing this we can not only show our love and respect for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords but build up our treasures in the Kingdom to come .

Amen