Tag Archives: Feast of Christ the King

Feast of Christ the King

To see this homily delivered live from Father Joe, click here.

Homily

“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers or sisters of mine, you did to me.”  We just hear these words in the story Jesus told about the coming of the Son of Man in his glory, at the end times.

We also heard in this same story, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did not do of one of these least ones, you did not do for me.”  When we only think about our self, when we only think about our own agenda, we are blind to the needs of others.

Today’s Scriptures remind us that the opportunities are there every day to care in some way or ways for our brothers and sisters in need.  The Lord is asking us to see them…

In the words of Micah the Prophet, “this is what the Lord asks of us: to act justly, to love tenderly, to walk humbly with our God.”  Our God is hiding, if you will in, the least of our brothers and sisters.

The story is told that once a poor lady got a letter without a stamp and postmark, with her name and address.  As she read the letter she was trembling, “Dear Rose, I would like to pay a visit to you tomorrow.    Love always, Jesus”

Why would Jesus visit me?  I have nothing but $5 in my pocket, Rose thought to herself.  In the frigid cold, Rose walked in ragged clothes to the market, where she bought a loaf of bread and a carton of milk.

Amid the bustling people to and from on Christmas Eve sat a homeless man on the sidewalk.  He was unshaven and dirty, with a shivering arm holding an empty cup.  “Lady, can you help me?  I have been living on the street and it is really getting cold on an empty stomach.  If you could help me, I would really appreciate it…”

“Sir, I would like to help, but I myself am a poor woman and all I have is this bread, which I bought for an important guest coming tomorrow.”

“That’s okay,” said the man, “I can understand, Merry Christmas.”

As Rose walked away her footstep stuttered and she felt a pang in the center of her heart.  She turned back towards the man and said, “Sir, wait, I think maybe I can help… Sir, take this food with you.  I will figure something out to serve my guest.”

“Thank you!  Thank you!” the man replied with sincere happiness.

Then Rose unbuttoned her coat, gave it to the man and said, “you know, I have another coat at home, you can take this one.”

Rose was panicking about not having anything to offer Jesus after she reached home.  As Rose opened the door to her house, she found another letter under the door, similar to the first one.  The letter read: “Dear Rose,          It was good to see you.  Thank you for a lovely meal and also for your beautiful coat.       Love always, Jesus.”

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“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers or sisters of mine, you did to me.”

Feast of Christ the King

Scripture Readings:     Daniel 7:13-14;      Revelation 1:5-8;     John 18:33-37


Last weekend, as I have done many times over the past five years, I spoke about the “Kingdom of God.”  Today, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, but not a King in the usual sense of the word or the world.  For as even Jesus says to Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world.”

The Kingdom of God is marked by humility, peace, justice and love.  Qualities, that are often found lacking in our day.  But, like Jesus we can bring, by the lives we live, this humility, peace, justice and love to our world, if we choose.

Jesus chose to do so and was met with opposition, even death.  As Baptized people, Disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to continue to build and to maintain the Kingdom of God in our time and place.

The Kingdom of God is often found, in every act of selfless kindness and humble generosity.

We have often heard the phrase “choose life.”  Maybe this Feast of Christ the King is asking us to chose the ways of Christ our Lord and Savior, to chose a way of life that is in sync with Jesus Christ – the way of peace, humility, justice and love…

May we always, seek to be instruments of peace, humility, justice and love, it probably won’t be that hard to see, since opportunity abounds; but more importantly make it real today, this week and into the future.

May our good and God-like thoughts and ideas be experienced in real ways more and more, by more and more people of our daily lives.

Feast of Christ the King

Scripture Readings:  Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17;  1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 28; Matthew 25: 31-46


The gospel message is often a two edged sword.

At times the Gospel gives us hope, offers us comfort, gives us peace, is the answer to our prayers, or reinforces our acts of charity.  At other times the Gospel is challenging – reminding us of the need to live our love of God, our love for others, our being Christ’s disciple a bit more authentically.

For sure there are days (maybe more than we would like to admit) when we do not want to be reminded of what it means to be authentic disciples of Jesus.

At times it seems so difficult, maybe even impossible.

Yet, today Jesus seems to make it very simple.  Jesus talks about:  food, clothes, water, shelter.  The basics of life.

Today’s Gospel is more than an instruction, it is an invitation.  An invitation to join Jesus in his care for “the least, the lost and the last.”

There’s a rather famous picture entitled, “The Christ of the Breadlines,” that depicts Jesus as a central figure in a dark, depression-era line of homeless and hungry men.  One might well ask the question, “In what lines of suffering people might we find Jesus today?”

In the month of Holidays before us and into the New Year, how will we treat others (as person, family and parish)?  Especially, “the least among us, the lost among us, the last among us?”

Seize the small moments every day to see Christ in others.  These small moments allow us to seize the big moments that also come our way.  For this is the story of today’s Gospel unfolding before us.

A young homilist was on a roll one Sunday, “This parish has really got to get out and walk!”, said the preacher.   Someone in the back yelled, “Let her walk.”  The homilist then said, “If this parish is going to really go, it’s got to get up and run!”  The man in the back yelled with gusto, “Let her run!”  The preacher then said even louder, “if our parish is going to go, it’s got to really fly!”  Again from the back, “Let her fly!”  The preacher seized the moment, “If this parish is going to fly, it needs all of you to tithe.”  The voice in the back if church yelled,  “Let her walk, let her walk.”

Today’s Gospel calls us to love, to share, to feed, to welcome and clothe one another.

When we do, we discover that Jesus is truly present in all of our brothers and sisters.

“Let your Love Fly!”