Collect for Christ the King.

The Collect for the Feast of Christ the King reads as follows:

Almighty ever-living God,

whose will is to restore all things

in Your beloved Son, the King of the Universe

grant, we pray, that the whole creation set free from slavery,

may render Your majestic service,

and ceaselessly proclaim Your praise.

 

 

 Pope Pius XI universally instituted The Feast of Christ the King in 1925 in his encyclical Quas Primas. Pius XI, and the rest of the Christian world, witnessed the rise of dictatorships in Europe, and saw Catholics being taken in by these earthly leaders. Pope Pius connected the denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism, since at the time of Quas Primas, secularism was on the rise, and many Christians, even Catholics, were doubting Christ's authority, as well as the Church's, and even doubting Christ's existence.

It is interesting to observe that just as the Feast of Corpus Christi was instituted when devotion to the Eucharist was at a low point, the Feast of Christ the King was instituted during a time when respect for Christ and the Church was waning, when the feast was most needed. In fact, it is still needed today, as these problems have not vanished, but instead have worsened.

Pope Pius hoped the institution of the feast would have various effects. They were:

1. That nations would see that the Church has the right to freedom, and immunity from the state (Quas Primas, 32).
2. That leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ (Quas Primas, 31).
3. That the faithful would gain strength and courage from the celebration of the feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies (Quas Primas, 33).

Today, the same distrust of authority exists, although the problem seems to have deteriorated. Individualism has been embraced to such an extreme, that for many, the only authority is the individual self. The idea of Christ as ruler is rejected in such a strongly individualistic system. Also, many balk at the idea of kings and queens, believing them to be oppressive. Some even reject the titles of "lord" and "king" for Christ because they believe that such titles are borrowed from oppressive systems of government. However true these statements might be (some kings have been oppressive), these individuals miss the point: Christ's kingship is one of humility and service. The following two scripture quotes support this view.  Jesus said:

'You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:42-45, NAB).
and also:
'Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?"... Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world,to testify to the truth (John 18:33b, 36-37).

Jesus knew the oppressive nature of secular kings, and in contrast to them, He connected His role as king to humble service, and commanded His followers to be servants as well. In other passages of Scripture, His kingdom is tied to His suffering and death. While Christ is coming to judge the nations, His teachings spell out a kingdom of justice and judgment balanced with radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness. 

 Christ the King Sunday used to be celebrated on the last Sunday of October, but since the calendar reforms of 1969, the feast falls on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, which is the Sunday before Advent. It is fitting that the feast celebrating Christ's kingship is observed right before Advent, when we liturgically wait for the promised Messiah (King).

As we celebrate this solemnity, we may thank God that Pope Pius XI' instituted this  feast of Christ the King because it reminds us that our allegiance is to our spiritual ruler in heaven as opposed to earthly supremacy in whatever form it takes in our lives.

When we celebrate Christ as King, we are not celebrating an oppressive ruler, but one willing to die for humanity and whose "loving-kindness endures forever." Christ is the king that gives us true freedom, freedom in Him. Christ radically redefined and transformed the concept of Kingship.

 

As we celebrate this feast, we may wish to look back at our spiritual year. We may ask ourselves whether Christ has been king of our hearts throughout the year and if not, resolve to make Him King of our hearts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Collect for 33rd Sunday of Year A

The Collect for the Thirty Third Sunday Year A reads as follows:

 

Grant us, we pray O Lord our God,

the constant gladness of being devoted to You,

for it is full and lasting happiness

to serve with constancy the author of all that is good.

 

 

In making this prayer tangible for during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:

 

 

1. What does it mean to me to be devoted to God?

 

2. How will I show that devotedness to God this coming week?

 

3. How do I feel when I am devoted to God?

 

4. What areas in my life hinder me from being totally devoted to God?

 

5. What steps will I take this week to remove at least one of these hindrances?

 

6.  What does it mean to me to serve God with constancy?

 

 

 

The gospel today of the story of the talents is an interesting one.  We tend to think of the word talents as gifts/abilities/ graces that God has given us.  Indeed this is true.  When we read this Gospel with this definition in mind, it is important that whatever talent that God has given us that through His help that we develop  it/them.   This is the crucial learning for the man with one talent- he buried it and as Jesus points out, did not even put it in the bank to earn interest to give to his master on return.

 

I don't know about you, but at times I feel like the man with one talent when I don't know what to do, feeling down and worried- it is easier to bury the talent than to move forward.  It is like the saying : if life serves you lemons, make lemonade''.  Sometimes this seems impossible and the sourness of the lemons and the pips etc get in the way of the creativity to make the lemonade.

 

 

In the story we do not know whether the man with one talent was lazy or he just did not know what to do.  Perhaps he thought that by burying it, it would give him time to think what to do, and perhaps, he forgot about making the decision or just procrastinated.

 

 

What we do know is Jesus wants us to use our gifts/talents for the benefit of others and not to keep these gifts/talents to ourselves. 

 

The English word "talent" was used to translate the Hebrew word (pronounced) kik-kar, meaning a round loaf, and the Greek word (pronounced) tal-en-ton (from which the English word talent originated) that referred to the standard weights used in a balance, but was also used for a larger unit. The standard for the talent was variable, depending on the Hebrew or Greek usage. A talent ranged from the English equivalent of about 70 to over 90 pounds.

 

According to the Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, whatever its exact value, in the New Testament a talent indicates a large sum of money. The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament says that this sum was maybe even as much as a million dollars in today’s currency. No wonder the master was so upset with the servant who buried his one talent in the ground!

 

John B. Carpenter gives a more open interpretation in his article, “The Parable of the Talents in Missionary Perspective“: “Parables are about principles, and this parable is about faithfulness of endeavor.” He goes on to say the money was used as an example of everything with which we have been endowed by God and that we cannot identify the talents more specifically.
R.T. France’s commentary on Matthew argues that talents refers to “the specific privileges and opportunities of the kingdom of heaven…to be faithfully exploited before the master returns.

So when we read this gospel along with the Collect of the day, it is obvious that whatever we have been given by God is to be used for the benefit of others and we are to do this joyfully knowing that we are serving Him.

At the end of each day just before I fall asleep, I like to ask myself in my prayer time  2 questions:

            1. What was I most grateful for today?
            2.  What was I least grateful for today?

I find this is very helpful because it helps me review my day and acknowledge what went well and what needed improvement.  It is important to do it just before you fall asleep, because whatever needs healing or processing can occur during the night and you wake with a greater sense of gratefulness.

Perhaps if you are struggling to think of your gifts/talents/time  or are inclined to say I don't have any talent then why not ask  these same questions in a slightly different manner.

    1. What skills/talents, time, money. conversations and actions did I do today out of love for God?

   2. What skills/ talents, time, money, conversations, and actions could I have done better today.

When we think of our days, they may not be that spectacular.  This is where we can be tempted to think that we do not have anything to offer.   However, think again- even smiling in the street or nodding could make a difference to a person's life that day- you gave your smile, warmth and love to them in that instant. Perhaps it is holding the lift for someone or letting a car come into the traffic( provided it is safe). There are so many ways as there are people- we all can make a difference.

                                So what talent/s will you use for the glory of God this coming week?    

 

 

 





November- the month of Holy Souls.

The feasts of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, when Catholics are encouraged to offer Masses and prayers for our deceased family members and relatives, were the living expression of a doctrine which stretched back to the earliest era of Christianity, and which is embodied in the Apostles' Creed.

The origin of All Saints Day is to be found in the prayers made to the martyr saints of the persecuted Church in the early centuries.  All Souls Day reflects the constant teaching of the Church, stretching back into the Old Testament period where it is record in the Book Maccabees, " It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to prayer for the dead, that they may loosed from their sins'

It seems a tragedy that All Saints Day is less recognized that Halloween, now a secular celebration of what was once the day before All Hallows (Saints) Day.

In Australia in 2001, the Australian bishops made a decision to reduce the number of Holy Days of Obligation, with the great feast of All Saints Day and All Souls Day (albeit an unofficial  Holy Day of Obligation) disappearing from the awareness of  even practising Catholics. Sadly in some parishes including mine, the emphasis in November is about students and exams, rather than the Holy Souls.  As a consequence of that decision, a diminished awareness of the doctrine of Communion of Saints has resulted, a doctrine which teaches that believers on earth are united in a spiritual fellowship with the saints in Heaven and the souls in Purgatory.

These beautiful feasts days are both a source of inspiration and a consolation that we, in the world as the pilgrim Church can aspire to be reunited with our families and friends who are the Church triumphant in the joyful perfection of Heaven.  We can also give the souls in purgatory- great consolation by our prayers and Masses since we can pray for them, but they cannot pray for themselves.  Let us especially pray for the Holy Souls who have no one to pray for them or have been forgotten.

Many Catholics like to think that their loved ones have gone ''straight to Heaven''.  However, as consoling as this thought is at the time of death, it is not Church teaching.  You may wish to check the Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph 1029-31 on Purgatory. However the doctrine of purgatory also gives us hope. We hope that we will get to heaven ourselves but we live in the hope that our loved ones have reached eternity.  We do not know for sure on most occasions, but there are times that bereaved get a certain sense that their loved ones have reached eternity.  We live in hope.

However, just for a few moments let us be practical. If a person went into confession and confessed their sins and came out and dropped dead straightaway outside the door of the confessional, then, yes, there might be a possibility of a quicker route to Heaven. If a person who had the opportunity of a plenary indulgence and died outside the confessional, then there definitely could be case for going straight to heaven, since any residual effect would be wiped. Short of that, we all have some shortfalls/sins/weakness at the time of death.

 

To enter Heaven, we want to be perfect, ''just as our Heavenly Father is perfect''.  So God, in His kindness and love provides that opportunity for our souls to be cleansed and purified. Of course, how long we are in purgatory is in a sense up to us, since we can use our time wisely here on earth spiritually, or we can squander it largely or to a lesser extent. However when we die and give an account of ourselves, God, by giving us the chance of purgatory is being kind and letting us know that our salvation is assured, but we still need to do some ''grooming'' through the efforts of the pilgrim church and the Church triumphant.  We cannot do it ourselves.
It will be one of my happiest moments in heaven if someone tells me in heaven that my prayers, works of charity or trials  and attending Mass helped to release them from Purgatory.
What about you? Would you want to hear it from someone in heaven too?

Let us assist the Holy Souls by our prayers, works of charity, offering up our day and trials for them and attending Mass for their souls not only on these great feasts, but also during the month of November especially, but also during the year.

Let these great feasts touch our spiritual consciousness this year.

Homily for 31st Sunday of Year

This homily was delivered at St Dominic's East Camberwell by Rev Fr Paul Rankin OP who was ordained in 1984.  He was, until May this year our Pastor.  He was moved to PNG for other work for the order, but is with us again at the moment.  This was the homily he delivered at 6pm Mass Saturday 4th November for 31st Sunday of the Year.

I normally listen carefully to the homily and try to remember it so I can put it into practice during the week. I departed from this approach last night and asked Fr Paul for his homily. I was so struck by it and his delivery.

During the night, I wondered whether I might ask him could I share it on my blog. I asked him this morning and he very graciously agreed.  I am delighted to be able to share this homily of Fr Paul with you.

I hope it speaks to your soul like it did to mine last night.

Do we think of Christianity as basically a simple religion?  Not easy, but uncomplicated.  Demanding hard things like tolerance and patience, long suffering, exposing ourselves to ridicule or hatred for our beliefs, but simple.

You know: “love God and love your neighbour?”’  Got it!

 Haven’t we all found, though, that we start the day with the resolution to do that, even if were brought up in those distant pre-Vatican 11 days- making a ‘morning offering’ of the day, and then, gone about the day without ever thinking about it again- until the examination of conscience before going to bed.

We probably spent the day doing good, more or less, as well as possible.  But St Catherine of Siena would not think we had done as well as we could. In her Dialogue, she writes that Jesus said to her, regarding the exercise of charity,” unless you do it for love of me, it is worth nothing to you in the realm of grace’’.

This is the difference between a good life, and a holy life.  And holiness is what we are offered.

In fact, Christianity cannot be a simple religion since the human person is not a simple being.  Listen to the advice, or exhortation, of a medieval Dominican, Humbert of Romans.  Here is what he had to say in one letter:

“…let us strive most eagerly to turn away from sin with our whole heart by avoiding faults; let us turn to the Lord with our whole heart by doing penance.  Let us seek the Lord with our whole heart by begging pardon, let us cling to the Lord with our whole heart, loving God above all things; let us serve the Lord with our whole heart with our praise; with our whole heart let us follow the path of the Lord by our pursuit.

Then, a reason why we might do all this: ‘’ We really owe all this to the Lord who gives our heart countless gifts”.

And a catalogue of these gifts: “The Lord illumines our hearts with wisdom, governs them with goodness, feeds them with delights, draws them with beauty, changes them with power, makes them one with love, allures them with promises, teaches them with harsh blows, shakes them with threats, and softens them with blessings.  Our most delightful God looks into our hearts by proving them, speaks by informing them, touches by stirring them, visits in consoling them, gives life by justifying them, and open them by shedding light on them.

 For all these gifts we ought to thank God tirelessly.”

 St Catherine again relates Jesus explaining why each person has different gifts, instead of everyone having all of them.

‘’I could well have supplied you with your needs, both spiritual and material. But I wanted to make you dependent on one another so that each of you would be my minister; dispensing the graces and gifts you have received from Me. So, whether you will it or not, you cannot escape the exercise of charity.

So, let us get the maximum benefit and offer all that we have and all that we do for the glory of God and making known His truth.


May God bless Fr Paul . New horizons.

 

Collect for 32nd Sunday of Year A

The Collect for the 31st Sunday of Year A reads as follows:

 

Almighty and merciful God

by whose gift Your faithful offer You

right and praiseworthy service,

grant we pray that we may hasten without stumbling

to receive the things You have promised.

 

 

 

1. What is my attitude when I attend Mass?

2. What is the gift I offer God this week at Mass?

3. How does God's gift of right and praiseworthy service be shown in my worship and in my life this coming week?

4. What are the things God has promised?

5.  Do you want to receive the things God has promised?

6. What are the things in my life that may cause me to stumble in receiving the things God has promised?

7. What action/s will I take this coming week to move forward towards God and to erase  one or two areas of stumbling with God's help.

 

Today’s readings fit in well with the two aspects of observation of pretending to be something or someone and remembering those who really know who they were (All Saints). Or there are two messages:  one concerns our attitudes towards others, and the other is about truth.

As we heard from the Prophet Malachi and Jesus in today’s readings, speakss challenging words to those leaders who have been pretenders. These leaders were given a sacred trust. Instead of serving others, they demanded service from others. They put on costumes of importance and respect so that others will notice what they are doing. Jesus warns against this sort of behaviour to the Church leaders not to be actors or hypocrites but is also speaking to us as well. We too need to show our love for God and value the sacred trust God gives us by serving others.

The problem of the Pharisees, as Jesus describes in the Gospel, is not about their words but their actions. The Lord says, “Do everything they tell you,” but be careful, not to follow their examples. In other words, they taught more truth than they actually lived. They didn’t practice what they preached. The Gospel remembers Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees because it  shows what can happen to all of us too. Sometimes the way we speak goes against the way we act. Often we become like Pharisees in our lives. We turn to ignore the truth as long as we gain people’s attention. We all have a gap between what we say and what we do. Sometimes we just ignore the real truth that we should practice.  We need to ask why. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to shed light, so that we can through His help, become authentic Christians. 

The Lord says, “They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry, and do not lift a figure to help.” We embrace our leaders to high standards, but we make many exceptions for ourselves. We expect to do well from salespeople, professionals, and fellow workers but excuse ourselves many times. We  may write abusive letters of complaint to others but we ourselves easily  disrespect other people.  We question others’ motives and good faith, but we ourselves ready to disagree if anybody challenges to question our own. We excuse little in anybody else but will always find an excuse for ourselves.

How deeply do we let the truth sink into our life? Are we good at all the outward signs of devotion yet within us is a very different world, a darker world, a world of anger, jealousy, and self-righteousness? How deep does our faith go?  

The saints are the good examples for us to imitate in order to follow Christ because their deeds match with their words. Saints are virtuous, kind, and patient people. God shows to us, a clear way, His presence and His face in the lives of the saints in the human condition who are more perfectly transformed into the image of Christ. They are the living reflection of the face of Christ.

It is important to remember that the saints were like us. They suffered the same faults/sins, weaknesses and chose to work through perseverance to change- day by day, moment by moment. They chose to work on them and persevere moment by moment  because they loved God and had a desire to change their faults/sins/weaknesses.  The saints were like us but perhaps, unlike us at times, their love for God was strong and they desired to change their behavior so that it was in keeping with God intended- we are made in the image and likeness of God.  However, mostly our behavior does not conform perfectly to that, as the saints realized in their lives.  They set out through God's help to change it and persevered daily.

Maybe there’s a bit of the Pharisees in each of us. Finally, the Lord says the Pharisees like titles of respect father, teacher. We like titles too and are proud of titles like Australian, Catholic, a parish member, partner, friend, confidant.   But do we abide by the responsibilities, service, a dedication that go with titles such as father, mother, citizen, partner, confidant?

This should give us a good description of humility. One thing that is central to the lives of all saints is humility when we acknowledge that we all fall short of the glory of God and are all in continuing need of grace. What conclusions would people draw about Jesus from us, if there were no written Gospels and the only source from which people could learn about Christ was ourselves?

Every time we come to Mass, Jesus calls us to take off our masks and costumes and to let the word of God work within us, to make our life a living Gospel for all people to hear and to see. To grow in Christ, we never have to be afraid of the truth about ourselves. We only have to be afraid of the masks we wear.  When we use the sacrament of Reconciliation, we can take of our masks, ask sincerely for forgiveness from God, and receive absolution from Him through the priest.

If there is a little bit of the Pharisee in each of us, there also is a little bit (hopefully a lot more)  of Christ in each of us. We pray today and ask God to help us to grow in a very honest way so that our words and deeds may fruitful to other people’s lives.     

                                      

                                                 So who will you choose to be this week

                                            a Pharisee or a Saint in  progress?

This homily was given on 5th November at St Dominic's East Camberwell by

Deacon Lawrence Bosekana OP. 

New Horizons contributed in the process of editing.