Christ, King of the Universe

My dear Friends in Christ,

On this final Sunday of the Church Liturgical Year, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. We honor Christ, King of the Universe, as Lord over all creation. Essentially a magnification of the Feast of the Ascension, it was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. This feast was established and proclaimed by the Pope to reassert the sovereignty of Christ and the Church over all forms of government and to remind Christians of the fidelity and loyalty they owed to Christ. This solemnity encourages us to celebrate and live out our faith in public. When our faith is repeatedly marginalized in public life, we can fall into the habit of compartmentalizing our lives. We love Jesus in our private lives, but we shrink from acknowledging the kingship of Christ in social life. When we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of the Church and of the entire universe.

One of the ways we can honor Christ is in sung prayer. We can entreat the crucified Lord as did the criminal at his side, in our final Gospel reading of the year from Luke, with Taize prayer: ”Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”

Speaking of Taize Prayer, we will have an Evening of Taize Prayer here in Church on Tuesday, November 29, 2022 at 5:30 PM. We hope you can join us in giving praise to our Lord as we enter into the new Church Liturgical Year and into the beginning of Advent.

Happy Thanksgiving and May God Bless You All,

Father John