Dear Parishioner,
Please pray for our parishioners who have died in the past year
We are encouraged because Christ, who suffered and who was obedient unto death now reigns in glory. He is the all-powerful King who has defeated the Devil and every evil thing in the world. He has done this for us. If we follow him carrying our cross, listening to him, we too will reign in glory with the saints for ever.
The Feast of “Our Lord Jesus Christ the King” was established first by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in the wake of the growing secularist and nationalistic movements of the time, particularly after the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the First World War. It was to be observed on the last Sunday of October because it immediately preceded the Feast of All Saints. In 1969 Pope Paul VI amended the title to “Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe” and moved the observance to the last Sunday of the liturgical year. This emphasizes the “eschatological” character of the Feast i.e. its reference to the end of the world. The word “end” has two senses here: 1) the end of time, and 2) the purpose of creation. The purpose of creation is to give glory to God and that we humans should be workers in the task of returning the world to God, its creator, at the end of time in a perfected state.
The Preface of this Feast states that God anointed his “Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the oil of gladness as eternal Priest and King of all creation” so that he might accomplish to work of our salvation and might present to God:
“an eternal and universal kingdom,
a kingdom of truth and life,
a kingdom of holiness and grace,
a kingdom of justice, love and peace”.
We, therefore, look for these values in our lives: Truth, Life, Holiness, Grace, Justice, Love and Peace. These values are eternal and we cannot be really happy with God at any time, let alone for ever in heaven, if we do not share in them.
We know that we sometimes find these values difficult to fully embrace. We have to wait a little until we can come to Mass again but we can pray that we will continue to share in the grace of the sacraments, including Confession, so that we may continue our pilgrimage in Christ’s Church.
Yours in Christ,
