November 26, 2023: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

While a King in an earthly sense implies an individual with great power who rules mightily in directing the course of his subjects, we celebrate Christ as King in a different sense.

He is a King Who stoops low to identify Himself with the lowly.  He shepherds them to Eternal Life, meeting their needs, including their greatest need of salvation.

And as the narrative in the Gospel passage makes clear, He expects the same of us who participate in His Kingdom.

I sometimes puzzled over how Christ could be present in the needy of the world.  Then I realized that He is present in all people because His image, the Divine image, is in all people.  If someone has unmet physical needs, doing something to help those people restores them to the dignity of God's image.

So when all the nations are gathered before the great King at the End of Time in the great judgment, we will recognize that Jesus Christ is a Great King, and He directs our lives by commanding us to care for those in need, as a way to advance His Kingdom.

Pope Pius XI established this Feast in 1925 at a time when the manifestations of worldliness meant there was a need to uphold a different image of Kingship.  Jesus Christ has rightly earned the title King of the Universe because He stooped to the level of humanity, died, and then rose to New Life.  We share in the dying and rising to enter His Kingdom as we fulfill the mission He has given us on Earth.

November 19, 2023: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In keeping with the mood toward the end of the Liturgical Year, the End Times are coming, a reality that calls us to respond.

We recognize that we've been entrusted with the great gift of faith, and we're meant to immediately act to put it into action, and do so throughout our lives as we await Christ's coming again.

We live in a state of readiness, living in a way that is pleasing to God, in His light.  The first reading describes the qualities of a great woman, and many of them apply to the other gender, too.  Ultimately, our interior disposition is what counts, that it may lead us closer to God Who draws close to us.

Like the servants, we're called to us what we have and not just sit on it, even if that puts us at risk.  We are seeking the great reward of entering into the fullness of God's presence, which is worth all our striving now to live holy, because God has brought us into Light.

November 12, 2023: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

As we draw closer to the end of the liturgical year, we consider what is coming at the End of Time.

The parable in the Gospel reading likens it to a wedding feast.  We joyfully await the bridegroom's arrival.  Yet we must be ready, living in ways that draw us closer to Him, lest we be unready like the virigns who didn't have enough oil for their lamps.

So we are called to live with wisdom, confident that we'll find it when we seek it.

And we can have confidence and consolation that our Lord is coming and we will experience the fulfillment of the reality of the Resurrection living with Him.

November 9, 2023: Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica

Today's feast celebrates the dedication of the church that has the seat of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, and so is the Mother Church of the universal church.

Any church has meaning because of the body of people who gather there, as God builds us into a community.  Joined together, we make God present to the world.  As we open ourselves to transformation by His power, we show to the world that God is alive in Christ and is bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth.

November 5, 2023: 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

God is the one Father over all people.

Yet ever since there has been rebellion against God, there's been a tendency among those He has created to attempt making themselves like God.

As we seek to grow in relationship with God, we step aside and open ourselves up to letting God do His work in us.  We acknowledge that He is Father and Master over all, even in directing the way we live our lives in response to Him.

And He fills us with everything we need to live an abundant, purposeful life, which we then share with others this Life, particularly in meeting needs in the world.  In this way, we humbly acknowledge His Word and open ourselves to the power of the Word manifesting God in us.

November 2, 2023: All Souls' Day

Through the Paschal Mystery, God has made a way for us to be fully alive in Him.

Christ rose from the dead, He promises that we, too, the faithful in Him will have a share in that Resurrection.

Even as we await the full revelation of the beatific vision, God is at work now bringing us to life.

Through His mercy, His purifies faithful people so they may truly experience the fullness of His glory.

We honor those who have passed on from us, who were faithful in this life, and marvel that they are bound for the glory of God, to share in the promise of Resurrection.

November 1, 2023: All Saints Day

We marvel at the saints, and on this day, we celebrate them and the example they give us for living the way of holiness.

We strive to be transformed more closely in the image of God, following His way that is so radically different from the world.  We rejoice in meekness and humility, along with the path laid out in the Beatitudes, because it makes real a vision of Heaven.

Even as we look ahead to reaching Heaven and joining the immense throng of the Church Triumphant, we, the Church Militant, are connected with them now as one grand communion of saints.