Sunday, November 22, 2009

Jesus Christ is King: Thanksgiving and Advent

By Deacon Keith Fournier
11/21/2009
Catholic Online (http://www.catholic.org/)

On the Feast of Christ the King we celebrate the full and final triumph and return of the One through whom the entire universe was created and in whom it is being recreated.


Christians mark time by the great events of the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are always moving forward and toward His loving return. We mark our Christian culture with events of importance from the ongoing 'family', history of the Church. The members of that family were birthed from the wounded side of the Savior on the Cross-at Calvary’s hill.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - Our Catholic liturgical year follows a rhythmic cycle. It points us toward beginnings and ends and, in so doing, emphasizes an important truth that can only be grasped through faith. This is the Thirty Fourth or last Sunday in the Western Church year and we celebrate the Feast of the Solemnity of Jesus Christ the Sovereign King.

Then, no sooner than we have celebrated the last Sunday of the Year, the feast of Christ the King, we will celebrate the First Sunday of Advent, and begin the time of preparation for the great Nativity of Our Savior. Our Catholic Christian faith and its Liturgical practices proclaim to a world hungry for meaning that Jesus Christ is the “Alpha”, (the first letter of the Greek alphabet) and the “Omega” (the last letter), the beginning and the end. He is the Giver, the Governor and the fulfillment of all time. In Him the whole world is being made new.

Our Liturgical seasons offer us a way to receive time as a continual gift. Their celebration can help us to grow in the life of grace as we say “yes” to their invitations. They invite us to walk with the Lord in a way of life which becomes infused with supernatural meaning. The liturgical seasons help us mark time with those deeper truths that matter most. Human beings have always marked time by significant events. The real question is not whether we will mark time, but how we will do so. What events and what messages are we proclaiming in our calendaring? For the Christian, time is not meant to be a tyrant, somehow ruling over us. Rather, it is to be a teacher, instructing us, a series of invitations to allow the Lord to be our King, to reign in our real, daily lives. Rather than an enemy, time is to be a companion, a friend. It is a path along which the redemptive loving plan of a timeless God is revealed and received. In Christ, time is now given back to us as a gift, a field of choice and a path to holiness and human flourishing.
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See also from Catholic Culture, "Solemnity of Christ the King."

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