News - November 2022 RSS Feed

Today, we begin a new liturgical year as we begin the season of Advent. We are invited to reflect on the entire Christian journey of faith to its end goal. On the First Sunday of Advent in all three lectionary cycles, the Gospel focuses on the Parousia, when the “Son of Man will come” (Matthew 24: 44). In Year A, (the one we begin today) Saint Matthew’s Gospel emphasizes how this moment will happen during ordinary things of daily life—eating, drinking, marrying, working, etc. The Advent season is a two-fold character, for it is a time of preparation for the Solemnities of Christmas, in which the First Coming of the Son of God to humanity is remembered, and likewise a time when, by remembrance of this, minds and hearts are led to look forward to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. For these two reasons, Advent is a period of devout and expectant delight. (Universal Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, # 39).

Today, is the last Sunday in Ordinary Time and we celebrate it with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Leaders of nations come and go. The world mourned the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and the end of her seventy-year reign. Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, is ruler over all people both now and forever. The idea to celebrate this feast was born out of a growing nationalism and secularism one hundred years ago. The world had just lived through the horrors of four years of war unprecedented in its spread over the whole world. This led to Pope Pius IX instituting the feast of Christ the King in 1925. Today we recognize Christ’s preeminence and pray for the day when peace and goodwill forever overcome war and aggression.

Life is described as a journey with an ultimate destination. As we near the end of the liturgical year, we are invited to reflect on the last things—death, judgment, heaven, and hell. We do so not in fear, but in hope, for while this earthly life might end, the promise of life eternal shines brightly in Christ.

Today’s Scripture Readings show difficult situations, whether physical in the first reading or moral in the Gospel. In each setting, the Scripture lifts our sights to what is most important. We are the children of God, and our strength is in the Lord. This is what truly matters in the world, no matter what we might face.