Jesus of Nazareth was a worker, supporting himself and his mother by the sweat of his brow and the keenness of his mind. At around the age of thirty, this son of David left his workshop and began a public ministry of prophecy and healing, seeking to make God's Kingdom known to all. But it was not until his passion and his resurrection that his disciples knew him fully as the Christ (Messiah in Hebrew), the Anointed One. The great shepherd David was anointed King at the age of thirty (2 Samuel 5.4). The Crucified and Risen Lord was anointed not as David was (an anointing with olive oil) but with an anointing of the Spirit of the living God. In the royal line of David, this worker is now known as King of the Universe.
The celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ the King is the last Sunday of the liturgical calendar. We end this liturgical year of prayer by a meditation on our Father's great gift: his healing and redeeming Word of love, spoken once and for all to our broken hearts, made known through the human flesh and blood of his Son. Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord, the King. How is he the King of your life? Your heart? Your family?
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For those of you at the Vigil Mass of Saturday evening and the 9:30 AM and 11 AM Masses of Sunday, you will hear from Deacon Terry Biglow. Deacon Terry is a deacon assigned to Our Lady of the Assumption Church. He also happens to be the architect of our new worship space and lower level meeting rooms. I have asked Terry to come and assist at these Sunday Masses, offering us a word on his work as deacon and architect
After I made the initial request to him, to come and speak to us at Mass, I began to reflect on the notion of Christ the King as the architect of a new humanity. An architect takes all he or she has learned, in much training and through much experience, and designs a new structure. An architect brings to birth an idea, making tangible the desire of another. An architect makes present the wish, the hope of another. Terry has listened to our Steering Committee, our Design Review Committee, our Sacred Space Committee, and has given us what was needed... a way to build a legacy of our faithfulness.
Jesus of Nazareth... Christ the King... is the architect of a new, redeemed humanity. He shows us how to construct the Kingdom (by being living stones), and he is the door to that Kingdom. He makes present the desire of the human heart (our redemption, experienced in and through Christ) and the wish of our Abba (his creation, redeemed, brought into unity).
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Next week is the beginning of the Advent season. We anticipate the remembrance of the coming of the Lord (Adventus) in history. This is the celebration of Christ's Mass... the Nativity; and, we look to the culmination of history, when Christ the King comes again, to bring the Kingdom.
Please begin the season of Advent with me, by having an Advent wreathe in your home or apartment.
Please begin the season of Advent with me, by being present at our Advent Penance Service, on the 30th of November, beginning at 7:30 PM.
Please begin the season of Advent with our young parish families at Advent-ures in Our Faith: An Evening of Advent Tradition-Building, on the 3rd of December, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM.
Please begin the season of Advent with me, by enjoying our next Table of Fellowship pot-luck meal: the 5th of December, in the school's Donnellan Hall, 6 to 8 PM. Bring a dish to share and a heart to receive much love.
AMDG
Msgr. David Talley
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