FROM THE PASTOR The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism ~ a way of life which replaces God, faith, and morality with the chaos of civil authority that has no conscience and no moral compass. In his 2012 Homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ as always, the Sunday before the celebration of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE ~ Father Ernest spoke eloquently of all that this Solemnity embodies. In view of the secular culture’s continuing ill-effects on today’s world, we share again the bulk of the wisdom imparted in this exceptional homily in which Father Ernest taught us the meaning ~ and the evil fallacy ~ of secularism. “In a few short moments, I will invite you all to make a statement that is as radical today as it was 2000 years ago,” Father Ernest began. “I will ask you to take a stand against a secular culture that sees no particular purpose for the created world in which we live . . . [claiming that] there is no particular meaning to life, except the meaning which we might create for ourselves . . . with no singular purpose to hold us all together. “That is the basic definition of secularism: a combination of separate fragments with no unifying principle holding it together. [Contrary to this] . . . I will invite you to stand with me and say together, “I believe in one God, the maker of heaven and earth, and in One Lord Jesus Christ who came down from heaven . . . for our salvation . . . to show us how to live with hope until that hope is fulfilled. [Stating our Creed] we will declare that creation does have a purpose: it is meant to lead us to God. “Our secular world tries to convince us that human history is happening by random chance, without any guiding principle, except perhaps by our selfish desire to survive. It’s everyone for themselves, and the only reason we might bother to help another person is if we think we may gain something from it. But I will invite you to stand with me and profess that human history is actually being guided by divine providence. In the Creed we say that God created us; that God came to redeem us; that God sent the Holy Spirit to sanctify us. God called us into the life of the church so that we might help one another live the way of love ~ all the way to the kingdom of love. Unlike the view of our secular society, we choose to believe that we are here today, not as a result of some random course of events which happened by chance to escape from chaos. We believe that we were guided into this church today by Divine Providence. “. . . if our secular world goes so far as to label anything good or evil, it does not tell us which is stronger, which will win in the end. Yet we (Catholics) stand together and declare the triumph of goodness: that, after being crucified by the powers of his culture, Jesus rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures ~ Because ~ Love is stronger than death ~ and Mercy is stronger than envy and hate. “And when those who hold the views of our secular world have nothing to say about the future ~ for all they can see of it is nothingness ~ we will stand to face them and profess the hope that was breathed into us at our conception: I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.” On November 18, 2012, when Father Ernest gave this homily, the readings to which he referred were from the apolyptic messages of Daniel 12 and Mark 13. Daniel wrote in the second century BC, when the Syrian Emperor, King Antiochus IV, was trying to squelch out the Jewish religion so that he could unify his empire into one culture. Basically the same conditions existed when Mark wrote his Gospel in around 50 AD. Sound familiar? The following are a few of the many Biblical References that offer hope, even as they testify that Our Lord, Jesus Christ is, indeed, The King of the Universe. • “You will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds, with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.” ~ The words of Jesus in Mark 13 • One like a Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven, receiving everlasting dominion, glory and kingship that will not be taken away or destroyed. ~ Daniel 7:13-14 • “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats . . . then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom . . .” ~ The words of Jesus in Matthew 25 • In the Book of Revelation (Chapter 1, Verses 5-8), the Apostle John explains that Jesus Christ is The Ruler of the kings of the earth, who loves us and has freed us from our sins. As Father Ernest said in his homily two years ago: “Yes, things are bad and they may get worse before they get better, but God’s kingdom will come eventually . . . Ultimately what we are waiting for is a new springtime, a time of new life that we can anticipate as a lover anticipates the arrival of his or her beloved . . . “So as we come to the end of the liturgical year, the Church invites us again to look forward with hope, and to shine the light of our faith into the secular world. We stand together again today and dare to proclaim that creation does have a purpose: it is meant to lead us to God. We dare to proclaim that human history is being guided by divine providence; and that in God’s providence, suffering can actually lead to something greater. “We dare to declare to our secular world that there is a difference between good and evil, and that in the end goodness will triumph ~ FOR LOVE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH. We are sent forth today to proclaim to the world around us that, no matter how bad things may be, Christ is still risen from the dead. He gives us hope to look forward to our own resurrection and the life of the world to come. “And the best part about the plan of God is this: When we cling to our faith, when we come together to celebrate it, and when we share the fruit of our charity with our hungry world ~ Jesus comes again, and again, and again. The miracle of God’s love is eternal: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. ~ Rev. Ernest Bayer, November 18, 2012
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 18:05:23 +0000