We are grateful for her faith and her love as we feebly dare to place our trust in the risen One. In a time like ours when the world seems to be at wit’s end, when chaos abounds and people look for easy answers, the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst is our strength to persevere in faith. We proclaim it every Sunday, the “Lord’s Day.” We are encouraged by the Orthodox Church which has kept the resurrection as the center of faith. On Easter night each person shouts “Christ is Risen, alleluia!” and the response is “Christ is truly Risen, alleluia!” The icon of Jesus rising from the dead over the tombs of Adam and Eve is in every church. Let us be, like them, Easter People and sing out our alleluias with gusto.
The Church is open to everyone, saints and sinners alike. My Irish cousin, James Joyce, once described the Church as “Here comes everybody.” Some people just hang on or take part as a sense of obligation. We hope they will turn to the church when they need it. But, as we continue to live in a society adrift, a culture that is secularized and leaves God out, country and church will need all committed religious people to live their faith, to witness to the belief that there is more to life than our own needs and the accumulation of power, prestige and possessions. Christians who live their baptism and are happy to walk with Christ will be needed more and more. This is our privilege as well as our right. What do you think?
Some people leave the church when they no longer find adult sustenance. Many stay on the first level of life. But how do we move on to an adult understanding of the Incarnation? Knowing the scriptures well, having a radical awareness of our own inner lives and identity including our faults (this is the best way to come to know God), practicing a vulnerable openness about ourselves, regular prayer especially centering prayer, staying still with nature, moving on to a unified consciousness of what life is all about, that we are all one!
This last Sunday is dedicated to Christ the King. Pope Pius XI instituted this feast, originally on the last Sunday of October, to stand up to the communist threat of his day. I personally do not like this image of Christ. I don’t like the regal, dominative, authoritarian, patriarchal Jesus that it portrays. The other image of today’s readings is the shepherd. The shepherd feeds his flock, seeks out those who stray, even lays down his life for them. The reading from the prophet Ezekiel bemoans the false shepherds who are concerned with their own power and image. Paul to the Corinthians, our second reading today, praises Christ, the first fruits from the dead in his resurrection, who shows us all the way to new life. How beautiful and inspiring! I am thankful for the Word of God in Matthew, Paul and the prophets this year. Thanks be to God!
I am sure people looked at Jesus with a quizzical look and wondered what he was trying to say. Do you feel that God is doing that with you too? Don’t hide. Don’t be afraid. You are on this earth to learn to give, to try to be of help to others. It is all right to make mistakes.
