Halleluja! Christ is
King
November 20, 2016. Solemnity of Christ
the King
Luke 23:35-43
The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God." Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, "If you are King of the Jews, save yourself." Above him there was an inscription that read, "This is the King of the Jews." Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God." Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, "If you are King of the Jews, save yourself." Above him there was an inscription that read, "This is the King of the Jews." Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Introductory Prayer: Lord our God, King of the
universe; You are the source of Your people’s joy! Hear the prayers we make to
You, through Christ Our Lord
1. "Jesus is Lord," who is most human and yet
transcendent: The
image of Christ on the cross gives us a stark contrast of what a king is. We
see nudity, shame, suffering, pain, death, and defeat. But the emptiness of
Christ on the cross ironically uncovers the real dimension of kingship which is
beyond human ways, a kingship which embraces all of human realities, a kingdom
where everyone has the possibility to have access into the eternal joy of
paradise. The saving power of Jesus culminates on the cross. The rulers sneer
at him; the soldiers jeer at him, and even one of the criminals mocks him. What
irony that Jesus' enemies are his very confessors and the theological
interpreters of the saving event of his dying. Luke narrates that
"the centurion who witnessed what had happened glorified Cod and said,
'This man was innocent beyond doubt.' When all the people who had gathered . .
. saw... returned home beating their breasts" (vv 47-48).
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." "Amen,
I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise Christ adduces his own example as a pattern of
profound humility. To minister. By
his incarnation Christ assumed the lowliest life of man. He took upon himself
the form of a servant, and was ever active in ministering to others' wants,
going about doing good, healing the sick, cleansing lepers, casting out demons;
always accessible, sympathetic, merciful; never weary of teaching, however
fatigued in body; a servant to the race which he came to save. A ransom
for many.
2. This Promise of Christ: To acknowledge his kingship and his authority to grant
pardon and mercy, Jesus promises Paradise to the repentant thief. This Promise
of Christ illustrates that everything which has been said of Jesus, whether in
faith or in scorn, is in fact true. His word is his sole power that save.
3. Christ defeated the mortal enemy of human existence: sin, death and the
devil. The mysterious nature of Christ's kingship gives freedom to what binds
and imprisons us, it offers a new way to live, and enables those who so desire
to pass through death victoriously. Jesus is always at our side who continues
to be crucified for our sins, bidding us company in our sufferings. In our
daily life, let us constantly call out to him like what the repentant thief
did, "Jesus, remember me..." for Christ is king in today's reality.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord Jesus, You are my king and Your kingdom
is truth. Form my mind to know all things in relation to You. Form my heart to
judge all people in relation to Your love. Free me from the deceptions of
pride, human respect and self-love. May only Your love reign in my heart!
Resolution: This week I will reject all internal judgments
of others that are based on hearsay. I will replace them with prayers for those
persons, giving them the benefit of the doubt and entrusting them to the care
of the King.
Excerpts from the
DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
80 O Jesus, Divine
Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your love and how You emptied Yourself for
me, my senses fail me. You hide Your inconceivable majesty and lower Yourself
to miserable me. O King of Glory, though You hide Your beauty, yet the eye of
my soul rends the veil. I see the angelic choirs giving You honor without
cease, and all the heavenly Powers praising You without cease, and without
cease they are saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.
Oh, who will
comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy toward us! O Prisoner of Love,
I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle, that it may adore You without cease
night and day. I know of no obstacle in this adoration, and even though I be
physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my
love for You. No obstacles exist for me. O my Jesus, I will console You for all
the ingratitude, the blasphemies, the coldness, the hatred of the wicked, the
sacrileges. O Jesus, I want to burn as 'a pure offering and to be consumed
before the throne of Your hiddenness. I plead with You unceasingly for poor
dying sinners.
83 Write this:
before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before
the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens
of this sort: All light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be
great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the cross will be seen in
the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed
will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of
time. This will take place shortly before the last day.
88 +During adoration I
felt God close to me. A moment later I saw Jesus and Mary. At the sight of them
I was filled with joy, and I asked the Lord, "What is Your will, Jesus,
concerning the matter about which my confessor told me to ask You?" Jesus
replied, It is My will that he should remain here and that
he should not take the initiative of dispensing himself. I asked Jesus
whether the inscription could be: "Christ King of Mercy." He
answered, I am King of Mercy, but He did not say
"Christ." I desire that this image be displayed in public
on the first Sunday after Easter. That Sunday is the Feast of Mercy. Through the
Word Incarnate I make known the bottomless depth of My mercy.
199 When I think of my
perpetual vows and Who it is that wants to be joined with me, for hours I
become absorbed in the thought of Him. How can this be; You are God and I-I am
Your creature. You, the Immortal King and I, a beggar and misery itself! But now
all is clear to me; Your grace and Your love, O Lord, will fill the gulf
between You, Jesus, and me.
354 As I was talking
to a certain person[84] who
was to paint the image but, for certain reasons, was not painting it, I heard
this voice in my soul: I want her to be more obedient. I
understood that our efforts, no matter how great, are not pleasing to God if
they do not bear the seal of obedience; I am speaking about a religious soul. O
God, how easy it is to know Your will in the convent! We religious have God's
will set clearly before our eyes from morning till night, and in moments of
uncertainty we have our superiors through whom God speaks.
365 My spiritual director
replaced it with an interior mortification; namely, throughout Holy Mass I was
to meditate on why the Lord Jesus had submitted to being baptized. The
meditation was no mortification for me, for thinking about God is a delight and
not a mortification; but there was a mortification of the will in that I was
not doing [simply] what I like, but what I was told to do, and it is in this
that interior mortification consists. When I left the confessional and started
to recite my penance, I heard these words: I have granted the grace you
asked for on behalf of that soul, but not because of the mortification you
chose for yourself. Rather, it was because of your act of complete obedience to
My representative that I granted this grace to that soul for whom you interceded
and begged mercy. Know that when you mortify your own self-will, then Mine
reigns within you.
366 O my Jesus, be
patient with me. I will be more careful in the future. I will rely, not upon
myself, but upon Your grace and Your very great goodness to miserable me.
367 +On one occasion,
Jesus gave me to know that when I pray for intentions which people are wont to
entrust to me, He is always ready to grant His graces, but souls do not always
want to accept them: My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and
especially for poor sinners. If only they could understand that I am the best
of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from
My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle
as King of Mercy. I desire to bestow My graces upon souls, but they do not want
to accept them. You, at least, come to Me as often as possible and take these
graces they do not want to accept. In this way you will console My Heart. Oh,
how indifferent are souls to so much goodness, to so many proofs of love! My
Heart drinks only of the ingratitude and forgetfulness of souls living in the
world. They have time for everything, but they have no time to come to Me for
graces.
So I turn to you, you-chosen souls, will you also fail to understand the love of My Heart? Here, too, My Heart finds disappointment; I do not find complete surrender to My love. So many reservations, so much distrust, so much caution. To comfort you, let Me tell you that there are souls living in the world who love Me dearly. I dwell In their hearts with delight. But they are few. In convents too, there are souls that fill My Heart with joy. They bear My features; therefore the Heavenly Father looks upon them with special pleasure. They will be a marvel to Angels and men. Their number is very small. They are a defense for the world before the justice of the Heavenly Father and a means of obtaining mercy for the world. The love and sacrifice of these souls sustain the world in existence. The infidelity of a soul specially chosen by Me wounds My Heart most painfully. Such infidelities are swords which pierce My Heart.
So I turn to you, you-chosen souls, will you also fail to understand the love of My Heart? Here, too, My Heart finds disappointment; I do not find complete surrender to My love. So many reservations, so much distrust, so much caution. To comfort you, let Me tell you that there are souls living in the world who love Me dearly. I dwell In their hearts with delight. But they are few. In convents too, there are souls that fill My Heart with joy. They bear My features; therefore the Heavenly Father looks upon them with special pleasure. They will be a marvel to Angels and men. Their number is very small. They are a defense for the world before the justice of the Heavenly Father and a means of obtaining mercy for the world. The love and sacrifice of these souls sustain the world in existence. The infidelity of a soul specially chosen by Me wounds My Heart most painfully. Such infidelities are swords which pierce My Heart.
499 Each battle
valiantly fought brings me joy, peace, light, experience and courage for the
future; honor and glory to God; and in the end, for me, a reward.
Today is the Feast of Christ the King.
[October 27, 1935]
Today is the Feast of Christ the King.
[October 27, 1935]
742 My
daughter, if I demand through you that people revere My mercy, you should be
the first to distinguish yourself by this confidence in My mercy. I demand from
you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show
mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or
try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.
I am giving you three
ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first-by deed, the second-by
word, the third-by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of
mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul
glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy. Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is
the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy, and I demand the
worship of My mercy through the solemn celebration of the Feast and through the
veneration of the image which is painted. By means of this image I shall grant
many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy,
because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works. O my Jesus, You yourself must help me in
everything, because You see how very little I am, and so I depend solely on
Your goodness, O God.
+ Particular Examen
Union with the merciful Christ. With my heart I encompass the whole world, especially countries which are uncivilized or where there is persecution. I am praying for mercy upon them.
+ Particular Examen
Union with the merciful Christ. With my heart I encompass the whole world, especially countries which are uncivilized or where there is persecution. I am praying for mercy upon them.
744 + I often feel
that, apart from Jesus, I get no help from anyone, although sometimes I am very
much in need of clarifications concerning the demands of the Lord. This
evening, I suddenly received light from God regarding a certain matter. For
twelve years, I have been reflecting on a certain matter and could not
understand it. Today, Jesus gave me to know how much that had pleased Him.
The Feast of Christ
the King. [October 25, 1936]
I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first-by deed, the second-by word, the third-by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy. Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy, and I demand the worship of My mercy through the solemn celebration of the Feast and through the veneration of the image which is painted. By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works. O my Jesus, You yourself must help me in everything, because You see how very little I am, and so I depend solely on Your goodness, O God.
+ Particular Examen
Union with the merciful Christ. With my heart I encompass the whole world, especially countries which are uncivilized or where there is persecution. I am praying for mercy upon them.
I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first-by deed, the second-by word, the third-by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy. Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy, and I demand the worship of My mercy through the solemn celebration of the Feast and through the veneration of the image which is painted. By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works. O my Jesus, You yourself must help me in everything, because You see how very little I am, and so I depend solely on Your goodness, O God.
+ Particular Examen
Union with the merciful Christ. With my heart I encompass the whole world, especially countries which are uncivilized or where there is persecution. I am praying for mercy upon them.
Conference on
Spiritual Warfare.
1760 My daughter, I want to teach you about spiritual warfare. Never trust in yourself, but abandon yourself totally to My will. In desolation, darkness and various doubts, have recourse to Me and to your spiritual director. He will always answer you in My name. Do not bargain with any temptation; lock yourself immediately in My Heart and, at the first opportunity, reveal the temptation to the confessor. Put your self-love in the last place, so that it does not taint your deeds. Bear with yourself with great patience. Do not neglect interior mortifications. Always justify to yourself the opinions of your superiors and of your confessor. Shun murmurers like a plague. Let all act as they like; you are to act as I want you to.
Observe the rule as faithfully as you can. If someone causes you trouble, think what good you can do for the person who caused you to suffer. Do not pour out your feelings. Be silent when you are rebuked. Do not ask everyone's opinion, but only the opinion of your confessor; be as frank and simple as a child with him. Do not become discouraged by ingratitude. Do not examine with curiosity the roads down which I lead you. When boredom and discouragement beat against your heart, run away from yourself and hide in My heart. Do not fear struggle; courage itself often intimidates temptations, and they dare not attack us.
Always fight with the deep conviction that I am with you. Do not be guided by feeling, because it is not always under your control; but all merit lies in the will. Always depend upon your superiors, even in the smallest things. I will not delude you with prospects of peace and consolations; on the contrary, prepare for great battles. Know that you are now on a great stage where all heaven and earth are watching you. Fight like a knight, so that I can reward you. Do not be unduly fearful, because you are not alone.
1760 My daughter, I want to teach you about spiritual warfare. Never trust in yourself, but abandon yourself totally to My will. In desolation, darkness and various doubts, have recourse to Me and to your spiritual director. He will always answer you in My name. Do not bargain with any temptation; lock yourself immediately in My Heart and, at the first opportunity, reveal the temptation to the confessor. Put your self-love in the last place, so that it does not taint your deeds. Bear with yourself with great patience. Do not neglect interior mortifications. Always justify to yourself the opinions of your superiors and of your confessor. Shun murmurers like a plague. Let all act as they like; you are to act as I want you to.
Observe the rule as faithfully as you can. If someone causes you trouble, think what good you can do for the person who caused you to suffer. Do not pour out your feelings. Be silent when you are rebuked. Do not ask everyone's opinion, but only the opinion of your confessor; be as frank and simple as a child with him. Do not become discouraged by ingratitude. Do not examine with curiosity the roads down which I lead you. When boredom and discouragement beat against your heart, run away from yourself and hide in My heart. Do not fear struggle; courage itself often intimidates temptations, and they dare not attack us.
Always fight with the deep conviction that I am with you. Do not be guided by feeling, because it is not always under your control; but all merit lies in the will. Always depend upon your superiors, even in the smallest things. I will not delude you with prospects of peace and consolations; on the contrary, prepare for great battles. Know that you are now on a great stage where all heaven and earth are watching you. Fight like a knight, so that I can reward you. Do not be unduly fearful, because you are not alone.
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-80, 83, 199, 354, 365-367, 499)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-742, 744)
(Diary of Sister
Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1760)
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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