Christ the King November 21,
2010. Our Lady of Grace. All
Masses. 2 Samuel 5:1-3. Colossians 1:12-20. Luke 23:35-43.
Two men were dying nailed to crosses side by side. One
was a criminal who knew that he had led a sinful life deserving of severe punishment.
The other man was Jesus – nailed to a cross for being the King of the
Jews. The criminal reached out to Jesus and said, “Remember me, Jesus,
when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus responded with words of
friendship that wiped out all of the man’s sins and much more. Jesus
eagerly welcomed the sinful man to heaven. Jesus said, “This day you
will be with me in paradise.” Belief in Christ is much more than
words in a creed or ritual practices, as important as these are. Faith in
Christ is a living relationship. It is personal and powerful. It is
an awesome friendship with the creator of the universe. To know Christ
Jesus and to love Christ Jesus is the greatest gift that life can bring.
To live in Christ is the beginning of the life of heaven here and now.
God doesn’t love us from a distance. Jesus entered so
deeply into our world that that he was nailed to a cross. As he hung
before the crowd, humiliated and in great pain, one of the criminals crucified
with him said, “We criminals have been condemned justly for our crimes, but
this man has done nothing wrong”. In the midst of the pain that he
shared with the crucified Jesus the criminal said, “Jesus, remember me when
you come into your kingdom.” This dying criminal had moved far beyond
defending Jesus as an innocent man. He reached out to Jesus in a great
act of trust and friendship. He gave his heart to Jesus and Jesus
responded to this act of love by saying, “Yes, I say to you, today you will
be with me in
A friend is someone that we are eager to see and be with –
are we eager to meet Jesus in prayer? Do we see Mass as a gift in which
we meet the Risen Christ face to face? Do we want to spend time after
communion with Jesus in silent heart to heart sharing with him?
What we do at Mass tells us a lot about how we feel about Jesus. A friend
is someone that we want to hang out with and even waste time with. A
friend is someone we long to talk to and we are eager to embrace. Do we
know and trust Jesus as our best friend?
Because Jesus is our friend, we extend our intimate
conversation with Jesus in moments of prayer throughout the day. Jesus is truly
present in the Eucharist as a living person. When we receive communion we
welcome the King of the universe into our hearts. Our hearts become the
temple of friendship where Jesus lives. The Church gives us another way
to express our friendship with Jesus. It is called Eucharistic
Adoration. Twenty four hours a day, every day of the week, the
Eucharistic Body of Jesus is shown in our Adoration Chapel so that we can come
to pray in the presence of Jesus and deepen our love and friendship with him
deep in our hearts. Eucharistic Adoration is an opportunity to spend time
with Jesus, speaking silently to him, listening to him, or just resting in his
powerful presence. When I am weary or confused, when things seem too heavy,
when I am feeling tempted or unholy, I know from my own experience that the
best thing I can do is to go to the Adoration Chapel and sit in silence, cry in
silence, reach out in silence to the God of the universe. I have often
prayed, “Jesus remember me in your kingdom.” Whenever I stop to
kneel or sit in the presence of the Lord paradise returns. If we truly
want to deepen our friendship with Jesus it helps very, very much to regularly spend time with him, perhaps in an hour of
Eucharistic Adoration each week. I promise you that an hour of silent
prayer in the presence of Jesus, the King of the universe, in the Eucharist can
change your life. I know this from my own experience.
(Introduce speaker)
After Mass today there will be an opportunity to sign up for
Eucharistic Adoration. Please be
generous with yourself – give yourself the gift of an
hour of adoration with the Lord each week.
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and grief to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
May
Jesus truly be king in our lives. Please consider making a commitment to
Eucharistic Adoration.