Christ the King

Today the Church celebrates the last Sunday of its calendar with the solemnity of Christ The King, the Alpha and the Omega.

Whether we know Him or not, believe in Him or not our lives will be measured, ultimately, according to our submission to His Rule.

Too bad that we don't like this kind of language -left alone the reality of having to surrender to anyone -God included. It is too bad because we were born for this surrender to our Savior King.

The second reading of the Divine Office today gives us a hint, in the words of Origen -one of the Fathers of the Church- as to what can we expect from Christ's Kingship:

The kingdom of God within us will reach its highest point when the Apostle’s words are fulfilled, and Christ, having subjected all his enemies to himself, will hand over his kingdom to God the Father, that God may be all in all.

Note this about the kingdom of God. It is not a sharing of justice with iniquity, nor a society of light with darkness, nor a meeting of Christ with Belial. The kingdom of God cannot exist alongside the reign of sin.

There should be in us a kind of spiritual paradise where God may walk and be our sole ruler with his Christ. In us the Lord will sit at the right hand of that spiritual power which we wish to receive. And he will sit there until all his enemies who are within us become his footstool, and every principality, power and virtue in us is cast out.

Then God will reign in us, and we shall enjoy even now the blessings of rebirth and resurrection.

Christ is the only King who wants all and each one of us sitting in the throne with him sharing in the Glory of the children of God. He gave his life in the cross to conquer this legacy for us. This is our future in following Christ's lead.

In our times it has become almost common place to find accounts of what technically is called Near Death Experience. As an example I recommend, one of them is leading, right now, the New York Times "bestseller" list, Heaven is For Real. This kind of stories shortcut organized religion but can give us some taste of how true and real our Catholic religious faith is in spite of all the trappings and sinfulness of those who have passed it on to us -and in spite of our own poor discipleship and our doubts.

We can be sure that we will meet Christ in a more or less distant future. And when we meet him the issue will not be to present ourselves holy and without sin before him, but to be able to choose Him and trust Him in spite of our sins -past and present- because that's the only thing he needs to save us: that is, that we choose to be saved.

Let us think about this. Let us pray for this ultimate grace in our life and in the life of those we love. Let us become familiar with this choice for Christ in our life. Let us practice some training in making the most decisive choice of our lives, a choice that no human being can skip.

And let us rejoice as we sing with all the Saints.

Christ Jesus, Victor!

Christ Jesus, Ruler!

Christ Jesus, Lord and Redeemer!

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross - M. Maria Celeste Feast Day

The Cross is the altar of the sacrifice of Christ who is always present also in our crosses. Through faith we can transcend the negative aspect of the suffering we meet in our way and allow God to make it an avenue of Grace not only for ourselves but for the Church and the world.

        The Cross is the superabundance of God's Love poured out upon this world and the great sign of Christ's saving presence. Love of the Cross is essentially love and imitation of Jesus Christ.  (Rule of Life #30 - Constitutions OSsR, 57)

On this liturgical feast day of the Triumph or Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Redemptoristine daughters of Mother Maria Celeste -including this hermitess- celebrate also her triumph and passing into Glory as Jesus himself promised her:

Know, My daughter, that in this world, you will not be separated from My Passion, but will have an abundance of troubles and infirmities, because you cannot acquire love without sufferings. Thus, whatever I dispose and ordain for you, it is all love! Therefore, you must have patience and I promise you, on My word, that the moment your soul leaves your body, I will lead it into heaven where it will enjoy Me for all eternity.  Dialogue IX

Mother Maria Celeste, the Holy Prioress of the Monastery of the Most Holy Savior in Foggia, Italy, was nearing her 59th birthday when on September 14, 1755, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross:

.  She had taken communion that morning in the community Mass and the day began as one more day in conventual life.  But, feeling very ill, she had the confessor called, Father Nicholas Lombardi, who administered the viaticum to her and holy unction.  Then, she requested him to read her the Passion according to St. John, and when the confessor arrived at the words “Consummatum est” (‘everything is completed’, Jn. 19:30) Mother Maria Celeste quietly died.  It was at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. (Autobiography, Apendix) 

As we praise and thank God for the great gift of the life and death of M. Maria Celeste, we pray through her intercession for her glorification, and for the future of her legacy, the Order and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. We also pray for the new forms in which her spirituality is lived out in various ways around the world, particularly the Redemptoristine eremitic life. Most especially we pray that her very rich doctrine on the transformation of the human person into Christ, which she herself lived and experienced, may be made accessible through publications in different languages, and that many daughters and sons of her spirit be called to live the Christian vocation to the depth of intimacy with God that she was called to mediate.

Receive, My daughter, the spirit of your Institute so that you may instil it into every soul willing to receive it, and through you, be united to Me in love. (Dialogue IX)

Venerable Mother Maria Celeste, pray for us!