Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

This Sunday we close our Liturgical Year with the Solemnity of Christ the King.  During these seemingly divisive times it’s important for us to remember that we owe our attention and allegiance primarily to Jesus Christ.  Everyone and everything else is secondary.  This celebration was created in response to the growing nationalism and secularism of the early 20th century.  Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in his 1925 encyclical letter Quas Primas.  At that time much of the world was still recovering from the Great War , the first World War, while revolutions in Russia, China, and Spain were sparking continued unrest.  All over the world citizens were calling into question their models of governance and economics.  Now 100 years later, it would seem today the world is in similar turmoil, calling us once again to recognize that above all else, we serve Christ. The Word for the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe 2 Samuel 5:1-3 Psa...

As we near the end of our Liturgical year, our readings take us to “the end of days.”  Jesus is in Jerusalem and he knows the end is near.  Our readings this week remind us that even in the face of adversity we must persevere if we are to gain eternal life: The Word for the 33nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Malachi 3:19-20a Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 Luke 21:5-19 We open with a reading from the prophet Malachi, who’s name literally means “my messenger” in Hebrew.  It was a pseudonym because the author feared retribution.  In this short passage the prophet gives us a view of post Exile Jerusalem, dating to around 445 BCE (around the same time as the Prophet Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem).  Here the prophet warns what will become of “evildoers” and the justice to be had for those who “fear the Lord”.  This was a time of great spiritual upheaval in Jerusalem.  God loves his people, but the prophet finds that love is not being reciprocated....

November 9th marks the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica.  Why are we celebrating the dedication of a church?  Well, because this is perhaps the most important church in all of Western Christianity.  The official title of this church is:  The Cathedral Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist at the Lateran.  “The Lateran” in this case refers to the Lateran Palace which belonged to the Laterni family, an ancient noble Roman family.  The palace was acquired by Constantine and donated to the Pope in order to be the cathedral of the city of Rome.  This is where the cathedra, the Bishop’s Chair, sits.  Contrary to popular belief, St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City is not the Pope’s Cathedral.  The Pope is foremost the Bishop of Rome, so therefore his Cathedral Church is in the City of Rome (not Vatican City, which at the time of Constantine was little more than a hill outside of...