Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

November is the month dedicated to the Poor Souls in Purgatory

December is the month dedicated to Advent and Christmas

Readings from the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 47 Announcing the Hours for the Work of God - Ch 51 Brothers on a Short Journey

He guides me in right paths.

ALL FOR WHOM LOVE OR DUTY BIDS ME PRAYER,

MY JESUS MERCY!

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL SAINTS,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

So that God may be all in all.

(1 Cor 15:28)

Welcome to the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe and entry into the Last Week in Ordinary Time. How worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and divinity, and wisdom and strength and honor. To Him belong glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. (Entrance Antiphon, Mass). 

Let us continue during these final days of November to pray for those who have died, for the poor souls in Purgatory, and especially for those who don't have anyone to pray for them. We pray too, for the repose of the soul of Ruth Burrows (Sister Rachel, OCD), the Quidenham Carmelite who died on November 10, 2023. Ruth summarized her insights in this way: "God offers Himself in total love to each one of us. Our part is to open our hearts to receive the gift." Thank you, Sister Rachel, for your service to God and the Church. Rest in peace.

Next Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent and the start of the new liturgical year. Is there a saint calling out to be your patron saint for the year? Has there been a nudge from one of the saints you've read about or heard from throughout the days of November? Just who is it that could help you respond to the universal call to holiness and reach out to those in need - the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the imprisoned - for those in need of your attention and care at home, work, parish, or in your neighborhood. You don't have to go far to find someone in need of your love. Just who is it that will help you open your heart to receive the gift of God's love and then pass it along to others ...

Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least of the brothers or sisters of mine, 

you did for me.

(Matthew 25:40)

And now the time you've been waiting for. Let us rejoice and be glad as we hear from our voices for the week. With all the saints, we join our holy father Saint Benedict "ready to give up our own will, once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord" (Rule of Saint Benedict, Prologue 3).

The saints in each generation, joined to those who have gone before and filled like them with light, become a golden chain, in which each saint is a separate link, united to the next by faith, works and love.

(Saint Simeon the New Theologian, 949-1022)

A person can wait for the Lord the more trustfully if his conscience is so at rest as to let him say: Every smallest possession of mine, Lord, is entirely yours.

(Guerric of Igny, 1070/80-1157)

Gratitude is the first sign of a thinking, rational creature.

(Blessed Solanus Casey, 1870-1957)

May we always welcome the word which you send us and give it flesh in our lives, that those who come after us may learn the message of your love from what we do and say.

(Blessed Arnold Jules Reche, 1838-1890)

Love knows no measure, so in love and for love we should just suffer and work.

(Blessed Ulrike Franziska Nisch, 1882-1913)

I wish to be a poor woman and I am happy with it, because it seems to me that this way I am loved even more by the Lord ... It is not riches but doing the will of God that makes the heart happy.

(Blessed Eurosia Fabris, 1866-1932)

Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward and learning to enjoy whatever life has, and this requires transforming greed into gratitude.

(Saint John Chrysostom, 347-407)

The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for what He is sending us every day in His goodness.

(Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, 1922-1962)

O my God, let me remember with gratitude and confess to Thee Thy mercies toward me.

(Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430)

In all created things discern the providence and wisdom of God, and in all things give Him thanks.

(Saint Teresa of Avila, 1515-1582)

SAINT LEONARD OF PORTO MAURIZIO,

SAINT FRANCESCO ANTONIO FASANI,

SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS,

SAINT FERGAL,

BLESSED BERNARD FRANCIS DE HOYOS,

BLESSEDS DENIS AND REDEMPTUS,

SAINT ANDREW, APOSTLE,

BLESSED CLEMENTINE ANUARITE,

SAINT ALEXANDER BRIANT,

ALL SAINTS OF THE SERAPHIC ORDER,

SAINT SATURNINUS,

SAINT CATHERINE LABOURE,

SAINT JAMES OF THE MARCHES,

SAINT FRANCESCO ANTONIO FASANI,

SAINT JAMES INTERCISCUS,

SAINT SECHNALL OF IRELAND,

SAINT LEONARD OF PORT MAURICE,

SAINT PETER OF ALEXANDRIA,

BLESSED SANTIAGO ALBERIONE,

SAINT RALPH SHERWIN,

SAINT EDMUND CAMPION,

SAINT ELIGIUS,

SAINT BIBIANA,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: For years to come.

© Gertrude Feick 2023

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

For the Poor Souls in Purgatory

In other years: Saint Edmund (d. 869); Blessed Mary Fortunata Viti (1827-1922)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 42 Silence After Compline

Mass: 2 Sm 5:1-3; Resp Ps 122; Col 1:12-20; Lk 23:35-43

We will go up to the house of the Lord.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

OUR LADY OF MONTILGEON,

SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT OF HELFTA,

SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

To Jesus Christ, our sov'reign King,

Who is the world's salvation,

All praise and homage do we bring

And thanks and adoration. 

Welcome to the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, a feast instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, and a day to "go rejoicing to the house of the Lord" (Ps 122), while singing Christ Jesus, Victor! Christ Jesus, Ruler! Christ Jesus, Lord and Redeemer! And not only that, as if that is not enough, we pick our patron saint for Liturgical Year 2023 that begins next Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, and reaches all the way to December 3 of next year, the First Sunday of Advent 2023. Who will be your companion and guide in the coming year? Before choosing from your collection gathered these days, remember what the cloistered nun said to Mrs. Elizabeth Scalia (see reflection of November 1, 2022), "The saint chooses you. Pray, first that the patron be guided your way. But the prayer is more for you, for your awareness." Furthermore, remember that "you have been given a great opportunity for spiritual growth, if you stick together." Together, then, we carry our crosses, sing God's praises, and be open to God's merciful love and forgiveness. For Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, gives us a chance, as Pope Francis preached in his homily today at the Cathedral of Asti, Italy, "to reign in this life, if only you surrender to His meek love that proposes but does not impose, a love that always forgives you, that always sets you on your feet, that always restores your royal dignity." United in faith and prayer, with our patron saint by our side, and with one of the criminals hanging near Jesus on a cross, we say to Our Lord, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Listen. Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise. 

It is clear that he who prays for the coming of God's kingdom prays rightly to have it within himself, that there it may grow and bear fruit and become perfect. For God reigns in each of His holy ones.

(From a notebook on prayer by Origen, priest, in Office of Readings, Christ the King)

Through cross He bore is life and health,

Though shame and death to Him,

His people's hope, His people's wealth,

Their everlasting hope.

SAINT EDMUND,

BLESSED MARY FORTUNATA VITI,

PRAY FOR US.

Fun fact: I have been to Veroli, Italy, where one will find the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de 'Franconi, also where one of our saints of the day, Blessed Fortunata Viti, was a nun for some seventy-two years. It was there that she served as housekeeper, sometimes as infirmarian, and also as portress. In all that and more, Fortunata Viti did no more than live out the Benedictine ideal of ora et labora based on charity. Pope Saint Paul VI beatified her in 1967 and spoke of her "greatness and littleness." I was sent to Veroli by a dear friend and Benedictine monk of happy memory, Father Paschal Cheline, OSB, who had a special devotion to Fortunata Viti. Essentially, I went wherever Father Paschal told me to go, whether it be to venerate the remains of a saint or two or go to an art museum. At Veroli, I not only spoke to the Abbess through a double grill I prayed before the tomb of Blessed Fortunata Viti. In addition, I was served an overabundance of food for dinner, delivered through the turn. It was a grace-filled day. I have here before me, a Blessed Fortunata Viti holy card. The cause for Fortunata Viti's canonization is on-going and supported by Mount Angel Abbey. You can find more information on their website www.mountangelabbey.org. For all the saints ... 

Today's photo: A view from the deck of a faithful reader, Willits, California, after the first rain in October. Saint Padre Pio, pray for us.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Readings of the day: RB 47

Mass: Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17; Resp. Psalm 23; 1 Cor. 15:20-26, 28; Matthew 25:31-46

WHATEVER YOU DID FOR ONE

OF THE LEAST SISTERS OR BROTHERS OF MINE,

YOU DID FOR ME.

Christ The Good Shepherd

Commenting on today’s Gospel, Pope Francis told those gathered in Saint Peter’s Square: “At the end of our life we will be judged on love, that is, on our concrete commitment to love and to serve Jesus in our smallest and most needy brothers” (Angelus address, Nov. 26, 2017).

On this last Sunday of the liturgical year and in preparation for the holy season of Advent, why not turn to the works of mercy as a way to love and serve Jesus in our sisters and brothers. Last year, while reflecting on the works of mercy, Pope Francis helped broaden our understanding of the works of mercy by encouraging us to look at them as a whole; to see that the object of mercy is human life itself and everything it embraces. The Holy Father proposed a complement to the traditional sets of seven: may the works of mercy also include care for our common home (Day of Prayer for Creation, September 1, 2016). “As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our common home calls for a ‘grateful contemplation of God’s world’, which ‘allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us’. As a corporeal work of mercy, care for our common home requires ‘simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness’ and ‘makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world’.”

A rich theme of discussion for families, communities, and work groups might be how each of us individually can break the logic of violence, exploitation, and selfishness. Questions may include: how are my actions or words in any way violent—do I act in anger, nurse a grudge, injure or curse others? How do I exploit members of my family, community, or my colleagues by not bearing with others’ weaknesses of body or behavior? Are there times when I pursue what I judge better for myself instead of pursuing what is better for someone else? Just imagine the local if not global impact of only one or two people making a concrete commitment to love and serve Jesus in a brother or sister. We don’t have to look far—the smallest and most in need may be sitting across the table from us. 

I MYSELF WILL PASTURE MY SHEEP;

I MYSELF WILL GIVE THEM REST SAYS THE LORD.

THE LOST I WILL SEEK OUT, THE STRAYED I WILL BRING BACK,

THE INJURED I WILL BIND UP, THE SICK I WILL HEAL.