A Sunday Morning Thought to Start the Week Off Right
It's the feast of Christ the King in the "new" liturgical calendar. (In the old calendar, observed if you attend a Tridentine right Mass, Christ the King is celebrated the last weekend of October.) This feast was instituted fairly recently, in 1925, by Pius XI. For many years the Church was under attack by the forces of what we now call secularism. Secularism fostered anti-clericalism, a vicious example of which was occurring during Pius XI's reign when priests were murdered during the Mexican Revolution, some because they supported the Catholic opposition known as "Cristeros," some just because they were priests.
(Last Sunday I recommended you get a copy of the DVD of For Greater Glory, a movie about the Cristeros, to learn more about the Mexican Revolution and what faithful Catholics were subjected to. This past Friday, we celebrated the anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed Augustin Pro, a priest murdered by the evil Mexican government during the Revolution.)
To tie all this into the theme of living our Faith "without compromise" - something we've been talking about recently - let's add these two facts: 1) Our Holy Father has declared this year the "Year of Faith," and 2) This is the last week of the liturgical year; next Sunday starts a new liturgical year.
The start of the new liturgical year - like New Years Day - is a time to begin again, only we begin again our determination to become more holy, to work our way toward Heaven, our Home. We remember that nothing - NOTHING - is as important as our eternal salvation, something about which we Catholic men at work need constant reminding, especially if we have the tendency to work long, hard hours. And now that we have this "Year of Faith," we can spend time learning, or re-learning, the truths about our beautiful and true Catholic Faith. Of course learning about our faith won't increase our holiness by itself. Only our increasing love of God will do that. But if you're like me, when I learn about our faith and spend a few moments thinking about what I've learned, I want to love God more.
And as we renew our knowledge and understanding of our faith, and increase our love of God, I suggest we will gain increased strength and determination to live our faith without compromise. I hope that's the case, and I point out that our Holy Mother the Church needs us to do so more than ever.
When Pius XI declared the feast of Christ the King, he didn't create something new. The Church has always preached Christ the King. But naming a special day to acknowledge our Blessed Lord as our King became even more important then, as the late Holy Father witnessed the increasing power of secularism, and a decreasing respect and esteem for the Church and, more importantly, for Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
The trend to secularism, if anything, has only increased since then.
And so it remains for us Catholics to counter this trend, a trend which will claim many souls for the Devil if left to run its course without our prayers and sacrifices and example. We must live our faith without compromise in the face of this secular trend and provide the good example that will draw other to Christ.
Today, the Feast of Christ the King, provides the perfect impetus to begin. Next week, the beginning of the new Liturgical Calendar, provides a time for resolution that we will increase our faith, and our living our faith without compromise.
(Last Sunday I recommended you get a copy of the DVD of For Greater Glory, a movie about the Cristeros, to learn more about the Mexican Revolution and what faithful Catholics were subjected to. This past Friday, we celebrated the anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed Augustin Pro, a priest murdered by the evil Mexican government during the Revolution.)
To tie all this into the theme of living our Faith "without compromise" - something we've been talking about recently - let's add these two facts: 1) Our Holy Father has declared this year the "Year of Faith," and 2) This is the last week of the liturgical year; next Sunday starts a new liturgical year.
The start of the new liturgical year - like New Years Day - is a time to begin again, only we begin again our determination to become more holy, to work our way toward Heaven, our Home. We remember that nothing - NOTHING - is as important as our eternal salvation, something about which we Catholic men at work need constant reminding, especially if we have the tendency to work long, hard hours. And now that we have this "Year of Faith," we can spend time learning, or re-learning, the truths about our beautiful and true Catholic Faith. Of course learning about our faith won't increase our holiness by itself. Only our increasing love of God will do that. But if you're like me, when I learn about our faith and spend a few moments thinking about what I've learned, I want to love God more.
And as we renew our knowledge and understanding of our faith, and increase our love of God, I suggest we will gain increased strength and determination to live our faith without compromise. I hope that's the case, and I point out that our Holy Mother the Church needs us to do so more than ever.
When Pius XI declared the feast of Christ the King, he didn't create something new. The Church has always preached Christ the King. But naming a special day to acknowledge our Blessed Lord as our King became even more important then, as the late Holy Father witnessed the increasing power of secularism, and a decreasing respect and esteem for the Church and, more importantly, for Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
The trend to secularism, if anything, has only increased since then.
And so it remains for us Catholics to counter this trend, a trend which will claim many souls for the Devil if left to run its course without our prayers and sacrifices and example. We must live our faith without compromise in the face of this secular trend and provide the good example that will draw other to Christ.
Today, the Feast of Christ the King, provides the perfect impetus to begin. Next week, the beginning of the new Liturgical Calendar, provides a time for resolution that we will increase our faith, and our living our faith without compromise.
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