Bishop Kemme's calendar
Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Nov. 21: Daniel 7:13-14, Revelation 1:5-8, John 18:33- 37 If "Michael" is the question, then "Jesus" is the answer. The name "Michael" literally means, Who is like God?" In sacred art, Saint Michael the Archangel is usually shown in conquest over the devil, who believes that the answer to the question is "Me". By contrast, St. Michael per- sonifies the virtue of humility. Hu- mility is the first step on the path towards God. If all the virtues of the Christian life were like the al- phabet, then the letter "A" would be humility, and the letter "Z" would be caritas: divine love. But how do we get from "A" to "Z"? Too often, unfortunately, we're tempted to think of ourselves as "saved", as if we've already reached our spiritual goal-that spiritual "Z" - simply because we were adopted by God the Father through our baptism. But you and I are fully capable of rejecting that inheritance, just like the Prodigal Son. Countless choices that we make testify that we prefer pigs to prayer, servitude to salvation, and husks of corn to the Bread of finest wheat. Humility focuses our attention upon Christ the King. In him we see the fullness of humility, and the fullness of divine love. "Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega", the First and the Last, "the one who is and who was and who is to come". Who is like God?" Only God himself, as we see in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ embod- ies all the virtues, from humility to divine love. Our Gospel passage leads us to look on Jesus as our King, who shows humility and di- vine love in submitting himself to sinful man. Pilate and Jesus stand face-to- face. Pilate bears the power of the Roman Empire and exercises it with the snap of his fingers. Pilate plainly explains to Jesus that he has the power to crucify him. Je- sus responds to all of Pilate's ques- tions, demands, and threats with what may seem to be disinterested resignation. In the N i c e n e Creed that we profess at Holy Mass, there are only three hu- man beings whom we mention by name. Not surprisingly, two of them are Jesus and his Blessed Mother. But the third isn't even a member of God's chosen people. The third is not Abraham or Mo- ses, Peter, or Paul, but a pagan by the name of Pontius Pilate. But why? The fathers of the church who composed the Nicene Creed in the year A. D. 325 could, conceivably, have written that part of the Creed without mentioning Pontius Pilate. But perhaps they wanted to make a statement about worldly power: that Pontius Pilate is a symbol of all those who put their faith and trust in worldly power. St. Teresa of Calcutta explained that "God writes straight with crooked lines." God can use crook- ed men such as Pontius Pilate as his instruments, just as surely as God can use his faithful people as his instruments. Here again is the topsy-turviness of Good Fri- day. Pontius Pilate thought he was serving his earthly Caesar by delivering Jesus over to death. In fact, he was serving God's Prov- idential Will, whether he knew it or not. Human history is the drama of God's grace warring against hu- man sinfulness. Right in the cen- ter is Jesus Christ at the top of Cal- vary. God's grace is a river, more powerful than any river in the nat- ural world. God's grace will flow, regardless of our choices and pri- orities. On this feast of Christ the King, we celebrate the victory of God's plan for mankind, already won by Christ on the Cross. In Christ, who reigns from the Cross, we have the King who wants us to share in his victo- ry by our entering into His life and imitat- ing him through his grace. Yet God only offers you his grace: He does not force it upon you. God's grace will flow around you, if you divert it from your life. But on the other hand, God's grace is always there, ready to flood your life, to destroy only sin and the power of death. No matter how many times we divert God's grace, God has an- other plan for allowing his grace to reach its goal, and for allowing each of us, living in that grace, to rest in God's divine love for all eternity.
Friday Sunday of Advent
Nov. 28: Jeremiah 33:14-16, 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2, Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 You might have heard the say- ing, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." In fact, history is important for many reasons. History roots our lives in a reality deeper than the passing moment, preventing us from being like the seed in the Parable of the Sower that withers for lack of roots [see Luke 8:4-15]. Or to use a similar metaphor, his- tory is like the long, thick roots of a huge, ancient tree, which not only provide nourishment from the ground, but also ground the tree during violent weather. This offers one reason why, on today's start of the church's new year, she beckons us to look to the past. More specifically, the Season of Advent that begins today draws our attention to the right way and the wrong ways to prepare for a visit from God. God's plan for visiting his peo- ple began at the dawn of human history. "In the beginning," when Adam and Eve committed the Original Sin, God could in justice have abandoned his fallen crea- ture. In love, however, God made them a promise of redemption [see Genesis 3]. The many centu- ries stretching from Eve to Mary - from Adam to Christ-are one long Advent. That historical ad- vent consisted of both man prepar- ing himself to receive the Messiah, and God preparing man to receive the Messiah. We hear of this long plan, with all its fits and starts, in the First readings at Holy Mass during Advent. The long arc of Old Testament history, however, is not the only lens through which Advent looks at how to prepare for God's visit. The Gospel readings offer per- spectives that complement that of the Old Testament. The most ob- vious difference between Advent's first readings and Gospel readings is in the spans of time that they cover. The Old Testament's prepa- ration for the Messiah's arrival ranges over many centuries of his- tory. The Gospel readings focus upon three different spans of time. The most obvious focus of the Gospel readings during Advent is the nine months preceding Jesus' birth. The Blessed Virgin Mary of- fers us the perfect example of how to prepare for the Messiah's visit. Unlike the sinful priests, prophets, and kings of the Old Testament, Mary not only accepts God at his Word: she accepts God's Word with such faith that that Word be- comes flesh within her. She not only follows the Word, but bears the Word. If there's a single quote of Mary that sums up her prepara- tion for God's visit, it's: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to thy Word." A less obvious focus of the Gospel readings during Advent is the "birth" of Jesus' public min- istry. St. John the Baptist is the
Jesus became man to die for us
herald of the Messiah's mission among the People of God. John prepares them to accept not only God's visit, but more specifically the mission that's the reason for his visit. If there's a single quote of John that sums up his prepara- tion for God's visit, it's: "Behold, the Lamb of God! Behold him who takes away the sins of the world!" The least obvious focus of the Gospel readings during Advent is the second coming of Jesus at the end of time, and its accompanying final judgment. Jesus' words in to- day's Gospel reading relate to his second coming, accompanied as that distant day will be by "signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars," with earthly nations "in dismay". Those events might seem to have little in common with the peaceful scene in our nativity sets. Yet conflict and violence accom- pany each period of preparation for God's visit to his People: the long arc of the Old Testament filled with unfaithful earthly pil- grims; Mary's pregnancy during which King Herod and his retinue lurk in the shadows; John's herald- ing the Lamb of God for whose sake he will be martyred; and the preparation of every human per- son for the final judgment. The last words of Jesus in to- day's Gospel reading apply to each of these periods of preparation: pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are immanent and to stand before the Son of Man." The King of Kings drops down from Heaven to bring peace and salvation, but no one ought to overlook the costs that these gifts bear.
God does not force his grace on you
Reflections on the Sacred Liturgy
By Fr. Thomas Hoisington Subscribe at ReflectionsOnThe SacredLiturgy.com Extended reflections at HPRweb.com Here are events on Bishop Carl A. Kemme's calendar for the next few weeks. November Nov. 19-21: Seminary visit to Mundelein in Mundelein, Illinois Nov. 21-23: Seminary visit to Kenrick-Glennon in St. Louis, Missouri Nov. 28: First Sunday of Advent Novus Ordo Mass in Latin at the Cathedral at 10 a.m. Nov. 29-30: St. Joseph House of Formation Episcopal visit December Dec. 1: Bishop's Leadership Team and Secondary School Funding Task Force; Diocesan Pastoral Council Dec. 2: Presbyteral Council Dec. 3: Prospective seminary dinner at bishop's residence at 6 p.m. Dec. 4-5: Parish pastoral visit
THE CATHOLIC ADVANCE
(ISSN 0008-7904)
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The dispensation has been Lifted. Don't forget to go to Mass Sunday.
to St. Michael, Girard, and St. Jo- seph, Arma Dec. 7: Charter Review Board Meeting; Year of St. Joseph Mass at the Cathedral at 6 p.m. Dec. 9: Prospective Seminarian dinner at Bishop's Residence at 6 p.m.
Closing Mass for Year of St. Joseph Tuesday, Dec. 7, at the Cathedral
Continued from page 1. Bishop Kemme will close the Year of St. Joseph at a 6 p.m. Mass Tuesday, Dec. 7, in the Ca- thedral of the Immaculate Con- ception in Wichita. The Mass will be streamed at YouTube. com/DioceseOfWichita. Sharon Witzell, the program coordinator for Senior Adult Min- istries, said the year helped her realize she has another father that she didn't know so much about un- til this year. I now want to keep St. Joseph close to my heart forever and call on him to intercede for me when I need help from a father figure. I believe he is responsible for a little miracle that took place in my life this year with my prayers to him each time I visited a St. Joseph church." She added that she is also thankful for the indulgences she received. Bishop Carl A. Kemme an- nounced the commemoration last year because: St. Joseph, the just man, was chosen by God to be the foster-fa- ther of Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God. The Church here and every- where, which we call the Mystical Body of Christ, is in need of the protection of our heavenly patron. Joseph espoused himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Joseph the faithful and chaste husband is a marvelous example for all hus- bands and fathers- . Joseph stands out as an ex- emplary example and model for priests and bishops, who, like St. Joseph are charged to oversee the family of the Church, to lead her in charity and truth toward eternal life. Family life is under such at- tack. We can unite ourselves more closely under the mantle of Mary and her most chaste spouse, St. Jo- seph to strengthen family life here in our local church. We can look to St. Joseph and the example he gave in this regard to help us reclaim the Christian sabbath, Sunday, as the Day of the Lord. Joseph did not shrink away from his responsibilities as foster father and husband but accepted them with trust and courage. In his apostolic letter Patris Corde, Pope Francis quotes St. John Chrysostom in describing how St. Joseph placed himself "at the service of the entire plan of salvation." The pope also quotes St. Paul VI, who stated in a 1966 homily: St. Joseph "employed his legal authority over the Holy Family to devote himself completely to them in his life and work. He turned his human vocation to domestic love into a superhuman oblation of himself, his heart, and all his abil- ities, a love placed at the service of the Messiah who was growing to maturity in his home." Pope Francis writes that St. Jo- seph found happiness in self-sac- rifice and self-gift. "In him, we never see frustration but only trust. His patient silence was the prelude to concrete expressions of trust. Our world today needs fathers."
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November 19, 2021
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