Christ the King

I love this time of year and not just because of the fall colors and especially not because the days are getting shorter and the temperatures are lower.  No...it is this time of the liturgical year that brings joy to my heart.

Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King.  This is our last Sunday of the year and it is traditionally a day to recall that Christ is glorified in Heaven and that we will one day join Him in glory at the end of time.  Next week the cycle begins again as we begin the Advent season.

The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 due to the increasing destructive nature of secularism, which leads people down the road that God is not needed and eventually that God does not exist.  The feast brings to light the need for Christ as our victorious king for all those who seek him.

In today's liturgy, the first reading (Sean was the ...so proud of him!) explains the message from Daniel that professes that Christ is God who reigns supreme of all things as well as his role as Redeemer.   Furthermore, Jesus is the head of the Church in addition to his reign over all the earth..

We then read from the gospel of John and we can understand the qualities of Christ's kingdom. This kingdom is supreme, universal, eternal and spiritual.

We are thankful for the redemptive power of Jesus and are confident that we will one  day stand before him on his kingly throne.

Today we enjoyed a delicious meal, followed by a simple desert.  I made cupcakes and asked the children to decorate the crowns with special jewels.

I hid a little white jelly bean in one of the cupcakes to represent that Christ is the pure sweetness that we seek in our lives.  Edward was the one who found our little king in his cupcake to earn a prize.

We also end our day praying for peace which the ultimate end to this world that will lead us into the next one for eternity.

Christ the King, have mercy on us.