Feast of Christ the King/ “Feast of the Last Name”
Homily: Feast of Christ the King/ “Feast of the Last Name”
Our names tell others a lot about us. People concentrate a lot on how they name their children. At times, we when we hear a name, we wonder where it came from. Some names aren’t easy to pronounce. Perhaps they are invented so that a child will have a unique name. A lot of value is placed on that today.
We concentrate a lot on first names. But we have a last name as well. My last name is DeSutter. I never thought a lot about it growing up, I was aware it was a Belgium name. Both sets of my grandparents would speak Flemish at times. As a child I learned the stereotypical things about Belgium people. Belgium people liked beer. Belgium people played Rolle Bolle. Belgium people race pigeons. And Belgium people were tight with a dollar (seems like many ethnic groups share that distinction).
When I was studying for a graduate degree in spirituality at Creighton University, there was a course where we looked at our ethnicity and how that affected our outlook. When I studied my background, I identified a lot of things that told me how my racial make-up touched my life. Belgium throughout its history, for example, was a country that was constantly being occupied by other major powers in Europe. Finally, it gained its independence in the 19th century. When an ethnic group continually oppressed by others usually that leads to a fiercely independent streak. Also, there is a melancholy outlook on life. I noticed that with my family. My relatives never trusted authority much. Nor were they overly exuberant. Belgium is a country with a dense population. People who live in close proximity to others, usually, bottle-up emotions. Yes, our last name tells us a lot about who we are.
Today, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King of the Universe. We often think of Christ as Jesus’ last name. But we make a mistake, like we do with our own name, if we just concentrate on the name Jesus. Jesus was the person who lived in history. We have 33 years of his story to reflect on which is very important. We know where he was born. We are aware of his economic status. His preaching is outlined for us. We meditate on his life in this world, but if that is all we reflect on then the Feast of Christ the King doesn’t make sense.
Jesus’ second name, if you would, is what we meditate on today. Jesus Christ is King of the Universe. Wow! That is a bold statement. We could say that means that Jesus is God. He rules the universe.
We could go in many directions with that thought. One thing we could say is that Jesus is the light of the world. What do the first lines of Genesis say? “The earth was a formless wasteland and darkness covered the abyss while a mighty wind swept over the waters.” What that says, if we look at the Hebrew trying to translate it into English is that all there was at the beginning was one big cesspool. A wind swept over the waste (Allusion to the Holy Spirit perhaps). “And God said let there be light.” The first light according to many Theologians was Jesus. Jesus was there at the beginning. His divine light was there before the Sun, the moon and the stars.
When we look at the scientific explanation for creation it is even more thought provoking. Science says everything began with big bang 14.6 billion years ago. We live in an ever-expanding universe. Which is constantly evolving. Science says the end of the universe will come when things stop expanding. The universe will then collapse on itself.
The implication religiously is that Jesus was part of the material world at the start. We speak of the natural world, but for Christians it is better to speak of a supernatural world. Jesus is in everything. He didn’t come just to sanctify humanity at a point in time. He is in all things for all time. Everything we touch, smell, hear, taste has God in it. Jesus’ birth affirms that. The Eucharist affirms that. When we expand our narrow understanding. We realize what the advent of Jesus Christ means. We then reverence every material thing. Most importantly, Jesus lives in us. Part of us has always been and always will be. We need not fear death. Death has no power over Christ. Death has no hold on us.
Reflection Questions:
- Do I reflect on only the human Jesus? Am I aware of the Cosmic Christ (the supernatural Jesus)?
- What does it mean to be King of the Universe? What does it mean that Christ lives in me?
Dear Parishioners,
Now the sprint to Christmas begins. Advent starts next Sunday. It is always hard to keep a prayerful attitude the month before Christmas. With the holidays upon us this year, we may look back at last year and remember how hard it was to gather. Although COVID is still with us, we will have a Christmas that is more like we remember.
One of the traditions we have at Sacred Heart is that we have Advent Vespers on Sunday afternoon. We also try to have some adult education. This year we are going to combine the two activities. We will divide the vespers prayer in two. At the time of the scripture reading, we will have a teaching on the Christmas Scriptures (infancy narratives).
Our two deacon candidates (Matthew Martel and Mike Maynard) will present two Sunday afternoons and Sr. Kathleen Mullen and Barb Roedel (new parishioner) will take the third afternoon. Matthew will have about a 10-minute talk on the Gospel of Luke. Mike will speak on the Gospel of Matthew. Sr. Kathleen and Barb Roedel will reflect on the prologue of the Gospel of John. This will be a chance for our people to get to know Matthew, Mike and Barb better and to reconnect with Sr. Kathleen.
The vespers will be December 5th, 12th and 19th at 4 p.m. There will be a few questions taken after each presentation so there will be interaction. We also will livestream each vesper service on Facebook.
I hope that everyone will try to take part in this Advent activity. Advent is a season to cultivate the virtues of hope and joy. Perhaps being together will help us to exercise those virtues.
May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark