Christ the King 2017 Homily

Reflection For The Feast Of Christ The King

November 26, 2017

By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFM

Mission Sts. Sergius & Bacchus/ Order Franciscans of Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

www.franciscansdivinemercy.org

Divinemercyparish@msn.com

 

Psalm 23 reads as follows;

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The words of this Psalm acknowledge God as the loving God who watches over us and cares for us as a good Shepherd cares for His flock. Since Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was given dominion over all the earth by the Father we acknowledged Christ as the heavenly King.

 

Christ himself declared that He was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end and as such the human embodiment of the Father.  

 

A king, more precisely a good king, is concerned about the safety and welfare of every one of his subjects and so it is with Jesus Christ who told us how a good shepherd, which is exactly what a king is supposed to be to his people, would go seeking a lost sheep in order not to lose even one.

 

The kingdom that Christ reigns over is not of this world, but is the everlasting kingdom to which we are called after living in this material world. The kingdom is a spiritual kingdom where peace and harmony and elation of being with the angels and saints and most especially the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, abounds.

 

As King, Christ has the ultimate say on who will and will not be welcomed into this kingdom. 

In the Gospel Of Matthew 25:31-46 we read, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory:  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  For I was an hungered, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me”.

This only strengthens the concept that Christ is the power through which we gain eternal life in the paradise that is the Kingdom of Heaven.  

 

Christ gave us two simple Commandments to live by as found in Matthew 22: 38-39 “Love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, mind, soul and body and the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself”, and in His Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes) tells us the way to treat our fellow human brothers and Sisters here on earth.  Matthew 5:19 instructs us on how we gain entrance to the Kingdom for which Christ is king; “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

In Matthew 25:34-43 Christ also reminds us of how we need to live in order to gain eternal life with God and the heavenly elect; “I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me”. The group on the right asked God; “Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink?  When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?”   God replied; “I tell you, whatever you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
Next week we enter a time of preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ, the season of Advent.

This is a time for us to make an evaluation of how well we are living our daily lives to prepare ourselves for the Kingdom of Christ, heaven.   Have we been mindful of the needs of others, are we caring and accepting of all of God’s children, not just those we consider acceptable because they conform to our way of thinking, but ALL?

Have we discriminated against others because of Race, creed, marital condition, sexual orientation or political party? Are we charitable toward those who are in need?

Christ gave us the example of how we should lead our lives. He never rejected anyone who came to Him and neither should we.  In this time where people are thinking of giving gifts to their family and friends let us acknowledge the gifts God, our father, has given us. Let us use them to the benefit of all God’s children, especially those who have not been as blessed as we have been, and not hoard them for ourselves.

By doing this we can not only show our love and respect for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords but we will build up a treasures in heaven for ourselves so that we will be greeted with “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”          AMEN

Video for Christ the King Feast

33rd Ordinary Sunday 2017

Reflecting on god and Life

Reflecting on 83 years

A reflection for Sunday November 12, 2017

By Rev. Fr. Bob Johnnene OFM

Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Order Franciscans of Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

www.orderfranciscansofmercy.org

Divinemercyparish@msn.com

This coming Thursday November 16^th, I enter my 83^rd year of life.

As I look back and count the numerous blessings that God has bestowed upon me I realize how truly blessed God has been too me.

Today’s first reading from Wisdom, chapter 6 tells us; “Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for he will find her sitting at his gates. To fix one's thought on her is perfect understanding, and he who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care, because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought.”

Throughout my entire life I have attempted, by asking God in prayer, to gain the wisdom and knowledge I needed to know God’s will for me, and I still continue to seek that gift from God in spite of realizing that he has provided me the insight as I traveled my highway of life.

To begin with, when I came into this world, according to my mother, there were serious doubts I would actually make it,  since she had lost two other children before and even when I was born, I was dehydrated to such a degree that the first 6 months were questionable, but since then I have been blessed with relatively good health and blessed by God to overcome, so far, the four cancers I had.

My most difficult thing today is the effect on my body of the Accute Stenosis which makes walking or standing for long times painful and stressful.

I was blessed to have parents and family that exposed me to the arts especially music and theater, and who traveled.

I was at the 1939 World’s fair, saw the original production of THE KING AND I with Gertrude Lawrence.

By my 13^th year I had traveled and visited 44 of the contiguous states.

I received an excellent education from devoted nuns and priests and eventually entered the seminary in my junior year of High School.

I was on the verge of being ordained a Josephite priest in 1957 when they recommended that I take some time off to be sure of my vocation, so, I followed my second love, Theater.

I never became famous, but I did get to work with people like Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Hal Prince, Carol Burnett, Elizabeth Montgomery and got to write, produce and direct a show that was on Broadway.

It was during this time that I met the woman who would become my wife and the mother of my three children.

God always kept me centered whenever I was thinking the gifts He gave me were my own talents and He did something to get me back on track.

The desire to serve as a religious was never too far from me and I kept up on my theology, the changes of Vatican 2, while teaching in Catholic Schools often serving as a Director of Religious Education.

Sometimes when the rug was dragged out from under me and  I became very upset and depressed God would save me from doing something drastic and lift me up.

On one of those occasions when I was at the bottom, I tossed open the Bible and read the page that it opened to and there was an answer. It was in the book of Job.

I realized that if we keep our trust and faith in God and not give up and blame Him, He will lead us to where He wants us, and He did.

I prayed the following prayer; “God, what is it you want from me? I am not good on subtle hints God, I need you to push me, no shove me where it is you want me” and he led me back to teaching and parish ministry eventually being ordained a Deacon in 1980.

In 1986 Cardinal Roger Mahoney founded a ministry within the Diocesan offices to the GLBTQI community and Divorced Catholics and began working with it as well as my teaching & parish ministry.

In 2001, at age 67, I decided it was time to retire and move back to Massachusetts to be near my family.

I returned home to Massachusetts finding that there was not much being done in ministry to the LGBTQI and Divorced Catholics community in New England and so I felt inspired to found one.

 After my mother was called home to the Lord in 1987 I had been submitting application too various religious orders but always received rejections because; “You are over our age limit for admission” or some other excuse but I continued my quest.

I began Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus in 2002 without any church sponsorship after discovering the Saints while on a retreat and felt it was God’s who was inspiring me to do so.

Much to my surprise, I received a letter from the Servant Franciscans of the Immaculata which since has become the Franciscans of the Annunciation of the Infinite Love of God. They had reviewed my records and transcripts, conferred with my references and decided that I was worthy to be a member of their order and to be ordained a priest.

On 8/15/2003^, the feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, I was ordained and now I am in my 15^th year, the 6^th year of the REFLECTIONS TV show.

As a child, I often visited the Franciscan church here in Boston. I even remember a Franciscan Priest Fr. Fulgence, guided me when I had serious doubt and questions about God’s will for me.

Now here I am, entering my 83rd year of life, realizing that everything in my life had been a part of God’s plan, that I probably would not have the faith in God that I have now if I was ordained back in 1957.

I realize that my entire life before my ordination in 2003, was God’s way of giving me the wisdom I would need to be a good servant to His children.

I pray that whatever time God has left for me on this earthly plane, I totally give myself over to serving him and those children He places in my path.

This Thursday as I begin another year of life I pray that in some way, with the continued help and Wisdom of Almighty God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit I may be able inspire, all those who have felt rejected unwanted and alienated from God and the Church by the dictates of mere men who are prone to make mistakes, back into the Mystical Body of Christ the Church.

I enter my Autumn days of life with prayers asking forgiveness for the mistakes I have made along the highway of life and Pray that anyone I may have hurt along my life’s journey will forgive and pray for me.

May God’s wisdom continue to guide me in all I do so that I serve God with my entire being. Please Pray for me.  Amen.

32 Sunday of Ordinary time 2017

31st Ordinary Sunday 2017