12 p.m. Mass
10 a.m. Mass
[Homily #201a begins @ 27:00 minutes.]
[video by St. Catherine's Catholic Church, Vallejo, CA]
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“Prepare for the Return of King Jesus!” (Homily #201)
by Deacon Dennis Purificacion
Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe
Nov. 21, 2021
In the book trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, the
author J.R.R. Tolkien was a devout Catholic who brought his Christian Faith
into his artwork. This book was eventually
put into a three-part movie with the third and final part subtitled “The Return
of the King.” One main character, Aragorn,
the rightful king, returns to claim his throne after an evil illegitimate ruler
has taken the throne by a great deception. By the end of the movie, Aragorn, the true king
Aragorn returns to his restored kingdom.
Today, as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the
King, Jesus the true King stands before Pontius Pilate. Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the
Jews?” Pontius Pilate represents all
those in the world who seek the truth in a time when truth is censored or suppressed. Jesus eventually replied, “You say I am a
king. For this I was born and for this I
came into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” If we love the truth, we will seek Jesus.
Like the character from The Lord of the Rings: The
Return of the King, Jesus too will return one day. This is called the Second Coming of Christ or
in Greek the Parousia, and we do not know when this will happen. In today’s Second Reading from the Book of
Revelation, it is written, “Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye
will see him, even those who pierced him.”
I
The return of Jesus the King reminds us of 4 Last Things:
Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell. Death,
Judgment, Heaven and Hell. At the moment
of death, there is a Particular Judgement of the soul. The soul then enters into one of three states:
Heaven, Purgatory or Hell. Those in Purgatory
are both joyful and sad, in the sense that they are joyful that they will be
with God fully one day, but there are also sad because they are not yet with
God and have to still be finally purified of any venial sins and forgiven mortal
sins. November is the month to alleviate
the suffering of those in Purgatory. As
much as the flowers, social media photos, and the memorials are beautiful,
there is nothing more that the holy souls in Purgatory appreciate more than
offering Mass for them, saying the rosary in the state of grace, or an act of
charity for them. St. Bernardine of
Sienna said that Purgatory is like waves of the sea where the pain comes and
goes, but it is unlike Hell where the pain is permanent, and Purgatory is
temporary. St. Faustina said the souls
in Purgatory call Mary “Star of the Sea” because she visits them and relieves
them with refreshment.
At the Second Coming of Christ when Jesus the King
returns in glory, all those in Purgatory transition to Heaven. Those souls in Heaven will resurrect with a glorified
body, while those souls in Hell will resurrect with a damned body. This is not the Particular Judgment, but it
is called the General Judgment where Jesus the King will come again to judge
the living and the dead. Yes, Hell is a
real place yes, it is eternal, and yes there are souls in Hell now. Yes, the devil is real. Heaven is your true home. CCC 1039?? So that’s an explanation of Death,
Judgment, Heaven and Hell.
And that’s why we should prepare for the return of our
King Jesus. Prepare for the return of
King Jesus! We can prepare for the
return of King Jesus in 2 ways. The first
preparation is our earthly preparation, and the second is our spiritual preparation.
II
For the earthly preparation, I remember attending this
wonderful workshop from the Diocese of Sacramento for about hundred deacons and
their wives. The workshop focused on end-of-life
care issues and medical ethics from the document Ethical and Religious Directives. There were issues like having
advanced medical directives, creating a will, palliative care, and talking to
your family about what you want done toward the end of your life, your material
assets, etc. It’s your choice. It can be a difficult topic to discuss but we
are finding that it helps the family to have a plan. Perhaps with the upcoming holidays when
family gathers, it may be a good time to bring up these issues.
In Catholic medical ethics, the Principle of Informed
Consent and the Principle of Medical Privacy should be upheld whereby the
patient should be fully informed of the benefits and side effects or injuries of
medical treatment. When dealing with
minors, parents are the first educators of their children, not the government or
even the Church, so parents and guardians themselves decide what is best for
their children’s needs.
Catholic Cemeteries also has a program where one can
purchase a burial plot beforehand so that the grieving family is less concerned
about financial issues when someone dies.
Annie from Catholic Cemeteries is a good resource to talk to. Tell her I sent you to her.
And then there are the human psychological needs like either
forgiving someone of a very hurtful pain before death, or asking someone for
forgiveness for the hurt we caused them before we die. We want to have things in order and cannot
assume that we will have time for them. Given
the global situation, preparation is critical now!
III
So those are some earthly preparations we can make
before the King returns. For the
spiritual preparation, there are things before the moment of illness such as
Confession and practicing our Faith. And
then, I don’t know if you know this, but there are 3 Sacraments involved with
the Last Rites: Confession, Anointing of the Sick, and Communion also called
Viaticum. Do not wait last minute to
call a priest.
Finally, as part of spiritual preparation, I want to
raise awareness of what a “consecration” means.
Consecration can also be called entrustment. It means dedicating something specifically for
the service of God. After the 12pm Mass,
we will have a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament with a Consecration to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. Consider making
the 9 consecutive First Fridays. Related
to this is the 5 consecutive First Saturdays.
This is where a person goes to Confession and receives Communion for 5 consecutive
First Saturdays with the intention of doing penance. I also very respectfully here call for the Pope
and bishops to consecrate or reconsecrate (whatever the case may be) Russia to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary as the antidote to the current global situation. Spiritual preparation also means works of charity
and sacrifices for those in need.
So, to summarize: Let’s prepare for King Jesus! We can do earthly preparation, and we can do spiritual preparation. As the Responsorial Psalm says, “The Lord is King; he is robbed in majesty.”
I didn’t mention that in that Lord of the Rings: Return of the King movie, there is a popular line that King Aragorn said. He said, “My friends, you bow to no one.” This reflects how you in glory united with Christ the King will too receive a crown of holiness where we share in the Kingdom of Christ the King, a Kingdom of truth, justice and peace.
Viva Christo Rey! Long live Christ the King!
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