Jesus THE King, mocked as Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

34^thSunday in Ordinary time: Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

One of the most ironic phrases in the Bible was in the Passion of Jesus Christ

·     It was said by many Jewish leaders (and remember, Jesus was Jewish too), the crowds, the soldiers, and most famously written by Pontius Pilate

·     The phrase: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews

As you notice what we call 4 letters on many of our crucifixes: INRI

·     Today we heard in the Gospel according to Luke:

o   “Even the soldiers jeered at him. 
As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
"If you are King of the Jews, save yourself." 
Above him there was an inscription that read,
"This is the King of the Jews."

o   In John we heard some more insight what was placed above Jesus Christ: “Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

Now many of you probably remember the letters INRI:

·     And why does it have INRI?

o   In Latin in sounds like this: 'Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum' 

o   Latin: I (no Js in Latin), N for Nazareth, R, rex = king, I = Jews

·     And why was this sign written on the cross?

o   Each person who was crucified by the Romans put a sign above or around the person with their crime

Thus, Jesus was really insulted and mocked with those letters but it  was actually truthful, even those who were making fun of Jesus

·     Jesus Christ is our King, Jesus is the King of kings, Jesus is the King of the Kingdom, Jesus is the King of the Universe

And that is what we celebrate this Mass at the end of our last Sunday in our liturgical year 

Parish Bulletin Article: "Funeral Outline": 11-23-19

Brothers and Sisters, as we have had a few funerals the last couple of weeks, I thought that you may use this outline that I use for funerals to support the preparation. Hopefully you can use this outline, especially if you would like to prepare your own funeral.  While this might be hard to do today, it would be an amazing gift for your family. So here are my personal notes:

Name:  

Date:  

Mass/Memorial?  

Family Members Present:  

Coffin/Urn

  

Introductory Rites

·      Greeting 

·      Sprinkling with Holy Water

·       Entrance Procession: 

·      Opening Prayer (Missal)

Liturgy of the Word

·      Readings

o   1^stReading—

o   Responsorial Psalm—

o   2^ndReading—

o   Gospel— 

·      Homily 

·      General Intercessions

Liturgy of the Eucharist

·      Invite gift bearers to go to the back

·      Preparation of the Gifts—

·      Communion Hymn—

·      Communion Prayer

·      Eulogy?

·      Thank congregation, announce burial?, lunch?

Final Commendation

·      Invitation to Prayer

·      Silence

·      Song of Farewell

·      Prayer of Commendation

·      Closing Hymn—

My questions: 

Rosary: 

Greeters: 

Readers: 

Gifts: 

EM’s: 

Music:  Organ and/or singer: 

Funeral, burial, lunch

            

Candles and Roman Missal: Thursday, November 21st, 2019, School Mass

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The seven brothers and mother who faced death for God: Wednesday, November 20th, 2019

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Eleazar who followed God's Law: Tuesday, November 19th, 2019

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Change of the times with 1 Maccabees: Monday, November 18th, 2019

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The name of the Lord...: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

33rd Ordinary Time 

“the name of the Lord”

·      “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow,
every tongue confess him King of glory now;
'tis the Father's pleasure we should call him Lord,
who from the beginning was the mighty Word.”

This is the last green color on the 33^rdSunday in Ordinary Time 

·      Next weekend, our last Sunday in this liturgical year, will conclude with The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

In Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament shows the justice of God with two sides

·      The first verses were those who did not follow the name of God

·      “But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”

·      “fear my name”

And the Gospel according to Luke features some fascinating, even scary

·     “When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end." 
Then he said to them,"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place;and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.

·     "Before all this happens, however,they will seize and persecute you,they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,and they will have you led before kings and governorsbecause of my name.  It will lead to your giving testimony…You will be hated by all because of my name,but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.By your perseverance you will secure your lives."

How are you following the name of God?  

·      Are you being persecuted in living your life, with God’s name reverently and publicly?  

o  If not, are you really following God?

o  Are you really being a disciple?

o  Are you really following his teaching?

There is a lot in our readings today and I would pray that each of us can make good decisions to go beyond our comfortable lives, but to discern how to grow with perseverance to “secure [our] lives” using not only the name, but the Person

 

Life and Death: Thursday, November 7th, 2019: School Mass

Listen to the homily here.

Hate and Love: Wednesday, November 6th, 2019

Listen to the homily here.

Read Romans 12!: Tuesday, November 5th, 2019

Listen to the homily here.

A retreat we always had a 40 Adoration near St. Borromeo's Memorial Day: Monday, November 4th, 2019

Listen to the homily here.

The Spectrum of God: 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

The spectrum of God is infinite, with some parts in our thoughts that I encourage you to think about

·      On the one side, we heard some sacred verses in Wisdom

o   “Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance
 or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.”

·      Do you remember the movie Men in Black?  Spoiler alert, I remember the last scene in which we saw the street, the planet, the galaxy, and our universe ending up as a marble as creatures playing it like a marble

·      And in our belief, God has no beginning or end

·      God created our cosmos, time, and space

And on the other hand, how close God comes to us in our hearts, not as lightyears away from us

·      Like Zacchaeus, a sinner as a tax collector, one of the worst sins in their culture

o   "Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house." 

·      He had a choice: to follow Jesus, or continue his useless world and he said, “"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."

Once again God has:

·      Omnipotence meaning God is all-powerful. This means God has supreme power and has no limitations. 

·      Omniscience means God is all-knowing. 

·      Omnipresence means God is everywhere at the same time.

·      Yet God is so close to each of us that our Father sent His Son, and in our reading today:

o   “For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost."

What a paradox and what a gift of God’s love every day, every hour, every minute, every second for you