Christmas Day 2021

 Luke 2:15 - 20

There are still shepherds. As a teenager in Montana I worked in a grocery store. There were shepherds tending flocks of sheep up in the hills on land belonging to the government. There’s a lot more of that in Montana than in Massachusetts. Shepherds would now and then come to the grocery store to stock up on supplies. I doubt they’ve changed much since Jesus; time; they smelled bad, they wore ragged clothes, they didn’t say much more than they had to; they were mostly people who couldn’t speak much English -- the ones around my home town were from the Basque region of Spain.

In Jesus’ time as in ours shepherds lived on the edge of society, literally as well as figuratively. Because they had to watch the sheep 24 hrs a day 7 days a week, they did not take part in the religious life of the community. For the same reason they did little socializing; and even out on the hills where they worked, they had little contact with each other. Even today in the middle east shepherds only get together at night so they can take turns watching each other’s sheep. Now you can imagine this kind of life doesn’t suit everyone and you’d be right. Studies have shown that people who spend their lives being shepherds are antisocial, introverted, and many have mental disorders.

So why did God send his angels to announce the birth of the Messiah to shepherds? Maybe Jesus would have been more successful if the angels had appeared to the High Priest or the rulers of threJewish People. That’s a question that many people have tried to answer down through the ages.

When you look at many events in Jesus' life, you can find prophecies in the Old Testament that point to them. There’s nothing in the bible predicting that shepherds would be the first to know about the Messiah, unlike the prophecy that Jesus would be born of a virgin, or kings would come from the east bearing gifts. So it seems peculiar that shepherds were first.

The shepherds weren’t very religious, at least in any conventional sense. They weren’t chosen for their holiness -- and they reacted to the angels with fear and trembling, so much so that the angel had to tell them not to fear.

The conventional answer is that God wanted to show the world that he was on the side of the lowly, the outcast, the poor, all of which described the shepherds. And that’s probably a good answer.

But there are two other possibilities that God chose the shepherds to be the heralds of the birth of his Son.

First, God knows, as you and I know, that if he had made the announcement to the leaders of the people, they would have tried to find a way to use the knowledge to gain power or riches. The same with the religious authorities -- they would find a way to exploit the situation. That’s not such a bad thing, by the way. We do that in our church all the time. We like to publicize those among us who serve the church in a special way -- hoping that it will bring others to do the same. But the danger to us as to the religious authorities at that time is that we lose sight of what we are celebrating and what it means to me personally. The shepherds are not in a position to exploit the information they have received; they are empty and God seems to like to manifest himself in those who are empty, those who have been crushed by life’s burdens. The ones who are empty are the ones who have the capacity to receive the message God wants to give them

But another is that the angels are there all along. Through a special grace the shepherds had a glimpse of true reality and that changed them so much that they became messengers -- the first apostles, as it were. You and I have had moments, I am sure, when we have caught a glimpse of the deeper reality that surrounds us. It might have been on a mountain top or at the seashore, or on a pilgrimage or a retreat. As one poet exclaimed, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God”.

So think about the shepherds; ponder these things in your hearts, as Mary did. How can we become empty so that God will speak more clearly to us, maybe through an angel, maybe directly? How can we become more sensitive to the marvelous reality around us that we almost never notice? Jesus coming has changed everything. God has taken on our humanity and offers us his divinity. Pray that we will have the grace to accept what he offers.

Feast of the Holy Family, 2021

Luke 2:41 - 52

When my sisters and I would get into trouble, my mother would rant that it was impossible for her to imitate the Blessed Mother; after all, she only had one kid and he was God. I have a feeling we were not the only kids who heard something like this from the mouths of our mothers. And indeed when we think of the Holy Family, who we celebrate today, I’m sure you have your favorite idyllic scene; mine is a Joseph showing the boy Jesus how to do something with wood, with Mary looking on approvingly.. We really don’t know much about Joseph, who disappears from the story after the scene we just heard described. We assume Joseph died sometime before Jesus’ death on the cross, because otherwise he wouldn’t have to worry about who would take care of Mary.

We know a little more about Mary. And from what we can learn from the scriptures, her life was not as portrayed in our paintings. Much has been made of her pregnancy occurring before her marriage and the scandal that might have caused -- or maybe there was no scandal. We talk about the hardship of being an exile from your country when the family emigrated to Egypt. But maybe that wasn’t so bad -- they might have traveled with a bunch of people and settled in a community of Jews who welcomed them with open arms. We hear about the prophecy of Simeon when Jesus was brought to the temple as an infant -- Mary might remember that in the distant future, but at the time it probably only raised her curiosity.

But there is another thread that some people see in what we read about Mary.

First, Gabriel, then Elizabeth, then the shepherds all lead Mary to believe that the future for her son is bright -- he’ll be the Messiah, he’ll inherit the throne of David, he’ll reign forever. But then they settle down in Nazareth, Nazareth where Joseph and Mary’s relatives live, where Jesus is probably related to half the town, at least. And then the next thing we hear is that when Mary and Joseph wander the streets of Jerusalem frantically looking for their lost son, he gives them lip when they find him. And this won’t be the first time.

Early in his ministry Jesus returns to Nazareth to preach to the hometown crowd. When he quotes Isaiah about himself, the whole congregation reacts with shock and anger -- “is this not Joseph’s son?” they exclaim? After driving Jesus out of town for what is obviously blasphemy, we never hear of Jesus going back. Where was his mother? Probably in the congregation, perhaps embarrassed, perhaps shocked by his words herself. And if you read any of the four gospels, we never hear that Jesus returns to Nazareth.

Then we see Jesus in Caparnaum, where Mary and Jesus’ relatives come to see him. Mark tells us that they think he’s gone mad and want to bring him home, but Luke doesn’t mention the reason. We do know that when Jesus is informed of their presence, he replies “My mother and brothers and sisters are they who hear the word of God and do it.” That had to sting a little.

We don’t hear about Mary traveling with Jesus -- Luke never mentions that. She disappears from the picture. Maybe its a good thing. She might have heard Jesus replying to the woman who blesses “the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you” -- Blessed, instead, he says, are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” or “Whoever does not hate his father and mother… cannot be my disciple.” or “I did not come to bring peace, rather, a sword so that father will be set against son, mother against daughter.” And except for that moment at the foot of the cross when Jesus gives her over to the beloved disciple -- he didn’t ask her opinion, of course -- we don’t meet Mary again during Jesus' time on earth, even after the Resurrection. You would think that Luke would have told us about that.

The point is that for Luke, who wrote his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, it’s almost like Jesus rejects his mother and all the Nazareth relatives. What special privilege did Mary have after God used her to give birth to his son and raise him to adulthood? My mother suffered when I left home and I’m sure she suffered when I moved to the eastern side of the US, leaving her out west. I know Joan suffers a little when her kids leave after a visit. When you follow Mary through the eyes of Luke, I suspect she had a lot of grief.

But there is a happy ending. We read in the first part of the Acts of the Apostles that Mary is there with the apostles and the 120 or so followers when the Holy Spirit again shows up. She, like you, like me, like all of us, finally meets her son in the community that makes up his mystical body, and in the Eucharist that is his body and blood.

So Mom, Mary didn’t have it as easy as you thought. But I think you know that now.

Third Sunday in Advent, cycle C

Luke 3:7 - 18

This is Guadete Sunday.  Guadete is a Latin word that means Rejoice.  That’s why we have rose colored vestments.  Rose doesn’t really mean “rejoice” -- that would be white, I think.  But rose means lightening up from purple.  Notice that the first two readings and the psalm are all about rejoicing.  Now if you are like me, being told to rejoice is probably not going to make me rejoice.  The writings tell us to rejoice because of what God has done for us, but even there, rejoice is a strong word for being grateful.  I guess some people are more emotional than others.  

But when we come to the gospel it’s a different story.  Just before this passage, John was calling people a brood of vipers, a whitewashed tomb, and probably other comments that didn’t get into the bible.  He tells them that they had no business depending on the fact that they were descendants of Abraham.  God could make rocks into descendants of Abraham.  He tells them that they better repent, and more importantly produce good fruit out of their repentance, because there isn’t time to waste; the ax is already starting to chop down the tree.  

Now you can picture John -- wearing skins, eating bugs, long hair, wild eyes, probably a little dirty -- and yet crowds had come out to hear him, and after he said all those things, they didn’t throw up their hands and go home -- they asked, “What shall we do?”

John, do you have a message for us, do you have some answers for our spirits?  Because we know something is wrong, we just don’t know what it is.  We follow the laws, we sacrifice in the temple, some of us pray -- but life doesn’t seem to be getting any better.  We are still pushed around by Romans and we still barely make enough to put food on the table; life is hard, what are your answers?  

And John, this wild prophet, gives them answers, surprising answers.  He tells the crowd to share their clothing and food with those who have less.  He tells the tax collectors to collect only what they are owed.  He tells the soldiers to be satisfied with their wages.  He doesn't tell anyone to join him in the desert, or take up some kind of spiritual practice.  In a sense he tells them, “Go back to your homes, go back to your lives, and pay attention to how you live them.  That’s where the kingdom is -- it’s in a life where you live intentionally, where you become holy by doing your duties as well as you can.  And in doing so, you make the world holier.  And that’s John’s message to you and I as well.

The kingdom of heaven isn’t something far off, something awaiting us in the next life.  The kingdom of heaven is among us, Jesus told us that.  It’s there ready to be realized in the everyday lives we lead.  

And John goes on to tell us that the one who is coming will bring the Holy Spirit and fire.  And he will separate the wheat from the chaff and burn the chaff and gather the wheat.  Maybe you think this means that he will gather the good people and send the bad people to hell, but I think another way to see this is to note that fire is something that purifies, and the Holy Spirit brings new life, and when we lead intentional lives where we strive to make our daily living holy, Jesus will assist us in that enterprise.  He’ll burn away what shouldn’t be there and build up what is good in us.  If we set out to make our daily lives holy, we’ll get plenty of help from our Lord, the one who is to come.  

And that message is probably what got John into trouble, and might get us into trouble as well.  Because John is saying -- you don’t need to overthrow the Romans and run your one country in order to be holy.  You don’t need to sacrifice things in the temple to be holy.  Everything you need to be holy and please God is right there in your ordinary day, and God is willing to help you achieve holiness here and now, because the kingdom of God is among you already. And that’s why Luke tells us that what John preached to the people is good news.

As we approach the feast of Christmas, it’s a good time to take stock of ourselves.  How are we making our ordinary lives holy?  What can I change about my ordinary life that I can bring to the cradle of Christ, the newborn king?  How can I show my family and friends that the kingdom of God is among us?  

Second Sunday in Advent, cycle C

Luke 3:1 - 6

 In the Gospel of Luke we’ve gone from the early days of the life of Jesus when John was leaping for joy in his mother’s womb to when he is now an adult living in the desert on locusts and honey.. You can’t get to Christmas without going through John.  So we should pay attention when the Church highlights him. Luke places him very precisely in time; it was during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was Governor, and Herod was king, and so on.  But Luke wants us to notice something else; the word of the Lord did not come to those political and religious leaders with power and prestige; it came to a man who had rejected all of that.  Because John, the son of a priest, was entitled to be part of the hereditary priesthood.  But instead, he has gone out into the desert.

So the first thing about this gospel is that Advent is a time to go out into the desert, at least figuratively.  We won’t hear the voice of the Lord when we are occupied with our usual concerns. The voice of the Lord is usually a still small voice, as the prophet Elijah learned.  Most of us won't be knocked off a horse and blinded on the road to Damascus, as happened to Saint Paul.  But the more we are tied up with all that occupies our time, the less we will hear that voice of God.  

When I was growing up, Advent was something like Lent; you gave something up, you said more prayers, you tried to get ready for the coming of the Christ child.  And that was a good thing -- it reminded you of the fact that you were a Catholic Christian.  And we should do something like that -- not for penance, but to increase our ability to hear and react to the voice of our Lord, who is always speaking to us in the people around us, in our church, in our scriptures, in our daily experiences.  We need to pay attention and listen.  Advent is a time for listening.

The second thing about this story is that John calls us to repentance.  Sin is not a fashionable topic anymore.  Nothing seems to be evil enough to condemn.  I read that the Chicago school system has now mandated that all the schools have gender neutral bathrooms.  You can buy marijuana all over this state, and only a few years ago our Vice President was locking people up for long prison sentences for possessing the drug.  And people are going crazy worrying about a future where there may be some restrictions on the right to kill your unborn child.  And we kind of ignore societal sin, figuring that as long as we keep our own noses clean, we are alright. But we are part of society, we are guilty of its sin, we need to repent.  Repentance, in the scriptures, doesn’t mean that we feel sorry for something.  It means that we recognize that evil exists, that it surrounds us, that by ourselves we can’t do much about it, but most of all, that we need a savior.  Advent is a time to deepen our ability to recognize sin. If we don’t see that we are immersed in a sinful world, that we are part of a sinful world, we won’t see that we need Christ to come into it.  

Finally, John is out in the desert.  If you’ve been to the desert, or to a mountaintop, or out on the ocean, or really really ill, or suffered a great loss, maybe you've had that sense that many have in those situations -- a sort of new perspective on things.  You feel how small you really are, how vulnerable you are to the natural forces that we think we control with our sturdy houses and indoor plumbing and heating.   In the desert we are in touch with our helplessness, and we begin to recognize how truly privileged we are.  We need desert experiences to restore and affirm the sense of gratitude we should have, for all the good things God gives us.  Advent is a time to count our blessings and be grateful for them.

So we have three more weeks to get ready, to listen to God’s word to us, to recognize that we live in the middle of a fallen world and we need a Savior; and to see how blessed we are and thank God for that.  And then we will be in a situation where we will be prepared to welcome God’s greatest gift to us, the one who comes down from heaven to become one of us, the one who gave up his life for us, the one who feeds us with his Body and Blood, keeping his promise to be with us to the end of time.  

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First Sunday of Advent, cycle C

Luke 21;25 - 28, 34 - 36

If you asked most of us what Advent was all about, we’d probably answer, “It’s the season in which we get ready for Christmas.” “It’s the preparation for Christ’s birth.” Something like that. But as our gospel today tells us, it’s also the preparation for the Second Coming, when Christ comes in judgment.

In 1798 back when our country was still young, the house of representatives in the state of Connecticut were having a debate. It was a bright summer day and there was enough light so that lamps were not needed. An eclipse occurred, and suddenly the room darkened to the point where you could barely see two feet in front of you, and many of the members called for canceling the debate and adjourning -- maybe it was the end of the world. One member, however, said “I don’t know if it’s the end of the world or not, but if it is there isn’t anything we can do about it, and if it isn’t we have no reason to cancel our deliberations. I therefore suggest we light candles.” That’s a wonderful attitude, I guess, but it doesn't seem to be quite what Jesus is getting at in today’s gospel.

The first part of the gospel is an apocalypse. That’s Greek for “taking off the veil” and means that it’s a glimpse of the future. There are many of these passages in the Bible. The last book, called “Revelation” is one long apocalypse, and in fact that was the name of the book in Catholic bibles many years ago. The question always comes up, who is the glimpse of the future meant for? And of course when is it going to happen?. The second question has resulted in new denominations of Christians who believe they’ve figured it out; the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and Latter Day Saints all were founded by people who thought they had the answer. And of course many books have become best sellers because the author showed in great detail how you and I are living in those times -- but so far, no one has solved the puzzle.

But the first question is more important. Is Jesus talking to you and I, or warning people in the future? In first century Palestine the expectation was that the coming of the Messiah and the remaking of the world were going to happen any minute. Jesus wasn’t the only one to predict these events. And some people were getting ready. There were the Essenes, who lived like monks in the desert. And there were the Pharisees who believed that the better the Jewish people kept the laws God had given to Moses, the quicker the Messiah would arrive. So when Jesus talks about the end of time and all the events leading up to the return of the Son of Man, that’s just background for what he really wants from his disciples. He tells them to live in anticipation of the end of the world as we know it. And to live so as to welcome it, to raise our heads because our redemption is at hand.

Jesus goes on to warn us about carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily living. I’m sure nobody here is guilty of drunkenness, and only a few of us are carousers, but we all can relate to anxieties of daily living. To me the worst thing is that daily living is so distracting. I usually get up in the morning and set my goals for the day. Then something comes up that I have to attend to. Then someone calls. Then I realize I forgot to do something I promised to do. And so it goes, and by the end of the day I haven’t accomplished my goals, but I sure feel like it’s been a busy day. And the saddest thing is, even though I pause here and there for prayer, I don’t get the sense that I’m progressing spiritually as much as I wish I could. Now we have to deal with daily living. Even if you live in a monastery, you’ve got to take care of your body and fulfill your routine responsibilities. Jesus knows that, but is warning us that the danger is that we tend to forget that everything comes to an end, and that what seems so predictable in our lives is really not.

And I think that’s why Jesus really wants us to be vigilant. He wants us to have a sense of expectation, to carry out our tasks keeping in mind that we will someday run out of time. And telling us to be vigilant is one thing, but praying that we will have the strength to escape the tribulations is another. Because it’s hard enough to focus on eternity when things are going fairly smoothly; it’s much more difficult when our world turns upside down.

I think we should get up in the morning and take inventory -- if we were told that judgment time had come and we now had to stand in front of the Son of Man, would we welcome this or would we fear for our lives, fear for our souls? And if the second is the way we would feel, what should we do about it? 

Last Sunday in Ordinary Time: Christ the King

John 18:33 - 37

If you know a little about the bible, there are many passages that display Jesus as a cosmic king, coming down from heaven accompanied by angels; riding a white horse leading an army of saints; Our readings from Daniel and the Book of Revelation are just two examples.  Even Jesus in other parts of the New Testament predicts his majestic second coming.  So why do we pick this reading, when Jesus is standing before Pilate and admitting that he is a king, but not of a worldly kingdom.  

Most kings we are aware of got their kingdom by warfare, or inherited it from someone who had been a conqueror.  Unlike the ceremonial kings we see today, the kings of the past were almost always in some kind of battle with other kings over a border or some sort of natural resource.  If you read the second Book of Samuel, you get the impression that King David was always going off to war or sending his generals to do so.  King Malcom, the husband of Saint Margaret of Scotland, who with his wife turned a backwoods country made up of a loose association of clans into a country that was the envy of many in Christendom, died defending the border of his country with England.  But not Jesus --- not if we see how he rules.

Jesus says that he came into the world to testify to the truth and that everyone who belongs to the truth listens to his voice.  If we were to read further into this gospel, we would hear Pilate clearly join those who do not belong to the truth when he asks  “What is truth?”  And that’s a question modern man is asking all the time, even Catholics, who actually have a Church which Jesus guaranteed would be the ultimate source of truth.  But even that claim is contested.  Probably the majority of Catholics don’t even bother with trying to find out what the Church teaches about the moral questions of the day.  On the other hand, we have a lot of people who think they know -- and then there are those who dismiss any attempt at finding out the truth by appealing to the idea that “it doesn’t matter what you believe, just so you are a good person.” 

But Jesus seems to be saying that truth is really important for his disciples; in fact, in another part of John’s gospel he calls himself the way, the truth, and the life.  

One of the reasons some kings were successful was because they had charismatic personalities and were loved by their subjects.  Of course others were successful because they were cruel and cunning and had subordinates who knew what would happen to them if they got out of line.  But Jesus’ kingdom is different.  He invites his disciples to look at the world through his eyes; to make our choices based on his way of choosing.  And to draw others into this kingdom of his not by charisma or coercion but by doing what he did -- living the truth, being true to the truth.  That of course inspired thousands of people down through the ages to give up their lives rather than bowing to what was false.  There have been many very impressive martyrs.  One that comes to mind is fourteen year old Jose Sanchez del Rio, who was canonized in October of 2016.  During the Mexican civil war between those who wanted to turnt Mexico into a communist state versus those who wanted to keep the country Christian, he wanted to join the Cristeros, those fighting the atheistic government.  He was eventually told to renounce his faith, but refused, despite torture.  Finally he was shot.  And that seems to be a characteristic of most martyrs; in the face of even life-threatening opposition, they cling to the truth, they cling to Jesus Christ.

A Father of the Church, Tertullian, who lived in the fourth century, made that famous statement that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church”.  We’ve all heard that one.  But another statement he made is this: “The only people who will be in heaven are martyrs.”  Tertulian meant that everyone who gets to heaven will be in some sense a witness to the truth of Jesus Christ.  

There are many things our church teaches that our society doesn’t agree with.  The nature of marriage; when human life is worth preserving;  whether gender is real or just a construct.  We have to bear witness to the truth.  One truth which we are going to concentrate on this year is the nature of the Eucharist.  Our church believes in the real presence; Vatican II said that it is the source and summit of the Christian life.  Yet polls show that the majority of Catholics say that it is just a symbol, and many of us who say we believe don’t really demonstrate it.  A protestant minister once said that if he really believed in the real presence you couldn’t get him away from the altar.  Jose Sanchez died rather than renounce his faith.  What can we do to have a faith that strong?  As we receive our Lord today, let us pray that we receive him worthily, aware that he is truly there in the form of the bread and wine.  

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

Mark 13:24 - 32

At my age I spend more time than I probably should thinking about my mortality.  And when I don’t think about it, my wife reminds me because she is pushing to get everything ready so that when we die our children will not have to interrupt their busy lives to deal with funerals and getting the house ready to be sold and all that stuff.  And it was about 15 years ago when the last sibling of my mother passed away.  And of my high school graduating class about one fourth have moved on to the next life.  My generation is passing away, like all those before it.  And yet Jesus tells his apostles that “this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.  And if you were to read the whole chapter of Mark’s gospel, it would include the destruction of the temple, persecutions of Christians, and all these things happening in the heavens.  Some of the things JEsus predicted did happen.  The temple was  torn down and hasn’t been rebuilt; there were wars and there still are; Christians were persecuted, then, now, and undoubtedly in the future as well..  But the sun did not darken and the moon failed to give it’s light.  Jesus is promising his disciples that they would be around to witness his triumphant return; and I think that’s what he is promising to us as well.  We are, after all, part of the generation composed of the baptized, the people who have become brothers and sisters of Jesus, adopted children of the father, and temples of the Holy Spirit.  IN short, we in the church are the generation that will not pass away until His return will be there, at the end of time, being judged.  Now some of us think about judgment as sitting in a courtroom with God passing sentence on us.  Not so.  We will be our own judges.  And it’s fairly simple.  We will simply be invited by the Father to surrender to his love.  He will invite us to let go of everything that we thought was important while we lived on earth, so that we can enter fully into his embrace.  We will be invited, as Jesus was, to surrender our very selves to God. 

And that won’t be easy, because it means giving up control.  For a creature with free will, that’s very difficult.  Before time began when God created the angels, we’re told that a third of the angels, led by Lucifer, rebelled.  Why? Because as the poet Milton expressed it, Satan would “rather reign in hell than serve in heaven”. And we see that Adam and Eve preferred being kicked out of paradise rather than obey God’s command not to eat the fruit of a certain tree.  And we see King David, who had everything he could possibly want -- a kingdom, the friendship of God, several wives, tribute from his enemies -- he decided to break several commandments in order  to take another man’s wife as his own.  When you think about it, most of the bad things in the world happen because someone refuses to give up control, refuses to recognize that he is totally dependent, even for the next breath he takes, on God.  

Contrast that with the Saints.  A few days ago one of the saints we celebrated was Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity.  She was a Carmelite nun who died at the age of twenty-six.  She was a mystic and left several writings.  Here’s one sentence: “my God, Trinity whom I adore, let me entirely forget myself that I may abide in you, still and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity; let nothing disturb my peace nor separate me from you, O my unchanging God, but that each moment may take me further into the depths of your mystery!”  Her last words were “”I am going to light, to love, to life!’  Like many saints whose deaths were witnessed, she longed to surrender herself to God, completely and with no reservations.  

So I’m probably somewhere between King David and Saint Elizabeth.  I’m still trying to surrender my desire to be in control, my attachments to the good things of this world, and I doubt that I will be ready when the time comes.  That’s what purgatory is all about.  And that will be the pain of purgatory.  We will have to let go of all our lesser loves in order to enter into God’s eternal love.  It sounds easy, doesn’t it?  God and eternity in heaven on the one hand, the little pleasures and attachments I have now on the other.  But if it’s so easy, why aren’t we doing these things now?  After all, we know what we are supposed to do.

We are in the month of November, when we remember the souls of those who have gone before us.  We are near the end of the Church year, when we are supposed to think about the four last things -- death, judgment, heaven and hell.  So let us give a little thought as we approach the last Sunday of the Church year, the feast of Christ the King, how we will greet him when he comes.  Will we be fearful and look around for a place to hide?  Or will we welcome him with open arms?  And if we aren’t sure, what will we do about it?