Deacon Kirk

  The Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe 2025 Year C Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. Today is the final Sunday in the church calendar, and at the end of the church year, we celebrate Jesus Christ as our King. This is the day the Church appoints for us to recognize and to celebrate our Lord’s Majesty over heaven, and over earth, and over all people since the dawn of time - until the end of time. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the whole of the Old Covenant, which is another way of saying the Old Testament. The second person of the Holy Trinity entered time and space to be born as a human being, for us and for our salvation. Jesus is the prophet who reveals to us the Love of God; Jesus is the priest who offered Himself as the sacrifice of the New Covenant; and Jesus is the King of all creation, for all eternity. Jesus is the son and heir of the great King David whose anointing as KIng of Israel is recounted in our first reading today....

  33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C Eight or nine years ago I was chosen to be a witness at a civil trial. As I sat on the witness stand, I was directed to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” This used to be called “swearing in,” or taking an oath. These days, they use language like do you “promise,” or do you “affirm” to tell the truth? This three-part oath means first of all, that a witness will tell the truth , that is, will tell the facts as they actually happened. The second part, the “ whole truth, ” which means that the witness will not leave any facts out, that is, will not deliberately leave anything important out of the testimony. The third and final part, “ nothing but the truth ” means that the witness will stick strictly to the facts, and will not add any speculation, or add any personal inferences, or add any embellishments to the testimony that could obscure the truth, or distract from the truth. At that time that I was a witness, it g...