The Feast of Christ the King 

This week the Church celebrates “Christo Regis.” In Latin it sounds more direct—not Christ the King but simply “Christ King.” “Jesus of Nazareth,” wrote Pope Benedict, “is so intrinsically king that the title ‘king’ has actually become his name.” Indeed, the word Christos in Greek means “the anointed one,” from the verb chrio, to anoint (we get the word “chrism” from this verb). In the ancient world, Kings and priests were simply called the anointed ones, literally “those smeared with oil,” the christoi. We remember our dear Carmelites at Cristo Rey monastery ten blocks from here, founded by refugees from the persecutions in Mexico in the 1920s. Many were martyred in those years with the cry of Viva Cristo Rey on their lips, “long live Christ the king.” So it was that the Mexican priest, Blessed Miguel Pro, died on November 23, 1927 (we celebrated his feast day on Thursday, along with Thanksgiving). The local “king,” Plutarco Calles, president of Mexico, had him executed by firing squad when Catholicism was illegal in Mexico. He died with arms outstretched and the final words viva Cristo Rey.

Disappointing Leadership

The Feast of Christ the King may be difficult for us Americans to appreciate, given that we don’t trust kings. Down with King George, and up with democracy! But even democracy needs a strong leader, and for the past twenty years the weaknesses of our democracy have become evident. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have been able to achieve the necessary unity to lead this nation. Leaders at all levels of church and state lack decisive authority; they waffle and contradict themselves as much as they contradict each other; their lives often betray their own declared principles as is currently on graphic display in the news.
 
But we should not become unduly disappointed in our earthly leaders. They are after all only human. Our hope must not be in any president or political party. Ultimately only God has the capacity to rule humanity, precisely because this Ruler is above humanity. Only our Creator understands humanity from the inside and still loves each of us. And besides, all earthly rulers submit to Him sooner or later. No one really breaks the laws of God; we simply break against these natural laws. Neither God nor Mother Nature is mocked.

Love God

“I myself will tend my sheep,” God declares in the first reading. I will rescue them, because Israel’s kings have not governed them well. What are God’s laws? Our Lord gave us only two commandments: Love God, and love your neighbor. Love God first, beginning with right worship, with a devout and reverent attendance at Mass. If Christ is King, we will never miss a Sunday Mass if we can help it. With firm purpose we will come to Mass early to prepare for his divine presence, we will dress for the King in what is called our “Sunday best,” we will listen carefully to the readings and offer ourselves with him as the priest elevates the chalice. If Christ is our King, we will make Sunday Mass the center of our week. May God grant us a sacred and reverential fear of his divine presence in the Holy Mass!

Love Neighbor

​May Christ give us also to reverence Him in each other! “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, he will sit upon his glorious throne with all the nations assembled before him.” And He will judge them. What is the one criterion by which God will judge us, according to today’s Gospel? Recognizing and loving Him in each other. “What you did for the least of my brothers,” the King says, “you did to me.” And who are these “least?” Certainly the poorest of the poor, the invisible people in San Francisco, like the ones we served with the French Sisters on Thanksgiving in the Tenderloin. But each of us lives and works with people we least like, or who least like us. It is of these people who irritate us, perhaps even disgust us, or whom we irritate, that Jesus speaks. Love them, and you love me. Give the troublesome a bit of your time, exercise patience with the noisome, call that relative you don’t want to call on his birthday, and you go to heaven. Ignore them, and you go to hell. Every man is Christ, in his sometimes distressing disguise. It’s as simple as that. Long live Christ the King within us!

Some of you will have read Robert Cardinal Sarah's excellent little book The Power of Silence. I am sitting in an airport on a wonderfully clear morning in Southern California, and another power is at work: the Power of Noise. As the sun rises over the lovely San Bernardino mountains, noise attempts to overcome the silence. Through high-tech speakers mounted every 20 feet throughout this entire building, a woman’s prurient voice assaults my hearing. She suggests that she would like to sell me her body, cheap. I walked the length and breadth of the concourse seeking relief, but found none. I finally resorted to what everyone else does these days: I plugged in some earphones. But even white noise at elevated volume could not erase her wailing. And anyway, white noise is after all noise. Still, this dark noise cannot overcome the peace of Christ within us.
 
Why am I in Southern California? A former student from my days at Thomas Aquinas College invited me to witness her wedding at her home parish in Guasti. Let me say how privileged we priests are to be a part of so many good peoples’ sacramental lives. Few things encourage a priest more than witnessing the vows of two devout Catholics. The union of good Catholic families gives us joy today and hope for tomorrow. Thank you, dear young people for getting married! Thank you, dear parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends, for preparing your children to shoulder the sweet yoke of Christ through marriage!
 
At the heart of marriage is silence: an intense love that words would only betray. Weddings can be noisy affairs, but on either side of the raucous reception is the silence of consecration. The priest consecrates bread and wine at their nuptial Mass, and the couples consummate that consecration later that night in wordless self-offering.
 
Among the reasons marriage is roundly rejected today, I think, is its silence. The world cannot tolerate the quiet sacrifice of self that lies at the heart of marital love. We are a culture addicted to noise. In every airport, in every Uber, in every hotel and restaurant lobby, noise painfully assaults us. At 6 o’clock this morning I thought I would escaped the hotel lobby’s sound sytem by sitting outside. A silent sunrise was unfolding over the eastern hills. To my horror, the hotel had equipped even the taxi rank outside with high-definition speakers. Rap driveled from them as rosy-fingered dawn spread over the mountains. My Uber arrived, and I got in the car with a nice young man at the wheel. Hip hop emanated from the radio. No escape.
 
Back home I spent an hour in our church before the Blessed Sacrament. Although I could hear the soft sounds of people coming and going, each respected the beautiful silence of God’s presence. How blessed to pastor a church that understands silence! All we did was expose the Blessed Sacrament on the main altar, and the parish grew still, and deep, and beautiful. Jesus will push back the noise for all who come to Him in the Blessed Sacrament. May our newly-married couple stay close to His silent presence, before whom they made their vows yesterday.

 
Happy Thanksgiving
On Thursday we give thanks to God for our dearest country, the blessing of living in America. Rendering thanks to God is a simple duty of Christians and of Americans, as our first President decreed in 1789: “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God …."
 
The President and our government deserve our thanks and respect as well; St. Paul calls us to obey the king and all just civil laws; the catechism teaches us to pay our taxes. But God must have our first thanks, and our first loyalty. We serve our country best by rendering witness to something greater than our country. Presidents Washington and Lincoln would agree that citizens exercise loyalty to their president by exercising fidelity to their God. Abraham Lincoln confirmed his predecessor’s 1789 proclamation with his own of 1863: “I invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States … to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”
 
Citizens of Heaven First
“We are citizens of heaven first,” Archbishop Chaput writes in his little book Render Unto Caesar. Catholics should not be less involved in politics, but more; not less visible but more visible as Catholics in society. The entire Western system of democracy, rule of law, and free economics developed through 3000 years of Judeo-Christian jurisprudence. Christian practices of democracy and human rights have been adopted by the entire world. Who best can guide politics to the Common Good than Catholics guided by Gospel principles? “The Catholic Church,” concludes Archbishop Chaput, “cannot stay, has never stayed, and never will stay out of politics…. Living our Catholic faith without excuses and apologies, and advancing them in the public square, are the best expressions of patriotism.”
 
Our Talent of Faith
I say this because Christ’s parable today speaks of talents, and St. Paul tells us we do not walk in darkness, like those who do not believe. God has given us the great gift of faith: we are in church this morning, and most of America is not. What are we doing with that precious talent, our faith? Are we keeping it all to ourselves, on a little altar at home, or are we spreading it? How many people have we won over to Jesus this year? We can at least invite our friends and relatives to Mass, and if they don’t come, pray for them daily by name. What about our enemies? Have we prayed for them by name? If I go to God with only the one talent he gave me at my baptism, he will say to me “You wicked, lazy servant!” I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to hear that on judgement day. Every Catholic has the solemn duty to evangelize, to win souls for Christ, to bring them to Mass and bring them to prayer, in whatever way we can.
 
Sober and Alert
St. Paul urges us to be “alert and sober” in his letter to the Thessalonians. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, ‘Peace and security,’ then sudden disaster comes upon them.” Two years ago, our nation’s highest court told God that we don’t need His help in ordering our lives together. Our government redefined marriage and family, the most fundamental cell of society. Disaster is surely coming—the chaos that will inevitably result from this further decline of the family. It happened to Rome when senators began divorcing their wives. A great society that had been built on strong family life began to disintegrate. It is happening to us too. Increasing acts of random violence and domestic terrorism are not random: they are domestic. We have largely lost the domus, the home. As Archbishop Chaput wrote, the times demand not less but more overt political involvement by faithful Catholics, providing that stability which only faith can provide for our nation. We give God thanks this Thursday for our dear country, and we pray Him to preserve it as one union under his divine protection.

Sex and Money

Some say a priest should never preach on sex or money. I even would say that our bank accounts are more private than our bedrooms. How many of us would be comfortable seeing the details of our finances published in the parish bulletin? Before going any farther on this topic, let me just say that money is good. Wealth is a blessing, but blessings can quickly become curses because God gives his children blessings to be shared. If we hoard rather than share our blessings, they rot, and they infect us. If I keep all my love to myself, or never share my talents, or do not give time to others, and if I hold tightly to all my money, these blessings become curses. Share your blessings and they bless you; keep them to yourself and they curse you.
 
Love of Money

We are on the third and last of our annual stewardship commitment weekends. Two weeks ago we planned how we would set aside some time for God in prayer this year; last week we planned how to share some of our talents in building our community; this weekend we plan what financial gifts we will return to God. Someone joked last week that the time and talent weekends were a dress rehearsal for the really important one, the money talk. In a way he is right. Wealth has a more stubborn grip on us and needs greater attention. St. Paul says in 1 Tim 6:10 that the love of money is the root of all evil. Pretty strong words. I remember my seventh grade history teacher asking us why we went to war with England in 1776. We didn’t know, so he drew a huge dollar sign on the blackboard. All wars are driven by money, he said. In fact, greed drives almost all conflicts, from marriage disagreements to world wars. That’s why it’s crucial that we Christians free ourselves from the love of money by giving a portion back to God. Tithing frees us from wealth’s tyranny.
 
Question: Does God need our money?
Answer: Obviously not, because he owns it all in the first place. In an absolute sense, even the Church does not need our money. It’s God’s Church, and he can run it without our money if he needs to. Don’t get me wrong. Your pastor still has to pay the electric bill, and your gifts support the Church in some very important ways. But God does not command us to tithe because He needs our money. He commands us to tithe, rather, so that we will learn to trust Him. Tithing helps free us from the love of money (so does prayer). The more we love money, the less we can love God and love our friends. In other words, we don’t give to a need; we have a need to give. And most of us Catholics have a long way to go in this department. The average Catholic gives just under 1% of our income away, but God asks for at least 10%. I don’t think we Catholics are inherently stingy, but I think we don’t think our money has much to do with our spiritual lives. We just don’t plan or even think about tithing. That’s why I’m bringing it up today.
 
Five Wise and Five Foolish

Let’s look briefly at the Gospel. Five wise and five foolish bridesmaids. The wise ones planned ahead. They loved the bridegroom enough to plan for him. When he arrived at Midnight, they were ready to go with him. Planning is an act of love. “This parable,” writes one author, “illustrates the kind of preparedness Jesus expects of his disciples.” How many of us plan our gifts to God and his holy Church? We could plan our time better, for example, and get to Mass a little earlier. We could plan our tithe better too. Most of us toss into the basket whatever we have in our pockets. We give God pocket change. Is that all He means to us?
 
Last year at this time I planned my tithe, and I did it again yesterday. I realized that over 12 months I’ve become negligent and thoughtless. And my circumstances have changed—we priests got a small raise in salary, but my tithe was not adjusted accordingly. After communion today, after we have received the Body of Christ, God’s supreme gift of Himself, I am going to lead us in a little spiritual exercise of planning our financial gifts to God. Planning my tithe yesterday hurt a little. I realized I was not giving what I could be giving, that I had a little too much extra money hanging around: money that rots and spreads infection. Mother Teresa once said “what would we do with extra money? Bank it? I’d rather die!” Those of us God calls to live in the world do need bank accounts and money in savings, but how much? Let’s let God guide us to greater freedom by submitting even our finances to His perfect will.

What we value in life

Today is our annual Stewardship Commitment Sunday. Every year we take stock of our personal relationship to God by considering the manifold blessings He pours upon us and how we share those blessings. God gives us an abundance of Time, Talent, and Treasure. Do we return a portion to him in grateful praise? Do we make gifts of our Time in prayer, our talent in charitable service, and our treasure in financial gifts to others? How we spend our time and money is the real indicator of how we are seeking happiness in life. Show me your day planner and your visa account and I will show you what you value in life. Today we look at all God has given us and plan gifts in return.
 
All time, all energy, and all wealth are God’s, and it all returns to Him, sooner or later. Why wait until “later,” on the day of our death, when we will have to surrender everything? I heard of a priest who died with a million dollars in the bank, which he willed to Mother Teresa’s sisters. But how much more wonderful to have given that money personally while he was still alive! Most of us will die regretting the time we did not spend with the people we loved. Let’s examine our souls this Sunday so we don’t die regretting anything.
 
Time is Prayer

They say time is money. Certainly time is the most precious resource we have. We Americans, in fact, and especially we San Franciscans, seem to have a lot more money than time. We are always strapped for time. But God gives us 70 or 80 years of time on this earth to prepare for heaven. He gives us 168 hours a week. What do we do with that time? If we don’t spend any of it with God in prayer, we cannot be very healthy or happy. Prayer opens me up to God’s blessings, and makes me capable of loving others. But God is patient. He doesn’t pout or complain if we miss Mass on Sunday, or don’t show up for our weekly holy hour, or neglect the Rosary, or never open his Bible. He does not nag us, so we must be mature in planning our time with him. After communion, I will lead us in a practical exercise—filling out a prayer planning form—the first of our three stewardship commitments.
 
Talent: Are we building up the Church?

​We also consider “talent:” what strengths has God given us, and how do we use these talents to support others? Most of the talents we share with others will be outside the parish—helping our children and spouses, friends and colleagues. But for Catholics the parish is also a vital community. A Catholic is happiest when he or she commits some degree of service to the local parish. Social and service groups like the Knights of Columbus, Filipino, Chinese, or Latino clubs, our Mother’s Club and Young Adults fellowship, our Legion of Mary: these give us scope to exercise our talents right in our home parish. Teaching catechism to our children, serving on a parish advisory board, volunteering in our school or preschool, or serving the homeless are other ways to help build up the community.
 
In the Gospel Jesus points out that the Pharisees preach well but they don’t put their own good intentions into practice. “They lay up heavy burdens but will not lift a finger to help others carry them.” To be Catholic, to be Christian, to be human is to lift a finger to help others carry life’s burdens. It is simply good stewardship. Jesus says the Pharisees do not “practice what they preach.” I’m sure they had good intentions, but somehow, they didn’t act on those intentions. They were not faithful to their own beliefs. In the words of my favorite animated movie, Horton Hears a Who, “I meant what I said and I said what I meant; an elephant’s faithful 100 percent.” I’d like to be a little more like Horton and a little less like the Pharisees. Jesus calls us to walk with each other, to work with each other. Christian stewardship is walking with each other on the long road to heaven, helping each other to be strong on this journey.
 
Allow Our Blessed Mother to guide your prayer and your charitable service. She appeared many times to simple folk, most recently to three shepherd children in Portugal, always with one goal: to lead them in prayer so as to be more charitable to others. “Pray the rosary,” she said, “so that people will not lose their souls.” Let’s make a quick prayer to her as we plan our gifts.

Note: Below is the prayer planning form (Stewardship of Time Commitment Form) that we used at Mass

Yesterday I offered four Masses for All Saints Day and saw a lot of people approaching the sanctuary for Holy Communion. We all have many virtues and vices. Even after we struck our breasts with the words mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, we were not ashamed to approach the communion rail at the edge of the sanctuary. St. Paul calls us “saints,” not because we try really hard to be holy (some of us do), but because of what we receive from God’s sanctuary.
 
On All Hallows Eve I visited a dear friend who was dying. She was a mother to many priests over the years, and mother to many others, in addition to her own seven children. During my two hours with Ann, a parade of children, grandchildren, and “spiritual children” came to be with the holy one on her deathbed. Her husband had gone back to God a few years ago, but she remained in the family home, surrounded by the vineyards they had all planted and cultivated over many three generations. On Tuesday, her children and grandchildren prepared dinner in a flurry of family energy around their dying mother. “She will go back to God on All Saints Day,” her eldest daughter said. I thought that would be an extraordinary grace, and prayed that it might be so.
 
Yesterday, All Saints Day, Ann took her last earthly breath just after the children led the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary around her. Today I placed her name in the canon of my first Mass for the dead, a quiet morning requiem offered as the sun was just touching the crystal windows above the altar. Is she a saint? Yes, she is a saint. She received the Holy One in Eucharistic Communion almost every day of her life, and several times in these last days from various priests. “The souls of the just are in the hands of God,” we will hear in today’s Mass, “and no torment shall touch them.” Ann was justified by God’s overwhelming grace, and the fact that she did not reject that grace. She is in the hands of God, and we pray for her soul, for certainly those who die with need for any purgation will be consoled by our prayers and sacrifices.
 
To be at the bedside of one who has lived a holy life, a joyful and simple life in God’s presence, is an unutterable consolation. I will never forget the Vigil of All Saints 2017, when I sat by the bed of a saint and prayed with her that God’s perfect will be fulfilled entirely in our lives. May she rest in peace. May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.