Solemnity of Christ the King

The Church has arrived at the final week of the Liturgical Year. Next weekend, we begin the Church's new year with the First Sunday of Advent. A statement that comes to mind this weekend is, "As one door closes, another opens." Of course, this Solemnity of Christ the King will close more than just one door. Not only are we closing the door on the Liturgical Year, but we are also closing the door on the use of the Sacramentary. For over 40 years, we have been using a translation that came out of the Second Vatican Council. These translations were not closely linked with the original Latin language of the Church. Blessed John Paul II initiated the revision of the Third Roman Missal, which would bring all translations back to the Latin language. Many years of work has gone into making this possible and now we are ready to unveil the Roman Missal next weekend. It will be a major change for all of us, priests and people. All of the prayers have been translated so that means we priests will have to keep a close eye on the missal until we get the wording straight in our heads. The responses of the people have changed so they will have to keep a close eye on their pew cards or the revised missalettes. This is an exciting and challenging time for the church. As I have said before, hopefully this time will allow us to grow again in our love for the Mass and the Eucharist. We are truly a blessed and redeemed people. We have to do our part to build up the Kingdom of God in our midst as we prepare for the full reality of that kingdom to be revealed. Jesus Christ is the King of the Universe. Let us praise and adore him on this feast and in the days ahead as we prepare for this time of renewal in the church. Have a blessed weekend!!!