Announcements: Christ the King

Dear Holy Rosary Mission Parishioners, here are the announcemtents for the week of Christ the King.

Gospel: Christ the King will one day be asking for our Passports. Please see Homily below.

Around the Mission: Due to fog last week I had to cancel going to Clarks Point on Friday and I missed Mass in Dillingham at Holy Rosary on Sunday because after mass in King Salmon I was fogged in. I did manage to fly to Togiak and back on Wednesday.

Thank you: Thanx to Aileen who celebrated a communion service Sunday. I called her from King Salmon 30 minutes before mass began in Dillingham. She did a great job with only 30 minutes notice.

Bend, Oregon: I will be traveling to Bend for Thanksgiving with my family and will be gone from Nov 22 to Dec 2.

Nativity Narrative: Bernina is choosing narratives for the children's nativity play during Mass on Christmas Eve. Please contact her if you have a child between the ages of four and nine, give a take a year or two.

Have a great week and see you Sunday...Fr. Scott

HOMILY
Christ the King C DLG 2010, 2 Kings, 2 Samuel 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43

Whenever I travel out of the United States I need a Passport. To travel around the world, everyone needs a passport. A passport is an official document that says I belong to the United States. I am subject to the laws of the United States. The USA will protect me when I am outside the country. It says that our laws may be a little different than another countries law. That means that if I do something against the law in one country, I have to be judged according to the laws in the United States.

The gospel tells us the kind of passport the King will ask us for. The details are a little different from this passport. Our passport to enter the Kingdom of heaven may not necessarily have our race, age, nationality, or culture.

Our passport to heaven will not have stamped on it “I was a member of Holy Rosary Catholic Church.” It won’t say I was married for 50 years and raised ten children. It won’t go into detail about how many Hail Mary’s I said each day.

The way we pray, worship, and what we believe are all important in our lives here on earth. These are all stepping-stones and landmarks that lead us to do what is really important.

The King of Heaven will ultimately judge us on what is REALLY important…that is, our behavior in relation to our neighbor who is in need. How do we relate to our neighbors?

Christ the King is our example: During his life on earth, he took pity on the poor, helped the defenseless, and was kind to outcasts.

One of the most difficult things for me before I became a priest was changing my Business oriented thinking. I set goals for myself. I used physical, financial, and social objectives to meet those goals. Setting goals is a great way to get along at work, at home, and at school. Goal setting works!

Goal setting does not work in the spiritual world. We cannot say that if we go to church every Sunday, if we pray everyday, then we will go to heaven. It does not work that way. We cannot have our visas stamped when we go to church, donate money, or join a prayer group.

When I decided to become a priest I had to get it through my head that goal setting does not work. I could not do something good and expect to get an immediate result. Treasure in heaven means just that: we may not experience the fruits of our labor until after we die. I had to learn that spirituality is something we grow stronger in everyday.

Spirituality has no immediate end. Our spirituality is eternal. It goes on forever, even after we die.

Probably the toughest thing for me to learn about spirituality was to let things go. It is easy for me to want to blame myself for all my faults and for the good things I do. In reality, it should be that God and I work together…share, in building up this Kingdom.

As we grow in our spiritual lives we learn a language. Our heavenly visas will be stamped with that language.

I hope the language stamped on my visa says this: I allowed Christ the King to be my shepherd. I learned to trust and follow God. I walk where the Lord leads. I lead others to the restful waters, to healing, and to love.

The idea is this: If we allow Christ to be our King, he will guide us along the right path. He will protect us outside of this world. He will admit us to the kingdom where he reigns, to the glory of god the Father (625 Words).

2 Samuel 5:1-3 – All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said: "Here we are, your bone and your flesh. In days past, when Saul was our king, it was you who led the Israelites out and brought them back. And the LORD said to you, 'You shall shepherd my people Israel and shall be commander of Israel.'" When all the elders of Israel came to David in Hebron, King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD, and they anointed him king of Israel.

Colossians 1:12-20 – Giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross (through him), whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Luke 23:35-43 – The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God." 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." Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."