Sunday 24 November 2019
Our Lord Jesus Christ The King
Masses 8.30am 10.15am concluding with Benediction 6pm
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St Peter's Catholic Church, Leigh on Sea
EASTWOOD PARISH
Home to the Southend Ordinariate Mission
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Next Sunday Mass in the Ordinariate Use 2nd of Advent 8th December at 12 noon
Our Group Pastor will be leading a pigrimage to the Holy Land -thus our next Weekday evening Mass in the Ordinarioate Use will be on Tuesday 10th December
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Icon of the Crucifixion, Ioannes Moskos, 1711
Kingdom of the Son:
Readings:
Scott Hahn Reflects on the Solemnity of Christ the King
Readings:
2 Samuel 5:1–3
Psalm 122:1–5
Colossians 1:12–20
Luke 23:35–43
Week by week the Liturgy has been preparing us for the revelation to be made on this, the last Sunday of the Church year.
Jesus, we have been shown, is truly the Chosen One, the Messiah of
God, the King of the Jews. Ironically, in today’s Gospel we hear these
names on the lips of those who don’t believe in Him—Israel’s rulers, the
soldiers, and a criminal dying alongside Him.
They can only see the scandal of a bloodied figure nailed to a cross.
They scorn Him in words and gestures foretold in Israel’s Scriptures
(see Psalm 22:7–9; 69:21–22; Wisdom 2:18–20). If He is truly King, God will rescue Him, they taunt. But He did not come to save Himself, but to save them—and us.
The good thief shows us how we are to accept the salvation He offers
us. He confesses his sins, acknowledges he deserves to die for them. And
He calls on the name of Jesus, seeking His mercy and forgiveness.
By his faith he is saved. Jesus “remembers” him—as God has always
remembered His people, visiting them with His saving deeds, numbering
them among His chosen heirs (see Psalm 106:4–5).
By the blood of His cross, Jesus reveals His Kingship—not by saving
His life, but by offering it as a ransom for ours. He transfers us to
“the Kingdom of His beloved Son,” as today’s Epistle tells us.
His Kingdom is the Church, the new Jerusalem and House of David that we sing of in today’s Psalm.
By their covenant with David in today’s First Reading, Israel’s
tribes are made one “bone and flesh” with their king. By the new
covenant made in His blood, Christ becomes one flesh with the people of
His Kingdom—the head of His body, the Church (see Ephesians 5:23–32).
We celebrate and renew this covenant in every Eucharist, giving
thanks for our redemption, hoping for the day when we too will be with
Him in Paradise.
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