"My kingdom is not of this world": the Lord's Day is foretaste and promise of eternal life

"the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him"

One of the things that priests are responsible for in this life is to preach, teach, equip with grace and send out all of our Catholic faithful to transform the world into a more perfect foretaste and promise of God's Kingdom.  The results of that mission will be subject to the judgment of Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, when He comes back to judge the living and the dead, but until then we must always follow our consciences and try with the Lord's grace to do the Father's holy will in all things through the Holy Spirit who strengthens us.

Those of you who battled long lines at the stores this weekend because you believed the advertising promises that you would find door-busting deals at the stores perhaps, in some cases, came away disappointed.  Some of you may have come away from your so-called "Black Friday weekend" experiences feeling that it felt more like the traffic jams of a daily commute to work than a step forward in preparation for Christmas gift-giving.

"My kingdom does not belong to this world."

As people of faith, we are called to recognize the role of God in all that we do through the power of that grace.  With all of the details that fill our earthly lives, we are called at the same time to be people bound for heaven, "in the world, but not of the world".  Our beautiful liturgical celebration of the universal kingship of Jesus Christ at our Masses today is a reminder of the presence of this kingdom in the world primarily because of the Church, the Body of Christ, into which we have all been baptized.

The Lord's Day is God's invitation every week to renew ourselves and our baptismal call to be active members of the Kingdom by desire and intention, to orient all that we do toward the eternal life to come because of who we know ourselves to be by Faith and baptism.

Next Sunday we will begin the season of Advent.  It will be a fresh start in the life of grace.  Have you been letting shopping and other optional things get in the way of the one thing that will last?  Make a fresh start, especially by observing the Father's will on the Lord's Day each week, restoring relationshiops with God and others by celebrating holy Mass here with the Kingdom in our midst, and avoiding less important activities in order to spend more time at home with the family.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.