Sunday, November 22
Christ the King – Solemnity
Roman Ordinary calendar
Book of Ezekiel 34,11-12.15-17.
Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark.
I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly.
As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD, I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.
Psalms 23(22),1-2a.2b-3.5.6.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
He refreshes my soul.
He guides me in right paths
For his name’s sake.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
First Letter to the Corinthians 15,20-26.28.
Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being.
For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will (also) be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 25,31-46.
Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Blessed Columba Marmion (1858-1923)
Abbot
Poverty (Christ, the Ideal of the Monk, London: Sands & Co., 1934, pp. 206-7, rev.)
May your kingdom come!
The Word is King. King of heaven and of earth. The Word lives and reigns in God. Christ only lives where he reigns; he is essentially King; he lives in us to the degree that he governs all in us, that he reigns over our faculties, that he rules our activity.
When all within us comes from him, that is to say when we no longer think except as he thinks, when we no longer will except as he wills, when we act only according to his good pleasure, then we place our whole self in subjection at his feet, then he reigns in us. All that is proper to us, all that is personal, disappears to give place to the thoughts and will of the Divine Word. This domination of Christ in us must be complete. We ask this a hundred times a day: “May your kingdom come!” O may that day come, O Lord, when you will reign entirely in me, when no selfish motive will hinder your power over me, when, like you, I shall be entirely yielded up to the Father and nothing within me will be opposed to the Holy Spirit’s action!
On that day we shall have done all that within us lies to bring our own personality to naught before the dominion of Christ. He will truly be for us “All in all” (cf. 1 Cor 15:28). Morally speaking we shall no longer have anything of our own: all will be subject, all will be given to him.
Traditional Latin Mass readings for the last Sunday after Pentecost
EPISTLE Colossians 1: 9-14
Fratres, Non cessámus pro vobis orántes, et postulantes, ut impleámini agnitióne voluntátis Dei in omni sapiéntia et intelléctu spiritáli: ut ambulétis digne Deo per ómnia placéntes: in omni ópere bono fructificántes, et crescéntes in sciéntia Dei: in omni virtúte confortáti secúndum poténtiam claritátis ejus in omni patiéntia, et Ionganimitáte cum gáudio, grátias agéntes Deo Patri, qui dignos nos fecit in partem sortis sanctórum in Iúmine: qui erípuit nos de potestáte tenebrárum, et tránstulit in regnum Fílii dilectiónis suæ, in quo habémus redemptiónem per sánguinem ejus, remissiónem peccatórum.
Brethren, we cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might according to the power of His glory, in all patience and long suffering with joy giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His Blood, the remission of sins.
GRADUAL Psalms 43: 8, 9
Liberásti nos, Dómine, ex affligéntibus nos: et eos, qui nos odérunt, confudísti. In Deo laudábimur tota die, et in nómine tuo confitébimur in sǽcula. Allelúja, allelúja. (Ps. 129: 1, 2) De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine: Dómine, exáudi oratiónem meam. Allelúja.
Thou hast delivered us, O Lord, from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us. In God we will glory all the day: and in Thy Name we will give praise for ever. Alleluia, alleluia. (Ps. 129: 1, 2) From the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer. Alleluia.
GOSPEL Matthew 24: 13-25
In illo témpore: Dixit Jesu discípulis suis: Cum vidéritis abominatiónem desolatiónis, quæ dicta est a Daniéle prophéta, stantem in loco sancto, qui legit, intélligat: tunc qui in Judǽa sunt, fúgiant ad montes: et qui in tecto, non descéndat tóllere áliquid de domo sua: et qui in agro, non revertátur tóllere túnicam suam. Væ autem prægnántibus, et nutriéntibus in illis diébus. Oráte autem, ut non fiat fuga vestra in híeme, vel sábbato. Erit enim tunc tribulatió magna, qualis non fuit ab initio mundi usque, neque fiet. Et nisi breviáti fuíssent dies illi, non fíeret salva omnis caro: sed propter eléctos breviabúntur dies illi. Tunc si quis vobis díxerit: Ecce hic est Christus,
aut illic: nolíte crédere. Surgent enim pseudochrísti, et pseudoprophétæ: et dabunt signa magna et prodígia, ita ut in errórem inducántur (si fíeri potest) étiam elécti. Ecce prædíxi vobis. Si ergo díxerint vobis: Ecce in desérto est, nolíte exíre: ecce in penetrálibus, nolíte crédere. Sicut enim fulgur exit ab Oriénte, et paret usque in Occidéntem: ita erit advéntus Fílii hóminis. Ubicúmque fúerit corpus, illic congregabúntur et áquilæ. Statim autem post tribulatiónem diérum illórum sol obscurábitur, et luna non dabit lumen suum, et stellæ cadent de cælo, et virtútes cælórum commovebúntur: et tunc parébit signum Fílii hóminis in cælo: et tunc plangent omnes tribus terræ: et vidébunt Fílium hóminis veniéntem in núbibus cæli cum virtúte multa et majestáte. Et mittet Ángelos suos cum tuba, et voce magna: et congregábunt eléctos ejus a quátuor ventis, a summis cælórum usque ad términos eórum. Ab árbore autem fici díscite parábolam: cum jam ramus ejus tener fúerit, et fólia nata, scitis quia prope est æstas: ita et vos cum vídéritis hæc ómnia, scitóte quia prope est in jánuis. Amen dico vobis, quia non præteríbit generátio hæc, donec ómnia hæc fiant. Cælum et terra transíbunt, verba autem mea non præteríbunt.
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: When you shall see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (he that reads, let him understand:) then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains and he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take anything out of his house and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And woe to them that are with child and that give suck, in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath: for there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been found from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be: and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say to you: Lo, here is Christ, or there; do not believe him: for there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to you beforehand. If therefore they shall say to you: Behold, he is in the desert, go ye not out. Behold He is in the closets, believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be: Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. And He shall send His angels with a trumpet and a loud voice, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them. And from the fig tree learn a parable: when the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that ìt is nigh at the doors. Amen I say to you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
“When, like you, I shall be entirely yielded up to the Father and nothing within me will be opposed to the Holy Spirit’s action!”
Amem!
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There are times when I wonder if this present pope and his prelates have ever really understood Christ’s statement, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”
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