Everybody’s family & friend groups are different. This weekend, I encountered 3 people who had very definite experiences of Thanksgiving this year. One said, “I am still looking for more turkey: I couldn’t get my fill.” The second: “I am SO tired of turkey: I’ve had my fill, & I don’t care if I don’t see it again until next year.” The 3rd: “I am SO energized after connecting with people I haven’t seen in awhile: I feel even more filled than I do with food.” It was this third person that intrigues me, because the connections and re-connections this person made have to do with relationships, & that’s what this solemn feast of Christ the King is all about: His relationship with us.
First, Jesus is SO good to us: he tells us in detail what the will of God the Father is, & how to be living NOW as if we were ALREADY living the life of eternal life in heaven. Second, because Jesus is the Cosmic King, the King of the Universe, He opens up for us hundreds of possibilities as to HOW we can cooperate with the will of God. Now, here’s the point of contact for me: we say in every Our Father we pray: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” So, God’s will is already going on full-time in heaven, among the angels & saints. & Jesus wants us to catch fire on earth, so when we pray at the altar at Mass, ALL of us will be in union with God’s will/plan.
Then, it seems to me we can more clearly understand these works of God’s mercy from 2 perspectives. The first is when mercy directly benefits us or those close to us. My best example is that last Saturday, we received a tremendous gift from the Miller Place Fire Dept. Not only did the members collect food from the people shopping at Stop & Shop, they delivered in one of the coolest buses I have ever seen. The bus had a front on it that looked like an old time train engine, and the members of the department had “stuffed the bus” and filled it with boxes & bags of groceries. I had the chance to thank the department members as well as God by blessing each shopping card that was wheeled into Outreach, with all types of food. The Miller Place FD was providing a table of plenty for the needy people of our parish and neighborhood. It took 18 people a half-hour to unload the stuffed bus, and get the groceries inside for Outreach. What a blessing! & you who donate food and cash to Outreach are part of living & doing the will of God: that all would be one, that all would be included, and that all would be fed.
The second perspective takes a cosmic set of eyes and hearts. If we really believe that we are the Body of Christ, and that the Body of Christ truly extends to the ends of the earth including us all, then we are STILL directly affecting people with whom we are in relationship. Lots of people ARE! The Friends of Farmingdale High School did a fund-raiser for the families of those killed, injured and affected by the tragic bus crash back in September in Orange County. 140 pizzeria owners raised $102,200 by donating $5 per pie sold on October 25, under the banner of Long Island Pizza Strong. WE can rejoice in knowing that we are joined in solidarity with others who are taking care of people in great need and, in the case of the bus crash, marching band equipment that needs to be repaired or replaced. How generous these pizzeria owners; how gracious the organizers; how grateful the beneficiaries of these much-needed funds. In the broadest, cosmic perspective, we know that Jesus feeds us in many ways: with His Word, with His Eucharist and the other sacraments, with his teaching, his inspiration, his good example in word & action, and so on. We here at St. Louis can rejoice with others, even at a distance in a cosmic world, whose spirits are going to be lifted up, even in the midst of such a great tragedy, and comforted in times of sorrow.
I have NO trouble confessing to you that in each of those two instances, I was edified and encouraged to see and hear about people accomplishing those great works of mercy. I hope you feel the same way, and that the next time you yourself have an opportunity to participate in such a mission of mercy, you will think about it as giving yourself the gift of closeness to heavenly life. May today’s Holy Communion fuel our DESIRE to BE the face & hands & legs of Christ for others.
