Deacon’s Corner
Looking ahead to the month of November, we have many memorial and feast days to celebrate and a time for Thanksgiving.
On the 21st, we celebrate the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day, we give honor and respect to the Purest Virgin, who is an example for all of us in our struggle for holiness.
The Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple recalls the day on which Mary, while still a child, was brought to the temple in Jerusalem to be offered to God.
On the 23rd, we celebrate The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, formerly referred to as "Christ the King.” This feast day was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life which leaves God out of man's thinking and living and organizes his life as if God did not exist.
The feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ's royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations. On Christ the King we recall the essential character of kingship means personal allegiance to one person. To say Christ is King implies that we are subjects. He reigns in the minds of men, in the wills of men, and He is King of our hearts.
Reflect, today, upon your own embrace of Christ as King. Do you allow Him to have complete control over your life? When this is done freely and completely, the Kingdom of God is established in your life. Let Him reign so that you can be converted and, through you, others can come to know Him as Lord of all!
Lord may Your Kingdom come! Jesus, I trust in You!
Thanksgiving Day is observed each year in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November (27th). This American holiday traces its roots back to the Pilgrims’ first autumn harvest. It was a means of giving thanks to God for the gifts of His creation.
While this holiday is not technically a religious holiday, it certainly contains connections to our faith. By offering our prayers of thanksgiving to God, we fulfill the exhortation of St. Paul: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) See more CCC 2638.
Through the celebration of the Eucharist, prayer of thanksgiving has a particularly prominent role within the Catholic Church. The very term Eucharist is derived from the Greek word eucharistia, which means thanksgiving.
The Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist is “The Source and Summit of the Christian Life” (CCC 1324), and as such, it’s the highest form of thanksgiving that we can offer. We Catholics are so blessed that we can thank Him every day when we receive His “Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity” in the Holy Eucharist.
Have a Blessed month of November!
See you at the next Mass!
Jesus, Do in me what You must, so as to do through me, What You Will!
Deacon Matt