Christus Rex

Well its my favorite feast of the year - Christus Rex-Christ the King. I have thought long about the final picture of God given to us by St. John:

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. ³ And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. ⁴ Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits^[a] of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’^[b]

who was, and is, and is to come.”

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

*Thanks to the Biblegateway.com

How different this scene from the one we will see in a little more than one months time-the baby in the manger. Sometimes it is hard to wrap my mind around the fact that the baby in the manger is the Lord of Creation. Yet this is clearly set out for us by St John in his hymn at the beginning of his gospel chapter 1" ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him."

This is the same personnel Jesus who we prayed to as children, do you remember the prayer? Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray dear Lord my soul to keep...this same Jesus.

The baby in the manger, the very young man at the temple, the young man starting his ministry, the Teacher, the Sacrifice, the Risen Lord, the coming King, Lord of Creation. He is the same personnel God, desirous of fellowship with each and every one of his created beings.

The is a lot of evil in the world, heck some days there's a lot of evil in me, but some day the Lord of creation will set it all straight. I pray He will set me straight, for I do want to become his disciple.

I have thought a lot about lately about this question: How good should a disciple be? The answer I have come up with is quite daunting. Here is the answer, I have come up with-If a person in need prays for an angel to help him, you should show up. When the person says he's thankful for your help, but he asked for an angel, I feel that I should answer,"I know you asked God for an angel, but he sent you someone better, He sent you a disciple." Only through the power of the Living God of creation would I be able to honestly answer this way. The only way to be given is to ask God" Lord make me faithful, Lord let me seek holiness." If I could do that I would truly be a disciple.

Happy Christus Rex

Big D

The wedding feast of Cana-Jesus, the catalyst for change

The wedding feat of Cana is the first miracle performed by Jesus and denotes the beginning of his ministry. Its significance is extremely profound and it is seemingly missed by many theologians. I want to take a look at this story and examine its manifold meanings.

Until now the world has been living under the law-John the baptizer was the last old testament prophet who lived concurrent with Jesus. Jesus praises him highly, The spirit of Elijah come again, the very herald of the living God. It is Elijah who represents the prophets at the transfiguration, Elijah the greatest prophet; it is high praise for John the baptizer to be singled out in this way.How did John come onto the scene, he baptized with water, the water of repentance. Jesus is the catalyst of the promise, it is he who changed the water of repentance into the wine of grace, the gospel of peace.

Who is Jesus commissioned by? His mother Mary. Jesus is called into his public ministry by a woman-inconceivable for that time period in human history. Yet he is given dominion by a woman. It is Mary who commands the servants, "Do what ever he tells you to do." Jesus tells his mother that he is not ready, but he obeys the command to honor his father and mother. Christ is both subject to the law, but at the same time supersedes the law.

Many theologians have mused on the spiritual allegory that Jesus is the superior wine being better than the first wine that was purchased by the bridegroom. The new covenant is far better than the old, but they miss the importance of change that has already taken place. Jesus appears and the world is better for it; in fact, the world needed the change. The world could not be justified by the keeping of the law as St. Paul ascertains, it needed a savior.

As in all things, the God-man from Galilee changes everything, and the world is better for it.

We will speak again, God willing,

Big D

The power of , positivity, negativity and the 10 commandments

I have been thinking about about negativity. There is so much of it going around you can almost feel it in the air. Ever walked into a room where there has been tension, particularly in a family? You know the old phrase-you could cut the tension with a knife.

At first inspection, the 10 commandments seem like a list of things we are not supposed to do, however; look at the result of not obeying them. Have you ever been lied to? How did it feel. Have you ever stolen something? How was living with the guilt and the threat of being caught? For children, how did it work out for you if you had a real blow out with a parent or parents?

Look at the positives and turn the commandments around. What if you are an honest, just person? What about being pure, with a pure heart and a clean mind? How much is a good reputation worth to you? Look at what Saint Paul says in the letter to the Philippians "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. There is power in the positive.

There is also awesome power in the negative, but it is power that corrupts. Think about the issue of bullying-this is an issue that is born of negative behavior. Remember the old movie Wall Street? In it the main antagonist Gorden Gekko went around saying "greed is good, greed is good," well where has that philosophy brought us to now in our country? Maybe, just maybe, greed isn't all that great.

It is great is our redeemer Jesus Christ who brought the world a whole new way of looking at issues and dealing with each other. Jesus in his sermon on the mount revolutionized mankind's thinking of how to deal with our God and each other: Happy are the pure of heart, merciful, peacemakers, meek and the rest of the beatitudes, but some of the teaching is just the ten commandments stated in a different way, and once again reiterated by Saint Paul: ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV)

Why is there no law against these? It is because whoever is doing them is already living the law, they are right now in the peaceful kingdom or the kingdom of heaven! Need proof?

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31:33-34). This is reiterated in the New testament:This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. (Hebrews 8: 10-11)

I look at myself being who I am, and what I am, and say what if I could really get this to sink in? My life such as it is would change-for the better. I would no longer be mediocre! Wow!

For me, easier said than done, but I will keep trying. Its about 1:00 AM and time for me to throw this into the great Internet ocean. I hope it helps someone.

Until next time, God willing, Big D