The Son of God is the King of the Universe because with the Father and the Holy Spirit he created the universe to be a place of glory for God and his people. When our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not recognize the Lordship of God over their lives they disobeyed God and sinned by eating the forbidden fruit. After this “original sin” – their fall from God’s sanctifying grace – all of creation fell under the influence of Satan. The external glory of God was tarnished because of the weakness and disorder within the human soul and all of creation, but God’s personal glory was untouched, and all things are still ordered to that glory in seed form awaiting to be made mature and fruitful with God’s saving grace.
For this reason, God the Father sent his Eternal Son into the world to redeem it. The Eternal Word of the Father entered the womb of Mary in order to take on our human nature, our human flesh. He was named Jesus, a name which means, “God saves his people.” Jesus was born for us to bring about the Kingdom of God, to re-claim the human family and creation for God and his glory. Jesus restores us to God’s sanctifying grace through baptism into himself and his Catholic Church.
We read in the Gospel of St. Matthew how the three wise kings brought the infant Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold, because Jesus is the King of kings; frankincense, because he is the perfect priest and the perfect offering to God the Father; and myrrh, because this ointment was used to anoint the prophets at their death.
Jesus is the “Messiah”, a word in Hebrew that means “anointed one”, which is translated as “Christ” in the Greek language. Jesus is the “anointed one”, the “Christ”, for he was anointed by the Holy Spirit at his Baptism, not because he needed baptism to remove original sin, but rather to make the waters of baptism holy for us. Also, we see that God used an imperfect man, John the Baptist, to bring about the baptism of Jesus so that all his disciples would follow him through the waters of baptism by the hands of an imperfect man, the priest.
Every time we celebrate the Holy Mass, the Holy Eucharist, we are celebrating Jesus as the King of kings, perfect priest and offering, and perfect
prophet of God Almighty, in whom we have been baptized. Jesus works through the imperfect priest to bring about the forgiveness of venial sins at Holy Mass (and mortal sins in the confessional) to reorder our lives back to God’s glory, which is our being united to God and one another through the saving truth and grace of Jesus Christ, fully found in the Eucharist.
The very word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek work meaning “Thanksgiving”, and we who are growing in faith grow in giving “thanks”. By receiving Jesus in his word and sacraments with grateful, worthy and humble hearts, God is bringing to perfection his uniting love within our soul and the souls of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is why I look forward to celebrating Holy Mass, the Holy Eucharist, at every opportunity with you and your family, especially on Sundays and other holy days of obligation.
Let us celebrate Holy Mass on our National holi-day of Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 25, 8:00 a.m. at St. Columbkill, because we are offer-ing once again the perfect thanksgiving of Jesus Christ to God the Father. It is through Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, that we receive God’s saving grace, and the good food, family, friends and freedom that make our journey to heaven a time of great thanksgiving.
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Thomas McCabe
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