Holidays

There is One King

/ Dean / Leave a comment

As today’s Feast of Christ the King draws to a close, let us remember that in the end, there is only one true King, one Victor. We cannot serve two masters. We must serve the King, our Savior, He who desires to reign in our hearts:

Salvator Mundi

Photo by Toby Hudson CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

“He is our king. He desires ardently to rule our hearts, because we are children of God. But we should not try to imagine a human sort of rule — Christ does not dominate or seek to impose himself, because he “has not come to be served but to serve.”

His kingdom is one of peace, of joy, of justice. Christ our king does not expect us to spend our time in abstract reasoning; he expects deeds, because “not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord!, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father in heaven shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” -St. Josemaria Escriva

Let us then invite the King into our hearts, preparing the way for Advent, for His coming in the manger, and go out into the world to spread His message of love and truth in word and action. Pax.

Resolutions vs. Commitments

/ Dean / 1 Comment

But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply `Yes’ or `No’; anything more than this comes from evil. (Matt. 5:34-37)

I will be honest: I really don’t like New Year’s resolutions. I am all for improving one’s life, but something about resolutions just doesn’t sit well with me, and this is from personal experience and observation of others.

For one, it seems like most resolutions are discarded relatively quickly. You know the type: lose weight, quit smoking, etc. They are nice thoughts, don’t get me wrong! A New Year is a great time to examine one’s life and make concrete decisions on improving one’s life.

But why wait for the New Year?

We must always examine our lives, and be willing to recognize those areas in need of growth. Instead of resolutions, let’s make commitments, complete with concrete goals. For example, “this is what I need to do, this is why I need to do it, and this is how I am going to do it.” We must also recognize that we will fall, and afterwards we need to brush ourselves off and get back up. Finally, we need not wait for the New Year to begin this work, even if some of these commitments come naturally at this time a year. As the saying goes, “there is no time like the present.”

Also, these commitments need not deal with mundane matters or material concerns. We can all work to grow closer to our Lord. What can we do to accomplish this? Perhaps striving for daily mass versus just Sunday mass? Working on being more consistent in saying that rosary? Or perhaps a more unconventional approach like trying to journal every few days to reflect on our journey with the Lord.

The bottom line: make a concrete goal, make sure it’s manageable, know that the road will have twists and turns, and entrust it all to the Lord.

Things we can all work towards this New Year: Love God, love others, strive for holiness. Everything else will fall into place…

I wish you all a very Happy New Year, and a blessed Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God (Mama Mary, pray for us!!!). May 2013 be filled with joy and peace!

Pax et bonum,

Dean

PS: I will start off with one typical resolution: weight loss. As of today, I am down 40 pounds. I have 30 more for my current goal. Let’s set a date of…. June 1, 2013, shall we? I will try to keep you all updated on my progress. Please pray for me, and know that you are in my prayers as well! Peace!