ICWG Weekly Reflections

The Lord will reign for ever and will give his people the gift of peace. These are the words of today’s Communion Antiphon. The Solemnity of Christ the King is as it were a synthesis of the entire salvific mystery. This feast brings the liturgical year to a close. Over the past months we have celebrated the mysteries of the life of the Lord.

In these days before the Feast of Christ the King, let us pray over and over again: Regnare Christum volumus! We want Christ to reign! First and foremost, we should be sure that Christ reigns in my mind, my will, my heart and my whole being.

Sunday's parable concerns a bridegroom who happens to arrive unexpectedly in the middle of the night. The question is whether the escorting bridal party is ready to receive him. The bridegroom is Christ. He will come again in some future time. The virgins represent mankind. Some are vigilant while others have been careless.

Today we rejoice and ask the help of the countless multitude who have reached heaven after cheerfully passing through life sowing affection and joy almost without realizing it. Perhaps while living among us they worked at a job similar to our own.

The words spoken by the Father to his only begotten Son can be applied to each one of us: You are my son, today I have begotten you. Today means our life here on earth.

Scripture shows us how God chooses his instruments of salvation wherever He pleases. To bring his People out of exile the Lord takes hold of Cyrus, a pagan king. The Lord uses political authority to do good. There is nothing in the universe that lies outside his paternal dominion.

As time goes on, God leads us by the hand to higher and higher degrees of sanctity. If we are faithful, if we are listening carefully, the Holy Spirit will guide us through the normal events and circumstances of our life to a deeper love for God.

A good many people look for God in a hesitant and blindly groping manner, as if they were in a dense fog. We Christians know with confidence that God is our Father and that He watches over us.

Material means are goods insofar as they are ordered to a higher end: to support a family, to educate one’s children, to acquire a better education for the elevation of society, to help works of apostolate and assist those people who are in need

The life of each man and woman exists in the present moment. These are the only moments which we can truly sanctify. The past and the future only exist in our imagination.

To forgive from one’s heart often requires true faith. Due to the intensity of their faith, holy souls who have lived their lives in imitation of Christ often do not see the need to forgive. They realize that the only real evil is sin. Injuries and calumnies are simply not so very important.

For hundreds of years Christians have given special attention to Mary on Saturdays. Throughout history, and in our own times as well, theologians and ecclesiastical writers have explained some of the reasons that make this devotion particularly appropriate.