The Feast of Christ the King:
The Last Sunday after Pentecost
Last Sunday of Church Year
Sunday 26 November 2017
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Ephesians 1:15-23 (NRSV)
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
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The Feast of the Reign of Christ as King of Heaven almost always calls to mind a focus on Christ and some specific moment in the Gospel. But right now I am struck by a sense that Paul models something that is very much in keeping with this feast that marks the last Sunday of the Western Rite Liturgical Calendar Year. Paul gives thanks for the faith of those to whom he writes and encourages these ones to stand firm in their confession of faith. He shares his commitment to lift up these ones in prayer to God. He commends them again to Christ and recalls for them the significance of Christ and applies that significance to the lives of Christians. Perhaps Paul models for us how we can keep the feast in a way that both marks Christ as King and enables us to embrace him not only as our King but as our Lord and God.
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Fr. Timothy Alleman
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