| Castlemaine Parish Christ The King 20th/21st November 2021 |
“Christ has conquered, Christ now rules, Christ reigns supreme”
In the middle of St Peter’s square in Rome, there stands a great obelisk. About four and half thousand years old, it originally stood in the temple of the sun in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis. It was bought to Rome by the dreaded Emperor Caligula and it was set right in the middle of the equally dreaded Circus of Nero, on Vatican hill. It was in that Circus that St Peter was martyred, and the obelisk may well have been the last thing on this Earth that Peter saw. On top of the obelisk there now stands a cross. In ancient times, there was a gold ball representing, of course, the sun. Now there is a cross however, the cross of Christ, and on the pedestal of the obelisk there are two inscriptions. The first of them is in Latin, “Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat”, which translated means, Christ has conquered, Christ now rules, Christ now reigns supreme. The other inscription is, “The Lion of Judah has conquered.” So here we have the language of victory. Christianity has triumphed by the power of the cross and triumphed over even the greatest power that the ancient world had known, the Roman Empire, and here in the middle of St Peter’s square stands the obelisk bearing those triumphant inscriptions.
Charles Colson, former legal counsel to Richard Nixon and later founder of the Christian Prison Fellowship, says it like this: “All the kings and queens I have known in history sent their people out to die for them. I only know one King Who decided to die for his people.”
Christ is our King who dares go against him.
| Eucharistic Ministers |
| Keel Nov. 20th John Carmody & Mary Ita Ladden Kiltallagh Nov. 21st Colm Lynch & Miriam Ryan Keel Nov. 27th Elizabeth Ryle O’Connor & Patrick Flynn Kiltallagh Nov. 28th Jack Keating & Bernie Nagle |
| Sanitisers |
| Keel Nov. 20th Deirdre O’Shea & Eileen Prendiville Kiltallagh Nov. 21st Lorraine Griffin & Cliare O’Connor Keel Nov. 27th Caroline McCarthy & Kathleen O’Brien Kiltallagh Nov. 28th Eileen Keating & Bernie Nagle |
The main theme of today’s Gospel reading is ‘king’ or ‘kingdom’, but we also notice other words such as truth and love. We see from the readings the idea of sovereignty. We read in Daniel “his sovereignty shall never pass away” and Psalm 93 praises the great power of God who is king.
The reading from Revelation says, “Jesus Christ is the faithful witness. And to him be glory and power forever and ever.” Those last words are a far remove from the picture in the gospel; Jesus standing manacled before Pilate who represents Rome, the greatest world power. Is it misery before might?
In John’s passion account Pilate gets prime time. Some of his sayings deserve reflection. “Do you not know that I have power to release you and power to crucify you?” “Pilate tried to release him.” “Then he handed him over to be crucified.” “He feared the people.”
So, what is power? Pilate’s power is fragile. Who really has the power, Jesus or Pilate?
Jesus’ words hold our attention: “My kingdom is not of this world.” “Yes, I am a king, I was born for this; for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.” Pilate asked, “what is truth?” He had no time to wait for an answer or maybe he had no interest. Truth is unselfish love. Maybe such love attracts the hostility of a secular world.
A priest was dying. A learned man, he had spent most of his life teaching theology. Shortly before his death, a priest friend said to him, “John, you are a great mind and you know a lot, could you leave some of it behind?” John answered, “There is only one thing worth knowing, we are loved by God.”
| Moderator : Fr. Danny Broderick (087) 9061255 Parish House: 3 Meanus Heights, Castlemaine Parish Office: Tue. & Thur. 9:30am-12:30pm (087) 2979864 Email: castlemaine@dioceseofkerry.ie Website: www.castlemaineparish.com Safeguarding Children: Contact No (087) 6362780 Please pray for Michael Harris, Meanus Heights & Maurice McCarthy, Callinafercy Masses & Intentions Sat. Nov. 20th Keel 7.30 p.m. Sun. Nov. 21st Kiltallagh 10:00 a.m. Carmel O’Connor, Ballyfinnane Tues. Nov. 23rd Keel 10:00 a.m. Thurs. Nov. 25th Keel 7:30 p.m. Margot O’Connor, Farnes Sat. Nov. 27th Keel 7:30 p.m. Eileen Flynn, Shanahill Bridge 1st Anniversary Sun. Nov. 28th Kiltallagh 10:00 a.m. Christy, John & Julianne Barrett, Gransha Upper Reminder Masses will be streamed live online vis our webcam system: www.castlemaineparish.com Priest on Duty: Fr. Danny Broderick 087 9061255 Booking an Anniversary Mass for 2022 If you wish to book an Anniversary Mass for a loved one for the coming year, the 2022 diary will open on Tuesday November 30th, 2021. Please note the first week will be designated to taking bookings for first Anniversary Masses only. The diary will then be open to all other Anniversary Masses from Tue. 7th December. Castlemaine Pastoral Council: A Meeting of the Parish Pastoral Council was held on Wednesday the 3rd of November in the Parish House in Castlemaine. A blessing of the house was performed by Fr. Danny Broderick. It is his hope that the house will cater for the needs of the parish for many years to come. After the blessing Fr. Ger Godley facilitated a discussion about how the Moderator & other priests of the Pastoral Area can best serve the needs of the parish & the parishioners. The role & function of the various committees within the parish were also discussed. Fr. Danny & Fr. Kevin gave insight into how the roles & responsibilities have been divided up between the priests of the Pastoral Area. Fr. Danny added that he would like to see our new Parish House utilised to its fullest in the future by the people of the parish, as a meeting place and as a focal point in the centre of our parish. Over the next few months we as a parish will need to strengthen the work of these committees to ensure a vibrant parish community continues to exist within our Parish. Altar Society: Please contact the Parish Office if you are available to help out with the Altar Society in either Keel or Kiltallagh Church. This is done a rota basis and the more help we have the less turns volunteers need to take. Maine Valley Family Resource Centre Parent Support Group – Come along and have some fun with your child, enjoy a tea/coffee, meet other parents in a friendly environment. This group is open to parents, caregivers, guardians, grandparents. Every Thursday from Nov. 18th until Dec. 16th in Maine Valley Family Resource Centre V93 R273 Call 066-9767833 Ext 2 Bon Secours Hospital Annual November Mass will be celebrated in St. John’s Church, Castle St., Tralee on Tuesday , 23rd Nov. at 7.00pm in remembrance of our Patients, Staff and Relatives of Staff who have died during the year. The Mass will be live-streamed www.churchservices.tv/tralee Online Theology Open Evening, is this for you? The Priory Institute provides online Theology courses to degree level. Attend Saturday lectures in Tallaght or from the comfort of your own home. Email enquiries@prioryinstitute.com to find out more about our Online Open Evening on Thursday 2 December 7pm. Parish Office: available for sale Christmas Mass cards, Get Well, Sympathy & Trocaire cards for Christmas. Also Christening, Wedding and Christmas candles. |