Christ the King Bulletin, January 1996

We are not in our own power, but in the power of God.

May the peace of the Lord Jesus be with you! That quote seemed particularly appropriate as we begin our new calendar year. The sentiment was uttered by St. Perpetua, as she was on her way to be martyred. If we keep that truth in mind, and pray for the grace to cooperate with it, we will begin this year and keep this year surrendered to God. Truth is defined as that which corresponds to reality. It is simply true that without Him, we can do nothing. How much grief we would spare ourselves if we always choose to live that way--fundamentally in touch with reality, as St. Perpetua obviously was.

Now as we begin this year is a good time to reflect on the one that has just ended, with an eye to two issues. First, it might be useful to reflect on all the goodness that the Lord Jesus has shown to us this year, all the different ways in which His grace and His presence continued to sustain us on our pilgrim way. The second thing it might be helpful to reflect on is: how well did we cooperate with the grace that He lavished on us? Did we seek His face, seek to know and do His will? The purpose of this reflection is not to dwell on our failures, but to learn and go on, that this year we might be even more faithful to Him Whose love and power sustains us minute by minute.

In a few days we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany--the feast commemorating the Lord Jesus being manifest to the world. It reminds us of the serious obligation we have to be the light of the world to those around us. Yet this very obligation should be a source of hope, for we know that the Lord Jesus never calls us to anything without promising us all the grace we need as well as the path to follow. His commanding us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth can actually fill us with joy, because implied in His command is His continued care for us, sharing with us His love, mercy, and the power of His Holy Spirit, as He draws us more and more deeply into the heart of His Church. Jesus knows, far more profoundly than we do, that if we are to be effective witnesses for the Kingdom, we have to be able to demonstrate, by our lives and our words, that our lives actually work well when lived in the Kingdom. So He promises, not only for our sake, but also for the sake of those whose lives He wants to touch by our words and example, to be with us with all the grace and guidance we need to live joyfully in His Kingdom, under the Lordship of the King. As we begin this new year, let us plead with Him to take us deeper, to give us more of His love and the power of His Spirit, to help us to be grateful for all that He has done for us.