Father’s Column 11/20

Posted on November 20, 2016 View all news

Laudetur Jesus Christus! Gelobt sei Jesus Christus! Sia lodato Gesù Cristo! Praised be Jesus Christ!

This upcoming week we celebrate Thanksgiving. Though it is a secular holiday, it is still a time to consider all of the blessings God has bestowed upon us, and to be thankful. I, for one, am very thankful for all of the blessings that God has given me. I am extraordinarily blessed. I am thankful for the gift of my family and friends. I am also thankful for the gift of the Priesthood which God has chosen to give me. I am thankful for the parishes and people who have been entrusted to me. I am thankful for the ability to work, to found an Oratory in Cincinnati, and all of the support that we have been given.

This doesn’t mean that things are always easy. However, just because something isn’t easy or do not always go our way doesn’t mean we can’t still recognize all the good and blessings. Ultimately, I am thankful to God for creating us, for redeeming us, and for sanctifying us. Without this, there would, in the end, be little for which to be thankful. I pray and give thanks to God for each of you. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, as you give thanks for all the blessings from God in your life.

Have a blessed week ahead!Signature

We continue our reading from Quam Primas, on the Reign of Christ the King:

“17. It would be a grave error, on the other hand, to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since, by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all things are in his power. Nevertheless, during his life on earth he refrained from the exercise of such authority, and although he himself disdained to possess or to care for earthly goods, he did not, nor does he today, interfere with those who possess them. Non eripit mortalia qui regna dat caelestia.

18. Thus the empire of our Redeemer embraces all men. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope Leo XIII: “His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ.” Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society. “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved.” He is the author of happiness and true prosperity for every man and for every nation. “For a nation is happy when its citizens are happy. What else is a nation but a number of men living in concord?” If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ. What We said at the beginning of Our Pontificate concerning the decline of public authority, and the lack of respect for the same, is equally true at the present day. “With God and Jesus Christ,” we said, “excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, the very basis of that authority has been taken away, because the chief reason of the distinction between ruler and subject has been eliminated. The result is that human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation.” – Quas Primas, Pope Pius XI (1925)