“Beginning and End”
November 18, 2021 at 1:34 p.m.
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Reading through the readings for this weekend, the very first thing that stood out to me was in the second reading. Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” This past weekend I was part of the music ministry on a retreat with almost 100 high school teens. One of the songs we sang throughout the weekend was You Are Holy. A little friendly competition between the boys and the girls started as we tried to determine who could sing their chorus louder. Every time the girls got to the line “You are alpha, omega, beginning and end”, they would let loose and start shouting. The girls of course won the friendly competition! I will never forget singing that song with that group. And reading it here again made me smile.
What does it mean to be the Alpha and the Omega? The one who is, who was, and who is to come? Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last letter. Jesus is both the beginning and the end.
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or “Christ the King” for short. On a weekend retreat like the one I was just on – when you are surrounded by people who want to live better lives as Catholics, when you have a worship team leading prayer, when you have priests bring you the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, and spending time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, it might seem easy to live in a way where Jesus is King of your life. But a weekend retreat is not our usual rhythm. Our usual rhythm is waking up early for school, spending all day at a desk, cramming in clubs and sports before dinner, showering just in time to start your homework at 8pm when you’re already exhausted. All these things and more fill our daily lives. In this rhythm, are we living in a way where Jesus is King of our lives?[[In-content Ad]]Maybe one way you can incorporate Jesus as Alpha and Omega into your lives is to let every day begin and end with Jesus. To start the day with a word of praise to Him as we are stretching under our covers each morning, and to whisper a word of thanksgiving to Him as we curl up in our beds each night. And of course, making Jesus the King and Lord of our Lives means we must give him everything in between too! Let us invite him into all our relationships with family and friends, into our work and school and activities, into our hopes and dreams for the future, into how we spend our time. We can set aside time every day to pray and reflect and spend time with God. Let us give everything to Jesus who has given everything to us and make him truly the King and Lord of our lives.
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Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Reading through the readings for this weekend, the very first thing that stood out to me was in the second reading. Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” This past weekend I was part of the music ministry on a retreat with almost 100 high school teens. One of the songs we sang throughout the weekend was You Are Holy. A little friendly competition between the boys and the girls started as we tried to determine who could sing their chorus louder. Every time the girls got to the line “You are alpha, omega, beginning and end”, they would let loose and start shouting. The girls of course won the friendly competition! I will never forget singing that song with that group. And reading it here again made me smile.
What does it mean to be the Alpha and the Omega? The one who is, who was, and who is to come? Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last letter. Jesus is both the beginning and the end.
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or “Christ the King” for short. On a weekend retreat like the one I was just on – when you are surrounded by people who want to live better lives as Catholics, when you have a worship team leading prayer, when you have priests bring you the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, and spending time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, it might seem easy to live in a way where Jesus is King of your life. But a weekend retreat is not our usual rhythm. Our usual rhythm is waking up early for school, spending all day at a desk, cramming in clubs and sports before dinner, showering just in time to start your homework at 8pm when you’re already exhausted. All these things and more fill our daily lives. In this rhythm, are we living in a way where Jesus is King of our lives?[[In-content Ad]]Maybe one way you can incorporate Jesus as Alpha and Omega into your lives is to let every day begin and end with Jesus. To start the day with a word of praise to Him as we are stretching under our covers each morning, and to whisper a word of thanksgiving to Him as we curl up in our beds each night. And of course, making Jesus the King and Lord of our Lives means we must give him everything in between too! Let us invite him into all our relationships with family and friends, into our work and school and activities, into our hopes and dreams for the future, into how we spend our time. We can set aside time every day to pray and reflect and spend time with God. Let us give everything to Jesus who has given everything to us and make him truly the King and Lord of our lives.