Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat!
Today is the great feast of Christ the King. Later this afternoon, we will have our “Franksgiving” feast on this day. As it is every year at this time, Pistachio House shall be transformed into a great feasting hall of the ancient of days.
Franksgiving 2017
And it is right that we celebrate God’s bounty and God’s blessings in our lives. But today, on the Feast of Christ the King, it is perhaps better that we read about the nature of Christ’s kingship, and to what He calls us.
When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’
Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’
Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
It is a sad day today, when on the Feast of Christ the King, the “pastoral leader” of Holy Rosary and Visitation parishes writes on his message, that the faithful at these parishes are directed to NOT pray any longer in community the prayer to St Michael the Archangel after mass.
It does seem that this would be the time to pray to St Michael even more ardently, after all that is happening in the Church, faith shaken in all Catholic communities, the family as institution of society under attack, and the whole world moving towards chaos and confusion.
Just to give you some additional information: I found this article in Crux magazine online, in which Fr. Andrew Menke, the executive director of Divine Worship of the US Conference of Bishops, indicates that the Prayer of St Michael can always be recited as a devotion after the Mass has ended.
Here is what he says about the practice of saying this prayer in community:
“Father Andrew Menke, executive director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CNS he did not know how prevalent this current practice was in the United States.
He said the history of saying this prayer at the end of Mass goes back to Pope Leo XII in late 1800s. The prayer was recited at the end of low Masses, or Masses without singing, during the time when the Papal States were being confiscated by the Italians and later as an intention for the conversion of Russia.
The priest said in a Sept. 18 email that the prayer was “suppressed as a part of the Mass not long before the post-Vatican II revisions to the Mass were instituted. When the prayer is said today, it would be considered a devotion that technically takes place outside of Mass, after the final blessing has been given.”
Reference: http://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/10/04/prayer-to-st-michael-makes-resurgence-in-response-to-abuse-crisis/