November C – Season of the Kingdom. Includes feast of Christ the King. It reveals how the Kingdom of God is breaking through.  Our King protects and nourishes us and calls us to serve in battle.  It covers the 31st to the 33rd Weeks of Ordinary Time and the feasts of Christ the King and All Saints. The Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Duties and rights of the citizens of the kingdom. The Kingdom of God is breaking through as we continue to pray “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”. Christ, who is our King forever, protects and nourishes us. Our loyalty brings the responsibilities of obedience and the rewards of the Beatitudes. [audio: Download Show ] For the transcript of this episode, for liturgical readings, and for references please continue reading.

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Transcript Season of Kingdom

Patti Brunner: Welcome to Living Seasons of Change, the show that connects the Church’s liturgy to your daily life. I’m Patti Brunner and my co-host today is Monsignor David LeSieur, a priest of the Diocese of Little Rock. Welcome Monsignor! 

Msgr. David LeSieur: Thank you, Patti.  As we come to the end of the Liturgical Year C we will focus on Christ the King and our role as subjects of his kingdom.  I want to remind our listeners that they can find the liturgical readings and the references from our show today at PatriarchMinistries.com. 

Patti Brunner:  Monsignor, it’s strange to think of ourselves as subjects of a kingdom.  We’re used to a democracy.  We are a nation of laws in America.  We understand that laws are written to protect our rights, to keep order in society, to prosecute those who would harm our citizens, especially those unable to defend themselves, and allow for redress when harm has been done.  We choose the leaders who make and enforce laws.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Sure.  In a democracy we elect leaders, exercising our right and our duty to vote.  And when we put the individual above the law, the community can suffer.

Patti Brunner:  In this final season of the liturgical year, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King—not Christ the senator or Christ the President.  No election here.  In England and countries where a monarchy is still used, you can trace the blood line to discern who has the right to ascend the throne.  You know, Monsignor, one of the duties of a King is to pass on the bloodline, to bring stability to the kingdom. 

Msgr. David LeSieur:  In Jesus we have a royal bloodline. As Son of God, Jesus is entitled to inherit all that the Father has. Just as Jesus also is a descendant of King David, whom God promised there would be an heir on his throne forever. 

Patti Brunner:  Adam was first given rule in paradise, but it was lost.

The first reading on the feast of Christ the King has a reading from 2^nd book of Samuel, Chapter 5, when the nation of Israel anointed David as their king, to fill the throne left by King Saul.  It’s two chapters later that God promises David that the kingdom and throne of his offspring would be established forever[i]. 

Patti Brunner:  What is the kingdom of God?

Msgr. David LeSieur:  That is a hard thing to describe but I’ve always looked upon it as being the presence of God, his influence and his activity in the world today, right now.  The Kingdom of God breaks into our world.  It’s like on a cloudy day you see a ray of sunshine through a cloud.  It’s kind of like that.  It just breaks in and you can see evidence of God, of Jesus.  He’s the one who really brings it around. I think God’s Kingdom has always been on this earth.  In the Old Testament it was there, God’s activity among the people, but Jesus really sharpens the focus and we know Him to be God.  His activities are directly God’s activities.  He is the Son of God.  So, when Jesus does or says something God is doing and saying it. 

Patti Brunner:  John the Baptist says “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  Jesus says “the Kingdom is within you or among you.”[ii] 

Msgr. David LeSieur:  It’s not fully here yet, but as one of my teachers once described it, it’s like the predawn light.  You can see the light up over the hill.  The sun is not up but you can see the light coming.  It’s dawning.  I guess the Kingdom will not fully be here until the end.  We will see it for all it really is; its glory and all that.  Everything will make sense.  But, for now, we deal in the predawn darkness of the glow of the Kingdom breaking into our world.  Jesus used the parables to describe the kingdom. It is like a tiny seed that you don’t see but it’s full of power and grows and when it does grow, it will nest the birds in it. 

Patti Brunner:  That’s a beautiful image, the breaking in of the dawn.  When we see healings, and miracles, and conversions, the kingdom is breaking into our lives. When we experience a flow of compassion and love we taste the magnitude of God’s kingdom.  And it’s like a treasure that is worth selling everything you have to own but it is hidden, it’s buried.  It’s like a pearl you have to search for. 

Patti Brunner:  How about the king?  What is a king?

Msgr.:  A king, of course, is a sovereign ruler.  Earthly kings have the right to demand your obedience; they can conscript you and send you into war. You know, our King has that right, too.  We’re supposed to follow Him into battle and obey him, do what he says.  When we do, when we follow Him, victory is assured if we stay faithful and don’t defect, or go AWOL.

Patti:  Kings make laws for the benefit of the kingdom. Even though we might not like a particular law, it is there to protect us and we enjoy the benefits of being protected as subjects of the king.   A king is given the charge to protect and nourish his subjects.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Jesus nourishes us with his Body and Blood in the Eucharist and with his Word in Sacred Scripture.  Kings rule with absolute power. Jesus is so powerful that even his name causes demons to flee[iii]. A King’s word is law.  It’s up to the King to have laws that are fair and just.

Patti Brunner:  Our God is so just; his laws have to be fair and just.

Msgr.:  You know there is a lot of freedom within laws.  Laws curtail and build fences around things.  They build boundaries.  Think of something as simple as a traffic law.  Think of how free we are to drive our streets without a lot of fear and worry because we know the stoplight will stop traffic while we go through the green light.  Something as simple as a light can protect us and keep the traffic moving smoothly.

Patti Brunner:  Don’t you have a story that has to do with traffic?

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Yes I do, it’s more of a joke.  These two guys were in the car and the driver, when he saw a red light, would speed up and run right through it and his passenger said, “You are crazy.  You are going to get us killed.” And the other guy said, “Oh, don’t worry about it.  My brother does this all the time.”  So, sure enough, the next intersection the light turns red, he just speeds up and just drives right through the red light. The guy in the passenger’s seat was going crazy and says, “You are going to get us killed. Let me out of this car.”  He said, “Don’t worry about it.  My brother does this all the time.” So, it happens again.  Well, the next intersection, the light is green and he screeches to a halt and the passenger said, “Why did you stop? It’s green.”  The driver said, “My brother might be coming.”

Patti Brunner:  That’s funny, and scary!  Laws are made to protect us.  When laws are broken, you lose confidence.  If you break these traffic laws, for example, you have no confidence that someone else isn’t breaking them, too, and you’re not safe anymore.

Msgr. David LeSieur: If traffic laws or civil laws protect us that much, you can image how much God’s laws protect us.  It gives us a tremendous amount of freedom but it is a freedom with limits, or freedom with discipline, you might say.  But, discipline itself gives you freedom. When you think about it, think about the law ‘not to kill’ or the law ‘not to steal’ or commit adultery or whatever. If we all followed that law, how free we would be.  We wouldn’t have to lock our doors at night. 

Patti Brunner:  You are right.  Obedience to the law gives you the reward of a certain amount of freedom:  Freedom from fear; freedom from worry. 

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Look at the Ten Commandments.  If you take away the first three, the ones that have to do directly with God, the last seven would work in any secular society.

Patti:  I have heard the Beatitudes referred to as the “New Testament Ten Commandments”. They are not “Thou Shalt Not!” but more “Thou Shall Do!”  We hear the Beatitudes from the fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel on All Saints Day.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied.

Patti Brunner:  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart for they will see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  ‘Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of the righteous for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.  Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward will be great in Heaven.’

Patti Brunner:  The eight beatitudes also teach us about the Kingdom and help us understand how the kingdom operates.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Yes, this is a kingdom that is different than kingdoms of the world.  In the kingdoms of the world, the poor in the spirit are the ones that get stepped on and those who are hungry often get ignored.  But in the Kingdom of God, everything is upside down; it’s different.  It is a new way of looking at things.  That is what Jesus came to bring about, this new way of thinking.  Like the new wine and the new wineskins versus the old wine going into old wineskins.  The old wine is the old kingdom.  It’s the way of the world.  Luke ends the story about the wineskin by saying people prefer the old wine.[iv]  The old wine is what we are used to.  It’s easier.  It’s the old way and we think it is better.  The new wine is still expanding.  It is still growing.  That is why it has to have a new wineskin, a new frame of mind to accept it and to grow with it.  The Kingdom of God is different.  It’s a new taste, a new flavor. Something we are not used to.

Patti Brunner:  So, it sounds like “preferring the old wine” keeps the Kingdom at a distance.  The kingdoms of the Old Testament disintegrated due to sin and the freewill choices of turning away from the true God to rely on other gods of neighboring territories.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  The original united kingdom of King David was split in two because of the sin of his son King Solomon, who tolerated foreign gods and allowed sacrifices to be made to them.  The Hebrew kingdoms continued to weaken and be conquered because their rulers and the people turned away from God.

Patti Brunner:  Through the death of Jesus on the cross and his Resurrection, Jesus accomplished the coming of his kingdom.[v] Jesus conquered sin and death.  

Msgr. David LeSieur:  There is a question in Acts Chapter One where the Apostles ask Jesus, “Will you restore the Kingdom of Heaven?”[vi]  He says, “Wait here until the power descends upon you from upon high.”  So they think about the restoration of the Kingdom of David, which is an earthly military kingdom.

Patti Brunner:  Jesus conquered his kingdom but the restoration comes after we receive the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus gives us Spirit-filled examples to follow:  Miracles, healings, mercy, conversions.  In our reading about Zacchaeus, we see his transformation.  His transformation is significant showing how the restoration takes place individually.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Yes, another good example of that is St. Dismas, the man who stole heaven.

Patti Brunner:  The man who stole heaven?

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Traditionally, we call Dismas a saint, although we don’t really know his name.  When Jesus was crucified there were two thieves crucified with him and one is known as Saint Dismas.  Dismas rebuked the other thief, or criminal, who was chiding Jesus and saying, “If you are the Messiah, save yourself and save us. Come down off that cross; get us out of this mess!”  Then, Dismas said, “No, he doesn’t deserve to be on this cross.  We do. He doesn’t.  He’s a good man.”  Then Dismas asked Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” and that’s when Jesus said, “you will be with me in paradise this very day.”  So, on his death bed, so to speak, the criminal acknowledged Jesus and stole heaven.

Patti:  Death bed conversion!  His profession of faith recognized that the kingdom of Jesus was very different from earthly kingdoms.  We have a song at Lent that repeats that verse over and over. “Jesus, remember when you come into your kingdom” The thief is going to be restored in paradise.  This story holds the promise of restoration for all of us.  And it’s our last gospel of this liturgical year.

Msgr.: Hey, nice voice!  It is the last Gospel, on the feast of Christ the King.  It is never too late if you turn your heart over– even at the last moment.  In that gospel we’re told about the placard placed on the cross “this is the King of the Jews”. It was meant as a mocking reference but he really was king.

Patti:  King Saul and King David fought many bloody battles to establish their kingdoms.  Kings and queens of England, Spain, and France extended their kingdoms by conquering and claiming lands discovered in the Americas.  They set up colonies and territories which changed hands with wars and sales of lands.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  These are terms of an earthly kingdom but Jesus taught us to pray “thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”  We look around us and we don’t see heaven on earth—yet.  Know this:  We are in a constant transition while we are on earth. God is bringing us out of our own “personal” kingdoms into a kingdom under the headship of Jesus. 

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Patti Brunner:  Welcome back, I’m Patti Brunner and I’m talking with Msgr. David LeSieur about the Kingdom of God.  Although the Kingdom of God is not a democracy, we still have responsibilities.  God calls us to obedience.  He also calls us to plow and sow the fields of the world, spreading truth, and setting the harvester’s pace, so that we might have peace though out our land. So we turn our eyes toward heaven and we place our hope in a better place.  A kingdom where all are happy, where sickness, infirmity and all suffering is banished and where peace shall reign in our hearts.

Msgr. David LeSieur: That’s our hope.  We know that is our promise in heaven.  It’s a little harder to accept here and now.  The reading from Colossians[vii] on the feast of Christ the King gives us a list of our inheritance: deliverance from the power of darkness, we are transferred to the kingdom of Jesus who gives us redemption and forgiveness. 

Patti Brunner: That sounds wonderful!  Then the scripture describes our King.  “He is the image of the invisible God; in him all things were created; in him all things hold together; He is the head of the Body, the Church; in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell.” Jesus invites us to dwell in the fullness with him.  Some of our other readings prepare us for the triumphant victory we find in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  That’s right.  As we look at the 32^nd Week of Ordinary Time, the reading from Maccabees[viii], promises that the King of the World will lift us up to live again forever. 

Patti Brunner:  The Gospel that day, from Luke 20[ix], reminds us that the Sadducees didn’t believe in resurrection.  They concoct a story of 7 brothers marrying the same woman as each one dies off.  Jesus sets them straight.

Msgr. David LeSieur: The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead but the Sadducees denied it because they didn’t find it as a doctrine in the law[x].  They were fundamentalists.

Patti Brunner: The reading on All Saints Day, part of the vision from the Book of Revelation, tells of the “vision of a great multitude[xi]…from every nation, race, people, and tongue [who] stood before the throne worshiping God.” Sounds like the kingdom of heaven to me!

Msgr.: That ‘vision’ is the kingdom breaking in. ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done’.  Kingdom and will are the same thing, I think. We want the kingdom to ‘break in’ because the ways that we have been used to are so imperfect and lacking. It’s like the reactions of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  Jesus is trying to introduce a new way of thinking and they are always fighting Him on it.  They like the old wine better.  They didn’t like the new stuff and so they killed Him.

Patti: Have you sometimes felt that the Kingdom has come?  Have you felt the fullness of the Kingdom?

Msgr. David LeSieur:  You know, I get glimpses of it.  There are times that I say, “Oh, yeah, I see that now.” Then there are other times when I just struggle, like everyone else, to try to make sense of things and ask myself, “How is this part of the Kingdom?  What does the Kingdom have say about this?”  Katrina or natural disasters or just terrible things that happen to people, people we know; people who get cancer; people who lose a husband or wife and then they lose their jobs. How does this happen?   You wonder where the Kingdom is. Yet, there are times when I will say, “The Kingdom is shining brightly in this situation.”  Not because of some miracle, but I just begin to see what Jesus is getting at.

Patti:  So it’s an internal awareness?  Is it something maybe brought about through prayer or retreat or reading Scriptures?  Is it a quickening of the Holy Spirit in your spirit?

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Yes.  Sometimes, I just get a glimpse of what Jesus was getting at when He was preaching.  Jesus was all about preaching the Kingdom of Heaven and saying the Kingdom of Heaven is so different from what I am used to.  I have one foot in the kingdom of the world and one foot in the Kingdom of Heaven.  They are two different places, yet, sometimes I know that this kingdom of the world is the air I breathe.  I was born into it and that is part of original sin and I struggle with that.   But then just reading Scripture or just reading a commentary explanation of a passage on Scripture and I might say, “Oh, that makes so much sense to me, now.  I can see what Jesus is getting at.”  Those are exciting things that make Scripture so meaningful and so relevant today.  Our New Testament is almost 2000 years old and yet it is so new.  This is so new.  This is new wine.  2000 years later it is still new wine to me.  I’m beginning the grasp some of what it says.

Patti: The Holy Spirit is definitely opening us up to that glimpse of the Kingdom where we have the gift of understanding of the Kingdom and how it fits in a particular situation or a particular passage of scripture.

Msgr.:  We can glimpse the Kingdom when we genuinely show interest in what God says and be like Zacchaeus, who is in the Gospel on the 31^st Sunday of Ordinary Time.  He was genuinely interested in seeing Jesus.  Maybe it was just curiosity at first that caused him to climb a tree to see Jesus.  But when Jesus invited him down he didn’t stay up there; he came down.  He was so excited to have Jesus coming into his house.  Jesus not only came into his house, he came into his life.  He changed it.

Patti:  Zacchaeus responded to the word of the Lord.

Msgr.:  So, when you and I climb the tree just to see Him, when we show an interest in Him, that just gives Jesus the opportunity to say, “Well, come on down, let’s talk more.”  On the 32^nd Sunday we hear of another 7 brothers in the reading from 2^nd Maccabees[xii].  They were arrested with their mother and tortured for their belief in God and obedience to the Jewish dietary laws.  They died rather than break the laws of their ancestors.

Patti Brunner:  “2 One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said: “What do you expect to achieve by questioning us? We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”  “9 At the point of death he said: “You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever. It is for his laws that we are dying.”[xiii]

Msgr. David LeSieur:  The mother watched all seven of her sons die for their faith in God. And she supported and encouraged their decision.

Patti:  The seven brothers and their mother certainly are an example to us of what it would mean to be a loyal subject to the King, to God, our King.  They are willing to be tortured rather than to eat pork, which is a dietary law.  It would like us eating meat on Friday during Lent.  Rather than break that law, because it was such a sign of their covenant with God, they were willing to undergo torture and death.

Msgr.:   That is an example of not yielding to the pressures of the secular world or secular spirit.  It is an extreme example, very extreme.  I don’t know if Catholics today would die for the sake of not eating meat on Friday during Lent.  It is a law.  It is a changeable law.  But, if there were something else that is essential to being a Catholic.

Patti: Let’s think of something.  What would be something that we might be tested on that we would think is essential enough to die for?

Msgr.:  The Eucharist, I believe.  If we were told to desecrate the Eucharist, the Host –it’s the Body of Christ – to step on it or to in some way desecrate it.  I think that would be something that many Catholics would be willing to die for. I know a woman in Little Rock whose sister was a Maryknoll nun in Brazil, South America.  She was martyred.  Maryknoll Magazine showed her slain body in the magazine[xiv].  It was something that her family wanted to be done. But it was an example of someone willing to die for their faith.

Patti Brunner:  I read about her. Sr. Dorothy Stang, 73 years old, she was martyred in Brazil in 2005 as she read the beatitudes to the gunmen.  We have many modern martyrs, too.[xv]  Look at the church in San Salvador.  In 1980, the Archbishop of San Salvador Oscar Romero, was assassinated as he was saying Mass. Also in 1980 Sisters Dorothy Kazel, Maura Clark and Ita Ford and a lay missionary Jean Donovan were martyred. In 1989, six Jesuits and two of their household were martyred.  And there are many more in many other countries that are today giving their life for Christ in the battle for the Kingdom of God. 

Msgr. David LeSieur:  I saw a movie based on the life of Archbishop Romero.  One time he was in church and the soldiers came in and shot bullets over his head and demanded all the people to leave.  After he was safely outside he courageously went back into the church to retrieve the Eucharist.  I would love to show you that scene.  It is just powerful.  You can see him square his shoulders and go back into that church.  He said, “This is not right, I have to retrieve the Eucharist.”  They shot over his head.  They blasted the tabernacle all around him.  They scared him half to death.  He went and retrieved as much as he could and brought it back out of the church.  He was willing to die for the Eucharist, and he knew he might die when he went back in.  And, of course, later he was killed as he said Mass.

Patti Brunner: That is a powerful image.  The kingdom was earned through suffering, but was not earned for suffering.  We battle the powers of darkness to proclaim the Kingdom.  In the 1975 encyclical “On Evangelization in the Modern World”, Pope Paul VI said[xvi] that “8. As an evangelizer, Christ first of all proclaims a kingdom, the kingdom of God; and this is so important that, by comparison, everything else becomes “the rest,” which is “given in addition.”   Sometimes we are called to give up everything to proclaim the kingdom.  Even in our own country, there is a persecution of the Christian attitude.  Christian respect is certainly under fire. It may have started when they took prayer out of schools.

Msgr. David LeSieur: It’s a slow thing.  It’s kind of exorable slow persecution:  removal of prayers in school; whether or not we should have the words ‘under God’ in our Pledge of Allegiance.  That was put in there in 1954.  The Knights of Columbus had a lot to do with having it being put there.  I still think that it’s funny that all our coinage says ‘in God in Trust’ and Congress starts every day in prayer.  There is a chaplain for Congress.  There are still vestiges of prayer.  I mean in our highest places – in Congress and on our money.

Patti: Our sufferings are like clouds.  When we were on the beach in Florida we were looking across the ocean at the sunset every night; our hotel had a little serenade and celebration each night.  The first night our server said, “Don’t worry about the clouds.”  He said, “What you will realize is that the beauty of the sunset is enhanced by the clouds. The magnificence of the sun is so much more visible when sky is not clear.”

Msgr.: You know that the sun gives light to the world but when you see it touching clouds or touching the oceans, when it’s reflecting off something else; that is when you can actually see its beauty.  I think when you see a person graced by God, a person who is really reflecting God’s grace; that is the beauty, too.  That is how grace is known to us.  You don’t see it but you can see its effect, like you can see the effects of the sunrays on a cloud at sunset.

Patti: We would not have known the faith of these martyrs or the faith of the seven sons and their mother if they had not been put to this horrible testing and persecution by the earthly kings and rulers, who wanted them to give up the heavenly King for their way.  By that we were able to see the depth of how the Kingdom affected them; that they were willing to die for their heavenly King. What a fabulous silver lining!

Msgr.: You know, a king who would torture somebody because they wouldn’t obey him, that is probably more ego than anything else. It is not that he cares about these people.  He doesn’t want to give them something to make their lives better if they obey him and eat pork and whatever – burn incense to the gods.  It is all ego.  The king does not care for someone he forces to honor him.  But, our King is different.  He wants only what is good for us and He knows that honoring Him is truly what is going to make us the happiest.  It is about Him but it is also about us.

Patti Brunner:  The Kingdom of God should permeate our lives, our schools, our government.  These can be battlefields for us, the “Church Militant”.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  On the 33^rd week, our second reading from Thessalonians shows us our duties as members of the Kingdom.  “Toiling, drudgery, night and day we work so as to not to be a burden to others”[xvii], says Paul, to work quietly, carrying the load that you can, in faith.

Patti:  Sometimes we have to take care of ourselves in some way even though the Lord is taking care of us.  It is the King’s duty to protect us but we, as His loyal subjects, can be conscripted as soldiers to come in and enter into a battle.  We are reminded of this at our Confirmation.  We also have the duty, not to just lay down our life as the seven brothers did, but to “fight the good fight of faith[xviii]” If you are a member of the Kingdom, God can call you into the army.  You have to give of your sons, too.  When Israel asked God for a king, he had Samuel remind them that this duty goes along with having a king.

Msgr.:  “He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.”[xix]  And so on.

Patti: If our listeners are following the liturgy in their bible, you’ll notice that we ‘skip’ over the widow’s mite story[xx], the two cents story in Luke Chapter 21, as we go from the 32^nd week to the 33^rd week,

Msgr. David LeSieur:  Yes, we hear Mark’s version of the story[xxi] in Year B. It shows us the Kingdom’s way of detachment from wealth and a contrast to pride and pretentiousness.  We can cross reference that to Zacchaeus in Year C.  In the kingdom we recognize our duty in financial giving.  The widow had little to give, but she gave what she had.  Zacchaeus had a lot and he gave half of what he had, plus restoring what he had stolen, too.

Patti Brunner:  Their hearts were transformed by the Kingdom of God.  They gave up attachment to personal wealth.  It is our duty to take what God has given us and use it for his Glory.  God does not call us to stinginess, not to hide our light under a bushel basket, not to hide in fear.  God calls us to step forward to give and to share.  Like the empty containers that were filled through the visit of the prophet Elijah to the widow [xxii] we must have need for God.  If we are self-reliant, self-sufficient, we set up our own kingdoms.  To gain the fullness of the kingdom we must be submissive to the King.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  God calls us to be kings, priests and prophets—but always within His kingdom, under his authority, under his banner of love.

Patti Brunner:  As we come to the end of the three year cycle of liturgical readings we are also drawn to the reading of the end times from the 33^rd week of Ordinary Time.  Malachi reminds us that judgement day is coming[xxiii] with a fire that will leave neither root nor branch.

Msgr. David LeSieur: Luke’s Gospel from Chapter 21 describes the end times[xxiv] .  Jesus tells us “signs will come from the sky” but first deception, war, earthquakes, persecution, prison.  Some will experience death and hatred but not destruction. God himself will give us wisdom in speaking our testimony.

Patti:  We battle forces of the world and forces of evil and it is a constant battle but our King leads us through triumphantly.

Msgr.:  What is ascribed here is like a cataclysm. A climax.  I think this is happening right now.  It is going on all the time.  “Wars and insurrections, earthquakes, nation rising against another nation, famines, awesome sights, mighty signs in the sky.”  Haven’t seen any of those lately—an awesome sight could be a tsunami or a hurricane.  Earthquakes, famines, plagues – that happens all the time.  “Before this happens you will be seized and persecuted, handed over to synagogues and prisons and kings and governors.  You will be giving testimony. He will give you wisdom in speaking. He will secure your lives.”  I think those end times have already started and we are in those times and that the Spirit’s inspiration to know what to say at the right time is something we need every day.  I think those signs from the sky could be anything.  I think the time of persecution, the time of challenge is upon us.  That is not meant to discourage us.  It means to say, okay, we will just have to be really, really faithful to the Lord in our everyday lives.

Patti Brunner:  Our “end times” began with the coming of Christ and his death, resurrection and ascension.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 675, warns us that “before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers”[xxv].   The good news is that “at the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness.  After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign forever with Christ, glorified in body and soul.  The universe itself will be renewed.” [xxvi] [1042]

Msgr.:  We began this liturgical year with the Advent season, the four weeks before we celebrated Christ’s birth. The first Sunday of Advent, year C, actually continues the gospel we hear on the last Sunday of year C, Christ the King. Jesus told “his disciples there will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars and on earth nations will be in dismay”.  Jesus says to “be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man” who will come “in a cloud with power and great glory”.[xxvii]

Patti:  The three years of the liturgical cycle are all preparing us for the fullness of the Kingdom and to live in the Kingdom now; to show us our responsibilities but, also, — in the framework that protect us – the laws, and how to imitate the way of Christ.  It is all about getting us into the fullness of the Kingdom, into the fullness of God’s presence in our life.  

Msgr. David LeSieur: So, these readings of this season are reminding us of our duties to be loyal to the King, even under persecution, but they are also showing us the entering into it in fullness, even if it starts out of curiosity.  God is drawing us into His relationship; He is drawing us in.

Patti Brunner:  The Kingdom can be ours if we turn to the Lord.

Msgr. David LeSieur:  It can.  It’s for everybody who is open to it and wants it.  The Gospel shows us that:  Zacchaeus; the criminal on the cross, Dismas; the little widow who gave all of what she had, everything she had to live on because she trusted God.

Patti:  And then there are some great things.  There are some great things in the Kingdom.  We are going to be comforted.  We are going to be satisfied.  We are going to get to see God.  Rejoice and be glad because for your reward will be great.  So, it is an awesome thing to become a subject of God, to become a subject of Christ the King.  I think sometimes in our society we hear such negative stuff about, you know, the rules, the regulations, the suffering!  But the “truth of the matter” is that it is the most awesome thing to be a member of the Kingdom of God.  There is such peace.   When you start accepting the fullness of the Kingdom, then you have the joy; you have the joy of the Lord.  You have all these promises of the Beatitudes. 

Msgr.:  That’s what Jesus came to give us.  He came to give us knowledge of God, to give us peace, and knowledge of the Kingdom.  He wants people to have that simplicity, that poverty of spirit so that the more poverty of spirit you have, the more you can receive from God of what you really need and not what you think you want.

Patti:  That’s right.  And, you are less concerned about the faults of others.   You don’t have judgments against each other.  You work for improvement of others but you are not anxious about the sinfulness of others.

Msgr.:  You are willing to forgive seventy times seven. You’re not so much into judging them, getting back at them, as you are at being willing to forgive and get on with the Kingdom.

Patti:  That’s right.  Exactly! When there is persecution, see it as an opportunity for the light of Christ to touch lives. The Kingdom will spread to the ends of the earth as men’s hearts are filled and overflow to others.  When hope flourishes in the world, the Kingdom is spread from edge to edge, east to west. Look for that dawn of the Kingdom shining through brokenness that makes us whole.

Msgr.:  Like the criminal on the cross.

Patti Brunner:  Indeed!  Monsignor, will you close our show with a blessing?

Msgr. David LeSieur:  [blessing]

Patti:  Amen!Thank you Monsignor.  To get a copy of the references in today’s show or to read the Liturgical readings please check the website patriarchMinistries.com

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_{Recorded 10/19/2007 originally aired on KDUA-FM Radio November 2007} 

OTL  8/11-12/2006 Outline of Season of the Kingdom

1.  “We are a nation of laws in America.  We understand that laws are written to protect our rights, to keep order in society, to prosecute those who would harm our citizens, especially those unable to defend themselves, and allow for redress when harm has been done.  We elect leaders, exercising our right and our duty to vote.  When we put the individual above the law, the community can suffer.
2. “In this final season of the liturgical year, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King—not Christ the senator or Christ the President.  In countries where a monarchy is still used, you can trace the blood line to discern who has the right to ascend the Throne.  In Jesus we have a royal bloodline; Jesus is a descendant of King David, whom God promised there would be an heir forever.  As Son of God, Jesus is also entitled to inherit.  Adam was first given paradise, but it was lost.
3. What is a King?

• Ruler, absolute power
• Given the charge to protect & nourish citizens
• Pass on the blood line, stability
• discuss restoration of the kingdom
• the disintegration caused by sin & freewill choices
• the battle to conquer;
• these are terms of an earthly kingdom but Jesus taught us to pray “thy Kingdom come on  earth as it is in heaven.”  We look around us and we don’t see heaven on earth—yet.
• So we turn our eyes toward heaven and we place our hope in a better place.  A kingdom where all are happy, where sickness, infirmity and all suffering is banished and where peace shall reign in our hearts.
• Although the kingdom of God is not a democracy, we still have responsibilities.  God calls us to obedience.  He also calls us to plow and sow the fields of the world, spreading truth and, setting the harvester’s pace so that we might have peace though out our land …[resting in the Spirit] …more later

B. So what are the rights and duties of the ‘citizens’ of the kingdom of God?  The Gospel from the 31st week of ordinary time gives us a clear indication.  Tell the story of the widow’s mite.  It is our duty to take what God has given us and use it for his Glory.  God does not call us to stinginess, not to hide our light under a bushel basket, not to hide it in fear.  God calls us to step forward to give and to share.  Like the empty containers that were filled through the visit of the prophet we must have need for God.  If we are self-reliant, self sufficient we set up our own kingdoms.

                God calls us to be kings, priests and prophets—but always within His kingdom, under his authority, under his banner of love.

Readings for Season of the Kingdom

31st Sunday Ordinary
Wisdom 11:22-12:2    whole universes is as a grain or dewdrop to God

2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2  Pray that we might be worthy of our calling

Luke 19: 1-10  Wealthy Zacchaeus came down from the tree quickly & received Jesus with joy and was transformed; he gave half of his possessions to the poor 

All Saints Day
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 vision of a great multitude standing before the throne of God

1 John 3:1-3 we are God’s children; the world does not know us 

Matthew 5:1-12a Beatitudes

32nd Sunday Ordinary
2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14 Seven sons arrested and tortured rather than break God’s dietary law,

2 Thessalonians

2:16-3:5  “what we instruct you, you are doing and will continue to do”

Luke 20:27-38 Sadducees deny resurrection, 7 brothers marry same woman

33rd Sunday Ordinary
Malachi 3:19-20a Judgement “day is coming”; fire “leaving neither root nor branch”

2 Thessalonians 3:7-12   imitate us; work so as to not be a burden

Luke 21:5-19 end times “signs will come from the sky” but first deception, war, earthquakes, persecution; God himself will give us wisdom in speaking our testimony; death but not destruction

Christ the King
2 Samuel 5:1-3 David anointed as king of Israel

Colossians 1:12-20 List of our inheritance

Luke 23:35-43 “Jesus, remember me when you co

References and Resources

November C – Season of the Kingdom, of the Living Seasons of Change series, includes All Saints Day and the final feast day of the year Christ the King.  The show aired November Year C on Catholic radio KDUA hosted by Patti Brunner and Monsignor David LeSieur, VF, a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Little Rock. The Kingdom of God is breaking through as we continue to pray “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”.  Christ, who is our King forever, protects and nourishes us.  Our loyalty brings the responsibilities of obedience and the rewards of the Beatitudes. 

Please note that CCC refers to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, English translation, 2^nd Edition,©1994, 1997. United States Catholic Conference, Inc., Libreria Editrice Vaticana. [see link]

New American Bible (NAB) readings are referenced from the Lectionary for Mass, for use in the dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition ©1997, 1970 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. [see link]

Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission.   All rights reserved.  

2 Samuel 7:12-13   descendant of David, king forever

Luke 17: 21 “the kingdom of God is in the midst of you”

Acts 16:18 Jesus is so powerful that even his name causes demons to flee

Luke 5:39 “And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, the old is better.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph CCC #542 “But above all in the great Paschal mystery—his death on the cross and his Resurrection—he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom.” 

Acts 1: 6 “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 

RSV Colossians 1:12-20 List of our inheritance

2 Maccabees 7:2, 9   the King of the World will lift us up to live again forever 

Luke 20:27-38 Sadducees deny resurrection, seven brothers marry same woman

Workbook for Lectors and Gospel Readers 2007. Year C. James Weaver p 303 “The Resurrection of the dead, a belief held by many Pharisees, was not a doctrine the Sadducees found in the law and they, therefore, denied it.”

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 vision of a great multitude standing before the throne of God

32^nd Sunday 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14 seven brothers arrested with mother, martyred.

Martyr in Brazil: 2005, Maryknoll Sister Dorothy Stang.  Martyrs in San Salvador: 1980, the Archbishop Oscar Romero; December 1980, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, Maryknoll Sisters, Maura Clark and Ita Ford and lay missionary Jean Donovan; 1989, 6 Jesuits and two of their household . 

ON EVANGELIZATION IN THE MODERN WORLD, Apostolic Exhortation by His Holiness, Pope Paul VI, EVANGELII NUNTIANDI December 8, 1975. Proclamation of the kingdom of God. “8. As an evangelizer, Christ first of all proclaims a kingdom, the kingdom of God; and this is so important that, by comparison, everything else becomes “the rest,” which is “given in addition.””

2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 our duties as members of the Kingdom.  “Toiling, drudgery, night and day we work so as to not to be a burden to others”

1 Timothy 6:12  and 1 Timothy 1:18-19 “fight the good fight”

1 Samuel 8:11 “He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.” 

Luke 21:1-4 and Mark 12:41-44 Widow’s mite

1 Kings 17:8-16  Elijah and the widow’s oil

Malachi 3:19-20a Judgement “day is coming”;  fire “leaving neither root nor branch”

Luke 21:5-19 end times “signs will come from the sky” but first deception, war, earthquakes, persecution; God himself will give us wisdom in speaking our testimony; death but not destruction

Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 675, warns us that “before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers; also Cf. Luke 18:8, Mt 24:12

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph #1042, “at the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness.  After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign forever with Christ, glorified in body and soul.  The universe itself will be renewed.”

Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 Jesus told his disciples there will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars and on earth nations will be in dismay.  He tells us to be vigilant at all times and pray that we have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man who shall come in a cloud with power and great glory.

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[i] 2 Samuel 7:12-13   descendant of David king forever RSV

[ii] Kingdom of God is in your midst [or within you]. Luke 17:20   

[iii] Acts 16:18

[iv] Luke 5:39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, the old is better.”

[v] CCC 542  “But above all in the great Paschal mystery—his death on the cross and his Resurrection—he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom.”

[vi] Acts 1: 6   “So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?””  RSV

Resource: Mark 9 1-7; Mark 9:9

Resource Amos Chapter 9:11-15 

[vii] Colossians 1:12-20  List of our inheritance: deliverance from the power of darkness, transferred to kingdom, redemption and forgiveness “is the image of the invisible God” “he is head…the beginning, the firstborn”

[viii] 2 Maccabees 7:2,9   it says the King of the World will lift us up to live again forever. 

[ix] Luke 20:27-38 Sadducees deny resurrection, 7 brothers marry same woman

[x] (Lector C James Weaver p 303 “The Resurrection of the dead, a belief held by many Pharisees, was not a doctrine the Sadducees found in the law and they, therefore, denied it.”

[xi] Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 vision of a great multitude…every nation , race, people, and tongue(language) stood before the throne/ servants of God sealed on the forehead

[xii] 32^nd Sunday 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14 Seven brothers arrested w/mother. Tortured (rather than break God’s dietary law) and killed (ready to die rather than break laws of ancestors).

[xiii] Maccabees 7:2,9,

[xiv] Maryknoll missionary murdered. Article per http://society.maryknoll.org/index.php?module=MKArticles&func=display&feature=1&id=103

[xv] 1980, the Archbishop of San Salvador Oscar Romero, was assassinated as he was saying Mass. In December 1980 Sisters Dorothy Kazel, Maura Clark and Ita Ford and lay missionary Jean Donovan were martyred in Brazil. In 1989, 6 Jesuits and two of their household were martyred in San Salvador. 

[xvi] EVANGELII NUNTIANDI, December 8, 1975

ON EVANGELIZATION IN THE MODERN WORLD, Apostolic Exhortation by His Holiness, Pope Paul VI, EVANGELII NUNTIANDI

Proclamation of the kingdom of God

      8. As an evangelizer, Christ first of all proclaims a kingdom, the kingdom of God; and this is so important that, by comparison, everything else becomes “the rest,” which is “given in addition.” (16) Only the kingdom therefore is absolute, and it makes everything else relative. The Lord will delight in describing in many ways the happiness of belonging to this kingdom  (a paradoxical happiness which is made up of things that the world rejects), (17) the demands of the kingdom and its Magna Charta, (18) the heralds of the kingdom, (19) its mysteries, (20) its children, (21) the vigilance and fidelity demanded of whoever awaits its definitive coming. (22)

[xvii] 33^rd week, our second reading from Thessalonians, it shows us our duties as members of the Kingdom.  “Toiling, drudgery, night and day we work so as to not to be a burden to others”

[xviii] 1 Timothy 6:12 “fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which  you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”, and 1 Timothy 1:18-19 “fight the good fight holding on to faith and a good conscience.”

[xix] 1 Samuel 8:11 “He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.” 

[xx] Widow mite Luke 21:1-4

[xxi] Mark 12:41-44 widow’s mite

[xxii] 1 Kings 17:8-16  Elijah and the widow’s oil

[xxiii] 33^rd week   Malachi 3:19-20a Judgement “day is coming”;  fire “leaving neither root nor branch”

[xxiv] 33^rd week Luke 21:5-19 end times “signs will come from the sky” but first deception, war, earthquakes, persecution; God himself will give us wisdom in speaking our testimony; death but not destruction

[xxv] The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 675, warns us that “before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers; also Cf. Lk 18:8, Mt 24:12

[xxvi] “at the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness.  After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and soul.  The universe itself will be renewed.” [xxvi]  CCC 1042

[xxvii] Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 Jesus told his disciples there will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars and on earth nations will be in dismay.  He tells us to be vigilant at all times and pray that we have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man who shall come in a cloud with power and great glory.

2:16-3:5  “what we instruct you, you are doing and will continue to do”

Luke 20:27-38 Sadducees deny resurrection, 7 brothers marry same woman