The latest “Sunday Word” column by Father Alfredo Hernández of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary for the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, looks at being messengers of hope:
Remain open to God’s grace
This Sunday, we hear perhaps the most beautiful words of mercy ever uttered, Jesus’ words from the cross to the Good Thief: “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 22:43). At the end of this liturgical year and as we approach the end of the Jubilee of Hope, we are called first to gratitude for the gifts we have received, then to a commitment to remain open to that God’s grace, and finally to a commitment to live out our own identity as sharers in the mission of Christ the King by bringing hope to the world.
The second reading begins with these words: “Let us give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:12-14). We have received so much from God. Our first response must be gratitude and praise to God, the gratitude that becomes for St. Paul a hymn of praise. Real gratitude for the ways God has been at work in our lives, the gratitude we are called to as we prepare for Thanksgiving with our families, can be a way of bearing witness to hope, the hope made manifest in the kingship of Christ.
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