Upcoming Boulder Area Schedule

Masses:

SATURDAY, Dec. 5 - 5:30 pm - Lyons (Meets in the Methodist Church, 4th & Main)

FRIDAY, Dec. 11 - 7:00 am - SHJ

SATURDAY, Dec. 12 - 5:30 pm - Lyons

SATURDAY, Dec. 19 - 5:30 pm - Lyons

THURSDAY, Dec. 24 - 5:00 pm - VIGIL OF CHRISTMAS - Lyons

FRIDAY, Dec. 25 - 7:00 am
and
8:30 am - CHRISTMAS - Spirit of Christ, 7400 W. 80th Ave., Arvada

SATURDAY, Dec. 26 - 5:30 pm - Lyons

SUNDAY, Dec. 27 - 7:30 am - St. Thomas Aquinas, 14th & Aurora, Boulder

Monday, Dec. 28 - 5:10 pm - St. Tom's

THURSDAY, Dec. 31 - 5:10 pm - VIGIL MARY MOTHER OF GOD - St. Tom's
FRIDAY, Jan. 1, 2010 - 10:00 am - SOLEMNITY OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD - St. Tom's

SATURDAY, Jan. 2 - 5:30 pm - Lyons

SUNDAY, Jan. 3 - 7:30 am and 9:00 am - St. Tom's

Monday, Jan. 4 - 5:10 pm - St. Tom's

Tuesday, Jan. 5 - 5:10 pm - St. Tom's

Wednesday, Jan. 6 - 5:10 pm - St. Tom's

SATURDAY, Jan. 9 - 5:30 pm - Lyons

SATURDAY, Jan. 16 - 5:30 pm - Lyons

January 20 - February 9 - Fr. Terry will be in San Francisco

SATURDAY, Feb. 13 - 5:30 pm - Lyons

SATURDAY, March 6 - 5:30 pm - Lyons

SATURDAY, March 27 - 5:30 pm - Lyons

SATURDAY, April 3 - 5:30 pm - Lyons (EASTER)

SUNDAY, April 4 (EASTER) - 7:00 am AND 8:30 am - St. John the Baptist, Longmont - in the gym

WORKSHOPS:

Saturday, Dec. 5
- 9-noon - Sacred Heart of Jesus (Jubilee Hall). Topic: "Bonaventure" Bonaventure was a 13th century Franciscan and the chief architect of Franciscan Spirituality. His Franciscan emphasis on the humanity of Jesus can help us in our ADVENT reflections on the Incarnation of Christ. Suggested donation: $10. Coffee & treats begin at 9:00 am.

Thursday, Dec. 10
- Morning for Moms & Dads - "Morning of Prayer" 9-noon - Sacred Heart of Jesus (Jubilee Hall). The school Parents in Prayer group will provide refreshments and coffee. Suggested donation: $10.

Saturday, January 9, 2010 - Workshop to learn Centering Prayer as an 11th Step meditative practice open to anyone involved in any 12-step program who has ever started - or wanted to start - a practice of Centering Prayer. Registration will begin at 9:00 am . Coffee & treats offered. $10 donation is suggested and appreciated to cover costs. For more information, or to make a reservation, contact Pat Fanning at 303-530-1315 or email her at pat.fanning@yahoo.com

Please RSVP by December 31, 2009

Saturday, January 16, 2010 - St. Thomas Aquinas Church Hall (enter from Aurora St. door) 9-noon Workshop titled, "Humility, Part I". We will explore the importance of humility in practicing the spiritual life and how to achieve it through letting go of thoughts of our former way of life, thoughts of God, and thoughts of self. The presentation will be based on the book, Humility Matters, by Mary Margaret Funk. The morning will include Centering Prayer, but no experience is necessary. Everyone is welcome - suggested donation $10. Coffee & treats begin 9am; talk begins 9:30. For more information: Barb Hayden 303-494-2845 or Rosalie Gansecki 303-494-1742.

Saturday, February 13, 2010 - St. John the Baptist church (323 Collyer, Longmont) 9am -12:30pm.
Topic and further details: TBA

Saturday, March 6, 2010 - Sacred Heart of Jesus, 9:00 (goodies) 9:30-noon (talk) Topic: TBA

THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

Photograph of Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King.

(c) FreeFoto.com

JOHN 18: 33b-37 NOVEMBER 22, 2009

Let's say your heritage or ancestral lineage is Italian, or French, or Latino, or in my case, Irish. What if you were to say one day, "I think I will be Greek." You drop all your ancestral ways, change your name, eat Greek food, and practice Greek customs. Now you might think this is very strange. Yet we do this every day with reference to our spiritual heritage. We are Catholic Christians, member of the Kingdom of God. We are children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus from our baptism. If you are like me, you forget all this most of the time and focus your life on other things.

Do I wake up and say to myself, "I am a child of God, loved by God and a freed member of the Kingdom of God?" No, I wake up and wonder if my computer is going to work the way I want, or if it will be too cold to run comfortably, or if there are bananas for my cereal in the kitchen. I forget my true identity and decide to live in some other kingdom, enslaved by worries and anxieties.

Jesus began this kingdom but in the Gospel he never directly says that he is a King even though Pilate pushes him on this. Jesus is not yet a King because he has yet no subjects. They are still hostages of the devil. Satan had a battle with Adam and Eve who were living in the Paradise Kingdom. Adam and Eve did battle with the cunning devil. They lost and became his hostages. When an army lost a battle in ancient times, hostages were taken by the winners. To get freed someone had to pay a ransom. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures the devil had the people, the lineage of Adam and Eve, enslaved to his kingdom. There was the Tower of Babel, Noah's Ark, the rebellion of God's chosen people in the desert, defeat by Greek and Roman pagans, all because the people forgot their heritage and decided to focus on things other than God.

God wants us back. So God tells Satan, "I will become a human being and you can have me executed in a shameful and painful fashion, if you will let me people go. Satan agrees. So now we are at the scene of today's Gospel. Jesus has to die to ransom us from captivity. Then he will be a King. He dies. The devil did not know about Resurrection. Jesus goes down into hell and gets all the people who are there. It is in our Apostles' Creed. We are all freed to live in the kingdom. In baptism we become Kings. It says it right there in the ritual. We become sisters and brothers of Jesus, and children of God. But like an Italian who decides to be Greek, we decide to give up this identity and be like Pilate, slaves to passing things.

Jesus' hands are bound but he is really free in the Gospel. Pilate's hands are not tied but he is bound by his focus on esteem, power and control. These are the things Pilate wakes up to think about. What about us? In the celebration of the Eucharist, we spiritual royalty come together to celebrate the Kingdom in which we live and eat of the food of God prepared by and for a royal people.

Say “yes”

I notice that when I run with my running club group, I am always last. There are two reasons for that which I cannot change.

1. Age. I am getting older

2. Talent. I have been given just so much and no more.

Acceptance is the response to these two things. But there are some things that can grow or be added that will not be affected by age and talent.

1. Patience. This virtue includes the faith that I will improve if I keep showing up each day to train.

2. Training. I have only been training since late summer. If I train regularly through the winter, the cumulative effect is that I will run faster in the spring when racing season comes around. Fortitude is required if I am going to train on a regular basis.

Patience and fortitude are virtues. Virtue is an act of the will. It is a decision, not a feeling. I might not want to train each day, or feel confident that I will get better. I try and ignore these feelings. The will might lean toward laziness especially on rainy days, but regular decisions of "Yes, I will," strengthen the will. Age and DNA do not weaken the will. A daily "Yes" to virtue is great spiritual training.