Is Christ your king?  Do our lives look different if Christ is our king?  Does Jesus really make a difference in our everyday lives?  The answer is YES!  Our lives look different if He is king.  Every time we pray the Our Father we are asking that His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  In desiring and allowing Christ to be king of our lives, we need to allow Him to reign, even in the areas that might compete with Him.  For instance, even though the Cleveland Cavaliers are undefeated, am I willing to sacrifice one night watching them to go pray Night Prayer with the community?  Or instead of sleeping in on a Saturday, am I willing to come to the Advent Women’s Morning of Reflection?  The more we allow Christ to be king of our lives, the more our lives will look different, and we will free ourselves for more time with Jesus.  After all, heaven is eternity with Jesus!  Let’s start living that reality now!

Advent is Coming.  As you might see, I get the joy of walking around campus like a pinball from one building to the next.  Just the other day, a parishioner stopped by and greeted me and told me how he is amazed that Advent is coming so fast.  Then he challenged me to get him and the community excited about Advent.  What is Advent but a beautiful season that anticipates the coming of Jesus!  Jesus is what makes this season, as well as all of the seasons, full of joy and excitement.  I truly feel like the Church awakens when we begin the liturgical new year.  It is a new year, a new breath, a new time to deepen our relationship with Him and express the fact that He is King of our lives.  As you gaze upon the Advent calendar, look upon it—not as a checklist of prayer activities—but as ways to meet Jesus, to encounter Him in mercy, adoration, prayer, teaching, reflection and more.

In the words from the Revelation Song…“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come. With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings. You are my everything and I will adore You…”

Make Him your everything,
Fr. Jeremy

P.S. Come to Thanksgiving Mass on November 28 at 9:30 a.m. to celebrate and give thanks to God for the gift of our faith, family and lives!  Fr. Mark Ott will be presiding at Mass as his parents, Mary and Tyke, celebrate 65 years of marriage that day!  Congratulations!