True Allegiance

Christ the King (Year C)

Jeremiah 23.1-6; Colossians 1.11-20; Luke 23.33-43

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. While Christians have always recognized and used the language of Christ as King, this is, surprisingly, a fairly new commemoration in the Christian liturgical calendar. For 19 centuries, the “civilized world” (i.e. Europe) was comprised of Christian nations. Their rulers—monarchs all—were generally viewed as being anointed by God. And in the case of our own mother country, England, the monarch even bore the title of “Defender of the Faith.” But all that began to change in the years after World War I. In the post-war years, the political map, particularly of Europe, began to change. And the nature of governments likewise changed. The modern world and its governments were becoming increasingly secular and non-Christian. The Church was losing its influence and, as a result, there was an increase in anti-clericalism.

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"It's a Trap!"

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 27 (Year C)

2 Thessalonians 2.1-5, 13-17; Luke 20.27-38

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

To quote Admiral Ackbar in the 1983 Star Wars movie, Return of the Jedi, “It’s a trap!” While this simple line became one of the most famous and beloved lines from the original Star Wars trilogy, and one of the more humorous, it speaks volumes when applied to the Gospel reading for today. But then again, for Jesus, “It’s a trap!” may be stating the obvious.

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The Communion of Saints: Past, Present, and Future

All Saints’ Sunday (Year C)

Luke 6.20-31

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

In today’s Gospel lesson, we hear the first third or so of the Sermon on the Plain—Luke’s parallel to Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon Jesus seeks to identify and develop a vision of a new world, and new behaviors needed to bring about that vision. This new world that Jesus envisions is grounded in the image of God as all merciful, all gracious. This new world that Jesus envisions can only be brought about through God’s children reflecting God’s graciousness in their own lives.

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