GregCast Diakonia

Today is the Feast of Christ the King, the end of another Liturgical Year. In the past year, we’ve walked this Sunday-to-Sunday journey with the Gospel of Luke. A year ago, on the first Sunday of Advent, our walk began with this advice from our Lord as witnessed in Luke’s 21st chapter: “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21: 35) Today, on this last step of our journey this year, we hear from the Good Thief, St. Dismas, who did indeed stand before the Lord, the Son of Man, as he hung on his own cross next to him, simply asking Jesus to remember him. Our bookends of this past year are simple… Be strong, be close to the Lord in prayer, and be ready to stand before the Lord with the faith of a converted heart. For Luke, the Son of Man is “The King,” as is evident in Pilate’s referring to him as King on the sign that hung over Jesus’ head as he hung upon the Cross, and in the Good T...

I think it is very important for me today to begin with the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Now I’m not just quoting a prayer, I’m praying this prayer in front of all of you today, on my own behalf, because my friends, Deacon Greg Thompson is a sinner! But as we heard in today’s First Reading from Wisdom, “before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.But [the Lord has] mercy on all, because [God] can do all things; and overlook people's sins that they may repent. That they may repent… Today is about CHANGE, and that change must begin with a very heartfelt I’m sorry… So, I am sorry! When I go to confession, and I pray the Act of Contrition. There are two versions that we display in our confessionals here at the Parish. One uses a more traditional style of language: O My God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss o...