Christ the King Catholic Church

Due to the current health circumstances, we are all facing, public services are now open with limited seating and health and safety precautions and protocols in place.  Thank you so much for your individual and group cooperation and patience.   
Public Mass:  Limited and Live Streamed.     Welcome!

Fr. Philip Schmitter will be celebrating (Live Streaming) all Masses on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/philip.schmitter.3
Facebook link on header-top of our website ~ right edge

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BISHOP BOYEA'S FRIDAY MEMO

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Bishop Boyea's Year of the Bible | Diocese of Lansing

Friday, April 9, 2021 Easter Friday “And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, ‘Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here’,”  Gospel of St. Mark 16:5-6 Dear Friend, Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia! He is risen, as he said, alleluia! (Matthew 28:6). A very happy and blessed Easter to you and your loved ones.   Easter, of course, is not just one day. It is eight days. An octave. Today is Easter Friday. Each day of the octave is a solemnity, the highest rank of feast day. Hence, today is a “meat Friday”. It is, rightly, a day of great festivity.  Our Gospel at the Easter Vigil this year, quoted above, was drawn from the Gospel of St. Mark. It ends with the angel telling the women to instruct the apostles to go to Galilee to see Jesus. The other Gospels have the women make their announcements but not the Gospel of St. Mark. Why? I believe it is because in Mark’s Gospel, these women received information about Jesus but did not meet Jesus himself. This is a key difference.   The Preacher to the Papal Household, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, in a recent Lenten Homily, said: “We need to ask ourselves a serious question: what is Jesus for me? Is he a person or a character? There is a big difference between the two. The character – such as Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon – is someone you can write and talk about as much as you like, but it is impossible to talk to. Unfortunately, for the great majority of Christians, Jesus is a character, not a person…. Yet, if we remain … without developing an existential relationship with him, he remains outside us, he touches our minds without warming our hearts.” Throughout Holy Week we walked with Jesus, watched and heard about his suffering and death. Now, with Easter, we hear the words, “Alleluia, He is risen.” Do these words represent to us a past event, or is it a present encounter? In our baptism we were not only doused with water, we were baptized into Jesus’ death; in our Confirmation, we were not only anointed with oil, but the very Holy Spirit of Jesus has taken up a dwelling in us such that we are not alone in ourselves; and in our reception of the Eucharist, we not only receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, we receive the Lord himself. The point is that Jesus is always knocking at our door. He wants to come in. He wants to meet us and greet us and know us.  And of course, he wants us to be open to knowing him as well.  This is always a matter of grace, of course. It is a gift from God.  But we must open the door. That is why I am always moved and inspired by our renewal of baptismal promises, proclaimed by both clergy and lay faithful alike, each Easter Sunday. Three times we renounce Satan, sin, and the lure of evil. Christians used to face the west as they made these acclamations. They were telling the darkness, the night, that it had no power over them; that its reign was at an end.  They were shouting out the truth that no matter what the world might throw at them, they were not afraid.  They knew that the grace of Jesus Christ would sustain them through everything.   They knew they were not alone. They had a friend, Jesus, who had died for them and saved them. Then, turning to the east, as they awaited the rising sun, they professed their faith, as we will do with three more “I do’s.”  Faith in God; Faith in Jesus; Faith in his Holy Spirit! This faith is not so much about Jesus Christ; it is a faith in Jesus Christ.  And that faith, that friendship with Jesus, impels us to go forth as the Body of Christ, as the Church, to witness in this world of darkness that there is a light which none can extinguish, a love which no hatred can overcome, a truth which no lie can defeat.  Christ is risen and we are risen with him. So, my sisters and brothers, do we renounce sin and do we believe?  Let our, “I do,”, today, this Easter Friday, be a proclamation of our openness to God’s grace in our lives. Let us open that door really wide and let us see the risen Jesus face to face. God bless you all. Assuring you of my prayers, I am sincerely yours in Christ, + Earl Bishop of Lansing P.S. I invite you to participate in the latest Year of the Bible Webinar at 8pm on Monday, April 26, on the topic of “Reading and Praying with the Acts of the Apostles” with Dr. Michael Barber of the Augustine Institute in Denver. Click on the image below for details. All very welcome.  Invitation: Year of the Bible Webinar on the Acts of the Apostles w/ Dr. Michael Barber | Diocese of Lansing