"What Is This Power?"

As previously noted, gang, it's a pretty quiet week, with no shortage of back-office stuff to take care of....

Hopefully no one's minding the slowdown too much. But to those of you heading out early to beat the "heaviest travel day of the year" rush on the roads, rails and in the skies, a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

That said, we're still in the last week of the liturgical year... and in the quieter moments of the last couple days, one passage (house translation) from B16's Angelus for Christ the King has had its way of sticking out:

What does this "power" of Christ the King consist of? It isn't that of the kings and the great ones of this world; it is the divine power of giving eternal life, of freeing from evil, of defeating the dominion of death. It is the power of Love, that can draw good from evil, move a hardened heart, bring peace to the harshest conflict, spark hope in the most enduring darkness. This Reign of Grace never imposes itself, and always respects our freedom. Christ came to "bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18:37) -- as he declared before Pilate: he who welcomes this witness places himself under its "flag," according to the image cherished by St Ignatius of Loyola. To each conscience, then, it becomes necessary -- this very choice: who do I want to follow? God or evil? Truth or falsehood? Choosing Christ doesn't guarantee success as the world's criteria would have it, but does assure that peace and joy only He can give. Every age shows the experience of so many men and women who, in the name of Christ, in the name of truth and justice, knew to set themselves apart from the enticements of earthly powers with their different masks, and thus signed with martyrdom this fidelity of theirs.

The news might be slow, folks, but you can probably find at least a week's worth of pondering in that.

It also brought a certain piece to mind... one perfect for this Messiah-rich time of year:

Again, just a thought.

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