November 19

Beloved families of Good Shepherd,

Peace be with you! This Sunday is Christ the King Sunday, a special day in the life of the Church when we look with hope and expectation for the reign of Christ on earth, when “all people are restored to unity with God and each other in Christ” (mission of the Church in the Book of Common Prayer, p.855).

In our appointed Epistle reading for this Sunday, St. Paul says Christ “himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” St. Paul, like other mystics in our Christian tradition, was given the spiritual gift of seeing that Love is the glue that binds all people together and makes us one in Christ.  St. Julian of Norwich was also given the gift of seeing our essence and unity in God.  She writes, “to behold Christ in all things is to live in complete joy!”

In her book, Faith Like a Child, author Lacy Finn Borgo suggests that children enter the world as “mini-mystics” (like St. Paul and St. Julian), already in joyful union with God and others.  Borgo writes, “without one drop of chosen conscious attention, we as infants lived from a state of connection and wonder.”

I believe our deepest work as adults is to follow Jesus, the saints, and the children under our care to bring forth the happy reign of Christ here on earth!

Many Blessings,

Patty