Christ the King Parish

Dear Friends,

I would like to give a shout out to our Catholic nuns in our country and in the world who continue to inspire us as they confront the evils of our society. Recently I read the story of a detained 90-year-old Sister Pat Murphy, who is a member of Sisters of Mercy, a Chicago-based religious order. Murphy is a staunch advocate for the rights of undocumented migrants. "These are our brothers and sisters and they are part of the human family and how can we not? I mean, any person with any human compassion would reach out."

Sr. Norma Pimentel is the face of the Catholic Church at the US borders. She is a Sister with the Missionaries of Jesus. On May 20, Notre Dame University gave Sister Pimentel the Laetare Medal, the highest and oldest award given to U.S. Catholics, honoring her work with migrants and refugees. In 2015, Pope Francis also honored and thanked Sister Pimentel for her work with immigrants in a virtual town hall meeting that aired on ABC’s “20/20.” Also that year, Our Sunday Visitor named her one of its 2015 Catholics of the Year. For Sister Pimentel, the call to compassion to those in need extends to all Christians—and results in radical transformation.

In the wake of racial violence in Charlottesville, VA, many communities of women religious spoke out with courage against hatred and racial injustice. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 80 percent of the women religious in the US, not only condemned the hatred and violence but also acknowledged complicity. “The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) condemns racism in all its harmful forms whether the violent acts of the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and White Supremacist groups or the daily acts of hate and discrimination that diminish us all. … We lament the racism that continues to afflict our communities and threaten the values that we hold dear. We acknowledge our own complicity in institutional racism. We commit ourselves to cleanse our hearts and rid our land of this evil.”

The U.S. Federation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph joined the LCWR in its stand against racism by issuing this statement: “Following in the footsteps of Jesus, we commit ourselves to examine the root causes of injustice — particularly racism — and our own complicity as congregations, and to work to effect systemic change as we struggle to ensure immigrant rights, promote non-violence, and protect Earth and its biosphere.”

Other communities adding their voices included the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, New York, who said the words of elected leaders matter: “We call upon religious leaders of all faiths as well as civic leaders to raise their voices in speaking out against white supremacy, which undermines the principles of our democracy. We call upon our elected leaders to be accountable for their words and actions and to take responsibility for preserving and maintaining the unity and moral values of this country.”

Our Catholic nuns have taught a generation of people in the past through Catholic Schools, Religious Education and other works of justice mercy and mercy which included hospitals, slums, gang violence and so much more. Today, they are reminding us to be prophets and to confront the evils in our world especially hatred and racism.

Once upon a time Christianity was institution-challenging; it rattled the establishment and changed the course of history. Now the Church is the institution, and seems preoccupied with maintaining its position in a shifting society rather than seriously challenging itself or anyone else. The Church in some areas is guilty of pandering to power in order to maintain its position on the totem pole, and these days it seems that a general complacency renders it blind to its privilege and slow to take charge in changing its culture, and confronting the evils. Some in our church have identified themselves along certain political affiliations and thus become a tool rather than transformative. Let us open our eyes, and be true prophets of our times.

Fr. Paulson

Weekday
8:00am
Saturday
8:00am, 5:00pm (vigil)
Sunday
7:00am, 8:00am, 9:15am, 10:45am, 12:15pm, 6:00pm - Youth Mass
Holy Days
8:00am, 12:00pm, 7:00pm
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
First Friday - 4:00pm-6:00 p.m. 
First Friday Mass
8:00 am, 6:00pm
Reconciliation:
Saturdays, 3:30-4:30pm

prayerline@ctkph.org