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Advent, as we know, marks the beginning of a new liturgical year, and I could not think of a better way to begin this Year of Grace than by paying you a long overdue visit, and on this occasion, to install officially your pastor.

The Feast of Christ the King invites us, not so much to scrutinize our leaders as to look carefully into our own hearts and ask to what kingdom have we given our allegiance: The kingdom of this world in its many forms or the kingdom of God? Today Jesus says to us anew: “Everyone who belongs to the truth, listens to my voice.”

Just as loving families keep alive the memory of those who have died, let us continue to cherish the memory of these our deceased brothers – remembering gratefully what the Lord enabled them to accomplish, remembering that we build on what they have left us, thanking God for their lives and their priesthood.

For now we pray that we, all of us, may shine with that same splendor as we bear witness to the beauty, goodness, and dignity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death, and by our love of mother and child and our love of the sick and frail elderly, win many hearts and minds to the proposition that life is beautiful If we do so, we will have every confidence that on the day of judgment Jesus with say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

What we hide from ourselves in darkness, the Lord Jesus brings to light, not to shame us or to make us feel bad but to renew, repair, and rebuild us, so that the glory shining on his face might shine from deep within us.