Happy Pentecost, Christ the King!
The Church is both Mystery and Sacrament, and what makes her alive is the living presence of the Holy Spirit, who subsists in the Church, vivifying, reforming, and renewing the many members of the Body of Christ until Our Lord comes again in glory. That’s my best shot at a one-sentence summary of who the Church professes herself to be from the constitution Lumen Gentium from the Second Vatican Council. The blossoming revelation of God’s Love continues to unfold in our Solemnity today in what I have come to appreciate more and more as an even more surprising Mystery than the awesome and wonderful events of salvation we have already celebrated this Easter Season…God descends in His living and creating presence as the Holy Spirit upon us, human beings, and makes His dwelling within our very hearts and souls. We are incorporated into the very Communion of God’s eternal life from within and without, and we now can become, by God’s grace, a living Sacrament for the world!
Adding to this day of great joy, I have the pleasure of announcing that we will have two new members joining our Parish Staff coming up this summer in July! The first is Sofia Benigno, who will be our new Youth Minister & Director of Evangelization, the position that Rianna Edwards has served for the past three years. Rianna and her husband Logan will be moving back to their home state of Minnesota and their alma mater, St. John’s University, where Logan will serve as their new director of campus ministry. Rianna has been an incredible minister here at Christ the King and has built up so many wonderful things for our youth and parish spirituality—we cannot thank her enough for the gifts the Holy Spirit has worked through her and she will definitely be missed. Sofia just graduated from the University of Notre Dame and has served for multiple years in Notre Dame Vision, most notably with her musical talents. We are excited to have her join the parish staff and grow as a minister in the Church!
We will also be welcoming a third Holy Cross priest, Fr. Ricky Bevington, CSC, who will be living in residence here at Christ the King! Fr. Ricky professed final vows in 2024 and was ordained a priest in 2025. He has served at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for the past two years and he’s excited to experience parish ministry. Fr. Cameron will still remain here at Christ the King for one more year and this year will also be a transitional year for him as he applies for doctoral programs in Philosophy. Fr. Bob will also continue to assist here at Christ the King, so our clergy count is now up to six (4 priests and 2 deacons)! That’s certainly a testament to the welcoming and supportive environment of faith you all play a part in fostering here. Or, to put it another way, it’s a visible sign of the Holy Spirit at work in our family of faith!
As we prepare to welcome new ministers to our parish later this summer, may we always remain open to the Spirit of encouragement, who makes us all ministers of the Lord in so many different and beautiful ways through our lived discipleship. As St. Paul reminds us today:
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.”
Come, Holy Spirit!
Fr. David
Comments are closed