“The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king…” Kings? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua – some of the great names of Israel’s history. And none of them were king. Yet under the leadership of God, they led Israel from slavery to the freedom of the promised land. Deborah, Gideon, Samson – none of them were kings, yet under the leadership of God, these Judges united Israel to defend itself and its identity against the other nations. To be the qahal Yahweh – the people of God. And the last of the judges was Samuel. It was to Samuel (1 Sam 7) that the people came and said “Now that you are old, and your sons do not follow your example, appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.” When Samuel prayed about this before the Lord, God said in answer: “Grant the people’s every request. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king.” And God warned the people of the rights of those other kings: Continue reading
Kinds of Kings
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In cleaning up files from my computer, I ran across this classic bit of saintly humor. Enjoy!
The reading from today’s gospel (with a few extra verses) and St. Francis of Assisi’s answer to the question.
Today is the Feast of St. Bonaventure the great Franciscan saint, theologian and provincial minister of the Order in the mid-13th century. There are a special set of 
Years from now I will perhaps look back in my notes at this homily and will need to remind myself what was unique and different about this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, popularly known as Corpus Christi Sunday. Notes to self: 94 days ago, the World Health Organization declared pandemic status for the covid-19 virus. 87 days ago, the churches of the diocese of St. Petersburg were closed to the public. 79 days ago, a safer-at-home order was declared for the City of Tampa. 
During these last days as the topic of racial justice was omnipresent around us, someone emailed to ask if Francis of Assisi had ever written on race relationships. The short answer is “no.” Francis of Assisi lived in the 13th century growing up in the Umbria region of Italy. His world was provincial and focused on the world in which diversity meant which town you were from and the “other” referred to the “Saracens,” against whom the Crusades were aimed in order to free the Holy Land from Islamic control. 
When I was a child growing up in the 1950s Catholic milieu, we prayed “In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” We didn’t give it a lot of thought. We were kids. We also did not particularly make the connection between the third person of the Trinity and Casper the Friendly Ghost or any of his not-so-friendly counterparts. But at some point, the phrase “Holy Ghost” gave way to “Holy Spirit.” 
