Yesterday, in London, a new monarch of Britain was crowned: King Charles III. You may have watched his coronation ceremony.
I read that breaking a bit with tradition, the King offered a prayer, out loud, as part of the ceremony:
Listen to the words of the King’s prayer. They are really quite nice. Charles prayed: “God of compassion and mercy whose Son was sent not to be served but to serve, give grace that I may find in thy service perfect freedom and in that freedom knowledge of thy truth. Grant that I may be a blessing to all thy children, of every faith and belief, that together we may discover the ways of gentleness and be led into the paths of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
I share with you this prayer of the king of Britain because this month we think about another coronation, not of an earthly king, but our heavenly queen.
King Charles prayed to be filled with grace, well Our Queen has been filled with grace by God from the moment of her conception. King Charles prayed to be able to serve God. Our Queen is the handmaid of the Lord. King Charles prayed for profound knowledge of God’s Truth; Our Queen possessed this knowledge, after all, she carried him in her womb and nursed Him at her breast. King Charles prayed to be blessing to all people; Our Queen is Most Blessed among women, mother of the Church, model of gentleness.
And she is the queen mother of a nation of royal priests, not a geographical nation, but a spiritual one, the Church. She is the queen mother of that “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God’s own” for He is called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. Christians are royalty in the kingdom of heaven.
Our Queen Mother is the noble example the Church and the world most desperately needs. She is the model of gentleness, purity, self-control, and selflessness. She shows us what life looks like what we allow ourselves to be animated by Christ, when we cooperate with the Holy Will of God.
St. James in our epistle today says that Christians need to be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Certainly, our queen models those characteristics. Like her, we are to be “quick to hear” both God’s word as well as the cries of our neighbor.
She was quick to hear the message of the archangel, and quick to hear the needs of her cousin elizabeth, who conceived in her old age.
We live in an age where we are tempted to do just the opposite, don’t we. It’s almost a national vice to be quick to anger. The internet certainly doesn’t help. Anger, outrage, rash judgment, bombastic attention seeking, gossip, and shaming. We need to be very careful when using social media, to be slow to speak, slow to wrath, responsible in what we share, especially in public forums. Our speech needs to remain noble--whatever the forum. Lest we cause division or scandal.
On this fourth Sunday after Easter, the Gospel is taken from a portion of the Lord’s Last Supper farewell discourse. The Lord’s announces that he will return to the Father in order that the Holy Spirit may descend upon the Church.
Our Lady was present at Pentecost, she prayed with the Church, with the apostles, that they would be filled with the Spirit of Truth in their mission. During this month leading up to our celebration of Pentecost, we do well to invoke our Lady, to honor her as Our Queen, our model, our mediatrix, that we may be open to the manifold gifts of Pentecost the Lord wishes to bestow upon our church.
To our Queen, we recommend ourselves and the entire Body of Christ. May she guide and assist our Holy Father and our Bishops in their apostolic mission, and aid all who help them in their work. May she Enlighten the People of God along the paths of faith, hope and love! May she remember us in all of our trials, and help us to overcome the malice of evil which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today. May she help deliver us from disdain and negligence of the commandments of God, and make us aware of the needs of the poor in our midst. May she help nurture in us the fruits of the spirit, and make us faithful in our Gospel mission, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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A reading from the epistle of St. James
Dearly beloved, all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. Therefore, put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.
A continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. John
Jesus said to his disciples, But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
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