Christ the King
Welcome this weekend on our Patronal Feast of Christ the King.
Hidden away in the meeting room in Cathedral House, there is a small sculpture of Christ before Pilate which until recent refurbishment had previously hung in the west entrance of the Cathedral. It was a ‘maquette’ designed by the artist Peter Ball as an example of a design for a set of ‘stations of the cross’ within our Cathedral. In the end it was the Sean Rice set of designs that were chosen for the Cathedral and which are now a familiar and striking representation of the way of the cross. Both images by Ball and Rice for the First Station express the humility of Jesus and the harsh judgemental way in which he was treated. Pilate points the finger at Christ to accuse Him and yet the pointed finger leads us to behold our King one who ‘came into the world to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to his voice’.
As we celebrate our special Patronal Feast of Christ the King we pray for Our Lord’s blessing on our Cathedral and on us all. In both the Cathedral and the Crypt Chapel in bold letters, either above the entrance or set in gold on the front of the altar we proudly proclaim that He is our Way, our Truth and our Life.
Archbishop Sherrington will be joined by our two former Archbishops – McMahon and Kelly for the celebration of 11.00am Mass this Sunday.
Later that day at 3.00pm members of the Chapter of Canons will be joining us for Choral Evening Prayer. During this service Archbishop Sherrington will invest three people with the Papal Award of the Order of St Gregory.
They are our very own Claire Reilly from our Cathedral community, HE Michael Byrne and Michael Sharkey. All of them have been recognised for their outstanding service to the church and its mission and we offer them our congratulations.
Next weekend we begin the short season of Advent. Sadly a season that often gets overshadowed by Christmas but is so rich in meaning, a season of the word of hope and expectation.
As well as the Masses for the first Sunday of Advent there will be a service of Advent music and readings known as the ‘Advent Sequence’ next Sunday afternoon at 5pm. You are warmly welcomed to start your Advent journey.
Monsignor Anthony O’Brien
CATHEDRAL DEAN
