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November 24, 2024Dear friends, My dear teens,
This Tuff Retreat ends with the Holy Mass where we celebrate Christ the King of the Universe.
The theme of our TUFF retreat was "Jesus is our hope". As we have seen, hope is a very beautiful, bright theme that makes us look to the future with confidence. The foundation of our hope is our friendship with Jesus.
When we are alone and isolated, we feel abandoned and there is no hope in our hearts. But when we recognize that we are loved, we open ourselves to the future, The desires our hearts are realized not alone but together with others.
Celebrating Jesus, the King of the Universe is therefore celebrating our hope in him. Let's try to better understand what this expression means.
First of all, let's ask ourselves: what is the image we have of a king? I think we all think of a king as a powerful person who commands others, who has many servants, who has a strong army to be able to dominate other people.
Certainly, there are good kings and there are bad kings. There are rulers who take care of their people and there are tyrants who exploit people to increase their wealth and do not care about the good life of their people. This is why there are kings loved, and kings hated by people.
Today we celebrate Jesus, the king of the universe. But how does Jesus appear? We have heard the gospel in which Jesus appears chained, accused as if he were a criminal. Although he is innocent.
When Pilate asks him if he is king, he replies that His kingdom is not of this world, his is the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is not a king who is served, but he himself serves others. He does not call us servants but friends. He does not exploit us to have more power, rather he lowers himself to show us his love.
Jesus, the king of the universe shows his infinite power not by oppressing people but by loving us. Jesus teaches us that he who loves others truly reigns.
Furthermore, we celebrate this feast, Jesus, king of the universe, knowing that many things in the world are not going well. There is so much confusion in the world, so much violence between peoples, peace is threatened. Wars are in many parts of the world. And we celebrate Jesus our hope, king of the universe. We do this because we know that Christ's love for the world is stronger than evil. Love wins, love always wins. He gave his life for us on the cross and we are loved with a love stronger than evil. If we are united with Jesus, we will win with him.
Then we ask that Christ's love reigns first in our hearts. We ask Jesus to conquer sin in us, may Jesus be the king of our hearts. We ask Jesus that His kingdom be manifested first among us.
We are certain of Jesus' victory. At the end of time, he will manifest himself in all his glory. But now is the time when we must help Jesus spread his love and peace throughout the world, in our families, among our friends, in school, in the community.
I invite you to bring the love of Jesus to all your companions. Be united among yourselves and walk together towards the kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace and justice, a kingdom of joy and freedom.
May the Lord, King of the Universe, always accompany you.
May Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, protect you on your journey.
Photo Album of the Retreat
