Worshiping at Christ The King Cathedral in Atlanta is a Spiritual Experience!

I know that a church is not the building, that it is the people and community inside and outside… but there is something about worshiping in a Cathedral that makes it extra special; sort of like going up to a mountaintop, seeing the view and feeling closer to God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit!

On Sunday I visited the Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta which is actually on Peachtree Road in Buckhead a northern district of Atlanta. The junction of Peachtree Road and Wesley Road is known as “Jesus Junction.” The Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip and the Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church are all right there. Reminds me a bit of the Village Palmyra in Western New York; the only place in America with four major churches on the four corners of an intersection. Magnificent, stately, and beautiful outside; inside is the same with slate stone and stained glass windows and of course the packed pews. Christ the King is one of the ten largest parishes in the United States with over 5,500 families!

The First Reading (Exodus where Moses convinces God to be lenient with His people); the Second Reading (First Timothy where Paul who once was Saul and a persecutor of Christians knows that the grace, faith, and love of and in Jesus has strengthened himself into a righteous man), and the Gospel Reading (Luke and The Parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke) were a perfect setup for the powerful homily of Rev. Monsignor Frank McNamee. The three readings are included below.

Do we have a wonderful future? Wonder-Full or Wonder-Less? Are our desires the most important thing in the world? Do we need to direct out steps back to forgiveness and God? Can we forgive from the heart? Can there be a new beginning?

Paul (old Saul) was the foremost sinner. Jesus Christ has come to save all sinners. There is joy over one repentant sinner. Christ is here today to make us a free man through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. All things are possible through Christ!

The Prodigal Son was a repentant sinner. Even if we don’t have a father like his, Our Father, Our Creator, God the Father can forgive us! Just like he did His stiff-necked chosen people that were worshiping another god after being brought out of Egypt to freedom.

I love to see the love, compassion, and forgiveness of God in the Old Testament Book of Exodus. We see it in Jesus in the New Testament and can only imagine what it will be like on a spiritual level beyond this world!

I also realized the tie between Paul’s reference to grace in the Second Reading and the singing of Amazing Grace at the end of mass… the words rang true to me maybe for the very first time… Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear… And Grace my fears relieved… How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed…

You can’t help but feel the spirit of this community! Their published motto is “to Know, Love, and Serve as Jesus Did.” They have Bibles in the pews! And the mass begins with a reminder for us to “be mindful that we are in the presence of the Lord!” Plus you are worshiping in a magnificent, stately, and beautiful Cathedral! Wow, what a spiritual experience!

I look forward to heading back to “Jesus Junction” to learn more, realize more, and apply more to the rest of my life! TROML Baby (an exclamation of Joy and Gratitude)!

CLICK here to go to the website of Christ The King Cathedral in Atlanta!

Exodus 32:7-11: “Then the Lord said to Moses: Go down at once because your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly. 8 They have quickly turned aside from the way I commanded them, making for themselves a molten calf and bowing down to it, sacrificing to it and crying out, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 9 I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are, continued the Lord to Moses. 10 Let me alone, then, that my anger may burn against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation. 11 But Moses implored the Lord, his God, saying, “Why, O Lord, should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?

Exodus 32:13-14: “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’” 14 So the Lord changed his mind about the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.”

1 Timothy 1:12-14: “I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry. 13 I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. 14 Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

Luke 15: 11-32: “Then he said, “A man had two sons, 12 and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. 13 After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

14 When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. 15 So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. 16 And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. 17 Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. 18 I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’

20 So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ 22 But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, 24 because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began.

25 Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. 26 He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. 27 The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. 30 But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ 31 He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. 32 But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’”