Holy Week At Christ the King 2025

 

EASTER IS COMING

 

The greatest celebration of the year is fast approaching! You are invited to share in this great celebration with us!  Our services this week are:

March  28,  Maundy Thursday 7:00 PM 

March 29, Good Friday 12:15 PM

March 30,  The Great Vigil, Saturday at 8:00 PM

March 31, Easter Sunday at 10:30 AM 

Please note that we are on Eastern Daylight Time.  For more information call or text Fr. Bob at (606) 303-4537.  

We Watch

In our Gospel lesson for Sunday, November 8, we read the parable of the 10 virgins. (Matthew 25:1-13) Five were wise and five were foolish. By the end of the parable Jesus makes clear, without any doubt, who was who. The wise virgins were the ones who brought extra oil for their lamps. I know that typically, when we look at the parables of the Kingdom, we are thinking of the second coming of Christ and how it's all going to go down. We focus on on being ready for the unexpected return of Christ our King. Implicit in that exhortation is that it might be today, or maybe tomorrow, certainly judging by the chaos of our world it has to be soon, right? It seems to warrant the billboards we see occasionally, that trumpet, "Warning! Jesus is coming, are you ready?" Certainly that is part of the message, that we should be ready, but ready for what? Our parable seems completely out of context. The bride groom returns late, not early, and the outcome is a wedding feast, not a prison cell. or a court room. Jesus closes the parable with the exortation to watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour. The outcome for the foolish virgins, rather than severe judgement, was simply to be shut out of the party. So, How do we watch? Based on the parable, we must learn to be ready whether he returns early or late. For us, that means that we live lives, invest in the future prepare for the coming generations, and so doing, are also ready for his speedy return. As Christians we wait for Christ's return, not in slavish fear, but in hopeful anticipation. We marry and are given in marriage, we have families, we build churches and homesteads, we tame the ground, plant gardens, and teach our children a way of life, that is more than just amassing toys. We vote, we serve on the jury when we are called, we protest the crime of murdering infants in the womb, we help the homeless and hungry, build businesses, learn trades and professions, and strive to take care of our elders. We contribute to the life of the world. We refuse to let this world go to "hell in a handbasket" because, "God so loved the world." This is how we watch and wait, as salt and light in the world. Above all, we don't presume that Jesus is going to come back so soon that none of this matters. Instead, we look to the world to come. Which world? That mysterious one in some unknown future, or the very world that we now live in, finally marked as Christ's own for ever? Both. For looking for the first, we must seek the latter. We look to the future generations and try to leave them a clear well lighted pathway to follow Jesus. We make disciples of all peoples, we train our children and grandchildren to do the same. If we are working for our own life, this life only, our vision is much to narrow, and myopic. The wise virgins were those who prepared for the possibility that the Bridegroom could be late in coming. So shall we. B+

Stain Glass and Woodwork

In the past week we have also had some exciting work done on the church. We had two more stain glass windows installed. Thanks to our handy carpenter. The windows were designed and made by Ruth Betts. As some of you are aware we decided a while back to follow the theme of the 7 sacraments for our windows. The last two that were completed were Unction and Holy Orders. Thank you to Mrs Ruth for all your hard work!

We also had the two supporting columns which are at the entrance to the Nave wrapped with some beautiful oak trim. Once again, by our amazing carpenter, the dear Bob Father.

The pictures just don't show the true beauty of our several completed projects! You should stop by and see it in person! Everyone is welcome!
Mass is at 10:30AM on Sunday, 7AM on Wednesday and 12:15PM on Friday, with Evening Prayer at 7PM on Thursday. See you there!

ACOLYTE TRAINING!

Exciting things are happening in Liberty Kentucky! This past Sunday Fr. Bob began training another group of young acolytes. Judah, Ezra, Caleb and Helena have joined the valiant ranks of altar servers. Fr Bob reminded us on Sunday that we are never too young to start serving our King, nor do we ever grow too old to serve our glorious King. He encouraged the whole congregation to participate more in the service and life of the church in a new way by volunteering to be an acolyte or helping with oblations.

In the words of Saint Claire of Assisi,

Be a SUPERHERO.....Save the Babies!!!!

Save your change to save the babies! Mother's Day thru Father's Day our congregation participates in a fundraiser in union with the Pro-life movement because we believe every human life is sacred. As Ronald Reagan once said, "We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child!" On Mother's Day we pass out baby bottles to each family. The goal being to save your change to fill this baby bottle Mother's day thru Father's day. Come Father's day we collect the bottles and donate all the money raised to a Crisis Pregnancy Center near us, to help support those in a crisis pregnancy. Join us in this fight to recognize the dignity of every human being from conception! Save the BABIES!!!

HOLY WEEK!!!

Well folks we made it back around to Holy Week again! Lent has flown by once more. It seems as though only yesterday I was attending an early morning Mass on Ash Wednesday to receive my ashes and begin my lenten fast. This week will be a busy one at Christ the King as several extra services will be added to our week.

One note, that did not make it to our bulletin, is that we will be doing an all night vigil again this year. The vigil will begin immediately following our Maundy Thursday service and will last through 8AM on Good Friday Morning. A schedule has been made up dividing the night into hour long sections for us to watch and pray with Christ. It is a completely voluntary act of devotion and worship to our Lord. We have it in hour long segments remembering Jesus' words to his disciples while in the garden, "Could you not watch one hour?" With this in mind I challenge you to join us in our vigil for an hour this coming Maundy Thusday. Join us as we watch and pray with Christ!


This year after our Easter cleaning on Holy Saturday at 10AM we will be sharing lunch together followed by an egg hunt outside, (weather permitting). Please be sure to mark your calendars and come on out. It is going to be an exciting morning as we clean and decorate the church in preparation for celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord! We look forward to seeing you there!

To finish up this blog post I have a few pictures from Palm Sunday. Our Sunday started out dismal and gray with pouring rain, however by 10:30AM the rain vanished, sun came out and it turned into a simply glorious day. We were able to begin our service outside as planned standing in the pleasant spring sunshine, as we waved palms and sang 'Hosanna in the Highest!'

Our acolites enjoying the sunshine as we prepare to start the service. :)

Blessing the palms.

"Hosanna in the Highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Gone Missing or Just Off Grid?

Howdy y'all! This blog post is about recent thoughts/questions that have been brought to my attention by a close friend concerning Fr. Bob's absence on social media. For those of you who are on social media you have probably noticed that our dear Father has scarcely made a dozen appearances on facebook in the past 6 months. Thus we have our question of the day, "Has Fr. Bob gone missing?" The answer is short and sweet. No, he has not gone missing, he's just gone off the grid! As some of you are aware last August the Lemmon family moved into their new house, less than a mile down the road from their former abode. This new house is run solely on solar power, with no internet or landline available. With this grand adventure of living off grid on solar power there are several changes, for example no access to internet, (hint, no presence on social media). This means that if you need to get in touch with Fr. Bob the best way will be to call him or text him on his new cellphone. Keep in mind cell service in Kentucky can be spotty at times so if you don't get through when calling go ahead and send him a text (Text messages tend to come through faster some times.) and a time can be arranged when he will be sure to have full signal. So yes, Fr. Bob and his family are all doing quite well in their new abode. Be assured that even if he is unable to respond immediately to prayer request posted on social media he is indeed still praying for each of you every day. We look forward to seeing y'all again in the coming year! Until next time then, God Bless!!

Fr. Bob's cellphone : (606)-303-4537;

Upcoming Events

Just a couple notes about upcoming events.
We are taking a break from youth nights through out the busy season of Advent and Christmas. Youth nights will resume in the New Year.
Our annual Christmas play will take place on December 18th at 6pm. The Church will be providing a free dinner for all. Please come out and enjoy our Christmas gift to you!
Mid-night Mass will begin at 10:30p.m. December 24th, With light snacks and fellowship beginning around 9p.m. Please bring a snack and come enjoy the fellowship with Christmas Eve Mass afterwards. (Subject to change in the event of winter weather.)
We hope to see you there!!

Saint Nicholas Day and Advent Cleaning

Advent cleaning is a tradition in our church which generally takes place on the last Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. Those of us who can make it to the church come and do a deep cleaning and spruce the place up for the coming of Christ our King on Christmas Day. Just as Advent is a time to prepare and clean up our hearts to welcome our Savior we also prepare the church for the coming of this grand event when God became man. This year we did our Advent cleaning on Saint Nicholas Day, December 6th. We met mid-afternoon and cleaned til dinner time. At which time we finished up our work and shared in a soup supper provided by the church. Once supper was complete we continued with evening prayer and Christmas play practice. It was a wonderful day with a lot accomplished. Here are some pictures from the day. :)

Our selection of greenery!

If you need any windows cleaned these are the ones to call! They did an excellent job cleaning windows inside and out!

Take it from Ez cleaning the toilet is the best part!

The stalwart brass cleaning crew!

The finished result!!

Thanks to everyone who came and helped out! Y'all did a great job!!

Missionary Society of Saint John Assembly 2018

My how time has flown! Only a month ago we were preparing for the Assembly with great anticipation of what was to come. Now as I write this post I realize that we are marching head on into November with Thanksgiving only a few weeks away. October 25th, 26th, and 27th members of the MSJ (Missionary Society of Saint John) gathered together for the annual assembly at Christ the King. Our topic of study this year was base on and around our patron, Saint John. Each day of the Assembly the congregation prayed the daily offices together as well as attending Mass on Friday, listened to teaching sessions, and enjoyed fellowship with one another. This year we introduced what we hope will become a long standing tradition, following the service of Compline Friday evening we had Benediction. I really can't think of a better way to end the Assembly than in adoration of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament! It was simply breathtaking and beautiful!! Well I could spend days talking about the Assembly. But instead I will go ahead and post some long anticipated pictures of the event.

If you would like more information about the MSJ or would like to attend the Assembly next year please contact Fr. Bob Lemmon, MSJ.

Clean up day at Christ the King!

This past Saturday the youth group met at the Church in order to work on cleaning up outside in preparation for the coming MSJ Assembly October 25th-27th. On the agenda was cleaning up the prayer walk as well as the walk down to the waterfall. Oh, and did I mention, building up a pile for the annual bonfire! The group worked for several hours before agreeing that the walks were in good order and the pile was sufficiently stacked up to a reasonable height.

The boys got a little carried away while building up the bonfire pile. ;)

Our youngest helper of the day!

"But look, it's the perfect place to make a fort!"

And our pile is complete!!

Saint Michael's Day Weekend Trip

This past weekend our church youth group took a trip to Tullahoma, Tennessee to participate in a weekend retreat with others who attend the annual Saint Michael's Conference Midwest. The group drove down Friday afternoon and drove home Sunday afternoon after attending Mass. It was a weekend packed with prayer, fun, and a little bit of work. Over the course of the weekend they attended Benediction, Evensong for St. Michael and All Angels Day, Compline both evenings, as well as Mass on Sunday. Saturday they helped with cleaning the church they were visiting, and went to a fall festival. The youth group as a whole voted it was a weekend well spent and look forward to the coming Saint Michael's Conference Midwest 2019! For more information on the Conference contact Fr. Bob Lemmon and he will get you in touch with someone from the conference.