tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52336963136850393622024-03-13T18:59:18.437-04:00Faith connecting with lifeWelcome to my blog which explores how to connect faith with our everyday lifeDeacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-67084603913518398972023-12-19T16:49:00.006-05:002023-12-19T16:49:57.992-05:00Resentment to Gratitude <p> <span style="font-size: large;">Resentment to Gratitude </span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Perhaps the most significant conversion one can
undergo is the movement from resentment to gratitude.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Let me explain by drawing
on the wisdom of Henri Nouwen as recorded in his book, Spiritual Formation.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">First of all: “Resentment and gratitude cannot
coexist, since resentment blocks the perception and experience of life as a
gift. My resentment tells me that I don't receive what I deserve. It always
manifests itself in envy.” It </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> is the curse of the faithful, the virtuous, the obedient, and the hardworking</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> Consider hos those </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">those who have given their lives for loved ones, work hard, and have virtues that are praised, are burdened by resentment in their hearts. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Secondly, moving away from resentment requires
moving toward something more life giving, and that something is the attitude of
gratitude. Resentment blocks action; gratitude lets us move forward toward new
possibilities. Resentment makes us cling to negative feelings; gratitude allows
us to let go. Resentment makes us prisoners of our passions. Gratitude helps us
to transcend our compulsions to follow our vocation. Resentment exhausts us by
complicated jealousies and ambiguities, stirring up destructive desires for
revenge. Gratitude takes our fatigue away and gives us new vitality and
enthusiasm. Resentment entangles us in endless distractions, pulling us down to
banal preoccupations. Gratitude anchors our deepest self beyond this world and
allows us to be involved without losing ourselves.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> Henri Nouwen </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">calls for a movement from resentment into a
graciousness that expresses gratitude. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> “Gratitude…goes beyond the “mine” and “thine”
and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always
thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts
received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline.
The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am
and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious
choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are
still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present
themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. . . . The
choice for gratitude rarely comes without some real effort. But each time I
make it, the next choice is a little easier, a little freer, a little less
self-conscious. . . . There is an Estonian proverb that says: “Who does not thank
for little will not thank for much.” Acts of gratitude make one grateful
because, step by step, they reveal that all is grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-69240137136942085012023-07-08T15:42:00.005-04:002023-07-08T15:43:35.438-04:00Gentle of Heart will inherit the earth <p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: center; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><br /></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Gentle of Heart will inherit the earth </span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><b>T</b></span><span><b>his commentary is based on the readings for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordanry Time, which are <i style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">Zechariah 9.9-10; Ps. 145 (R,.1b) Romans 8.9, 11-13; Matthew 11. 25-30</span></i></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span> </span></o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">The
gospel is interesting. It is one perfectly suited for a July weekend when many
are looking forward to a vacation. Weary and burdened with work, life
challenges and all those things we try to manage, we are ready to chill out and
rest.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: arial; line-height: 110%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">And
this is how Jesus is feeling. You see, the gospel for today is more than an
invitation to come and rest with him, but a prayer, beginning with Jesus
expressing thanks to his Father, and then an expression of frustration that his
wisdom is hidden from wise and intelligent. Frustrated because he can’t
understand, after almost three years of public ministry, where he taught, healed,
and ministered, they still don’t get it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: arial; line-height: 110%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">Looking
ahead, he likely thinks, at the next Passover, when I ride into Jerusalem on a donkey,
they will believe I am fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah, that I have come
to rule from sea to sea, as a king with dominion overall. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: arial; line-height: 110%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">In
their eagerness for a king with worldly power <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they quickly forget their own tradition, which
believes that the way a king comes into a city, indicates his purpose and how
he will rule. If a king rides in on a stallion, he is signalling he is coming
with military might and will rule with an iron hand. If he comes on a donkey,
he is signalling he has come in peace, gentle and humble in heart, with the
intention to relieve the burdens of all those under his dominion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: arial; line-height: 110%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">And
so, Jesus ends his prayer, saying quit trying to understand my kingdom from a
worldly perspective, where power and might are the tools needed to rule, rather
than gentleness and peace. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: arial; line-height: 110%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">For
this reason, Jesus includes in his prayer of thanksgiving, an expression of
gratitude that God his Father in Heaven has handed everything over to him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: arial; line-height: 110%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now
the wise and intelligent will believe this means Jesus is all powerful, but
will miss the obvious, Jesus is also suggesting his divine <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>power is exercised in the same way God his Father
manifests his power. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; line-height: 110%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">For
those who take the time to consider how they have experienced God’s power in
their lives, we will realize God never enters into our lives overwhelming us
with his divine power, majesty, and glory. Instead, God comes in gentleness, </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%; mso-themecolor: text1;">deliberately setting
aside all pretensions of power. </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; line-height: 110%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%; mso-themecolor: text1;">A perfect <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>image of
God’s gentleness can be found simply by looking into the heavens. The sun in
the sky is our great blessing precisely because it maintains its life-giving
distance. We know it. We feel it, we enjoy it, but we are never overwhelmed by
it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%; mso-themecolor: text1;">In this prayer Jesus is saying, I have not come into the
world to overwhelm you with power and might, but rather reveal to you a better
way. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%; mso-themecolor: text1;">The better way, Jesus is saying, take on my yoke and
learn from me, for I am <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gentle and
humble of heart. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%; mso-themecolor: text1;">At first glance, we may believe accepting Jesus’ yoke
implies we are surrendering. Giving up. There is nothing we can do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%; mso-themecolor: text1;">But the gentleness of Christ is not surrender. It is a
strength that does not need to scream. Gentleness of Christ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is not becoming a doormat. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a sureness of presence that spurns
aggression. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%; mso-themecolor: text1;">Gentleness of Jesus is of God. Like the sun in the sky,
securely settled into itself, it shines in sure love upon the good and the
wicked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So this July weekend as we look for relief from the
burdens we carry, weary from managing our various life-situations, Jesus is
saying, come to me and find true rest, true power for the gentle of heart will
inherit the earth. </span><o:p style="font-size: 15pt;"></o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-77180151119783191432023-04-12T06:31:00.000-04:002023-04-13T06:32:46.290-04:00EASTER MEANS JESUS IS WITH US<p><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>BASED ON THE READINGS – </b><b>ACTS OF THE APSOTELS 3: 1-10 AND LUKE 24:13-35</b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Church has given us 8 full days to stand at the
empty tomb and ponder the meaning of the resurrection. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">It is really an invitation for us to meet the Risen One
personally and to recognize his life-giving action in the events of history and
especially our daily lives.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We are called to take time this week and reflect on our
lives and discover how our hearts were warmed, were burning, when the Lord
walked with us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Perhaps our memory is a time when we felt like the man at
the Temple gate looking for some help in our lives. Believing what the world
had to offer was what we needed. Only to discover, as Saint Peter did, speaking
really on behalf of Jesus, “<i>I have no silver or gold, but what I have to
give you is the power of Jesus of Nazareth and can raise us up out of our
troubles.</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Or maybe we recall a moment when we just felt overwhelmed by
life; perhaps grieving the loss of a job, or simply a major change in life to
our situation or status, or grieving the death of someone close to us. . .. and
as we look back we see how Jesus was walking beside us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The resurrection promises that Jesus is with us. He walks with
us in our journey of life. There is never a time when he is absent, but times when
we are inattentive or caught up in our thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our response to this promise is simple When we gather for
liturgy, especially the Mass, when we hear the scriptures read – we say: “Thanks
be to God.” When the host is elevated, we say, as St Thomas did: “My Lord and
My God.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">So our pray this week, as Pope Benedict stated in one of his
homilies during the Octave of Easter:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Dear brothers and
sisters, may the joy of these days strengthen our faithful attachment to the
Crucified and Risen Christ. Above all, may we let ourselves be won over by the
fascination of his Resurrection. May Mary help us to be messengers of the light
and joy of Easter for all our brethren. I say again: </span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Happy Easter.</span></span>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-51372656526952275232023-04-10T09:05:00.001-04:002023-04-10T09:05:30.026-04:00FOR YOUR EASTER REFLECTION<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpO3Xjblxwq7MElR1K_-MPTeIkXvSEKkq0u1oIrFgzSCQiq-OwLx25kGGmkeizyYDmAC8zrOm1Nf1m8Mu-jKvqhpGaQw2qrpOf-Xj4aSylIB_vK8iP7aNCRfbUemJT3fuVR-I3uNEHbI79Dk03HZQUgxb4mvIAlqu1RoULvEoichQjL3Dib2jaFQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="120" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpO3Xjblxwq7MElR1K_-MPTeIkXvSEKkq0u1oIrFgzSCQiq-OwLx25kGGmkeizyYDmAC8zrOm1Nf1m8Mu-jKvqhpGaQw2qrpOf-Xj4aSylIB_vK8iP7aNCRfbUemJT3fuVR-I3uNEHbI79Dk03HZQUgxb4mvIAlqu1RoULvEoichQjL3Dib2jaFQ" width="180" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Artist: John Freda –</b> <i>His painting, Jesus appears to Mary, is in the chapel at Loyola House, Guelph Ontario. Main ide</i><i>a for painting inspired by John English S.J. former director</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">FOR YOUR EASTER REFLECTION </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Remember,
begin by asking the Lord to make you aware in His presence and offering to Him
your time and your self. Where this fits in salvation history. Jesus had died
on the cross and His Spirit had gone down among the dead to declare the great
Good News that they will rise on the day the Father has appointed. Then His
Spirt returns to the tomb and inspires His cold, battered flesh, Straightway, He
goes to His mother, the Lady Mary.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">v<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">Imagine
His coming to her. Stay to hear what they say, to see what they do, and to let
them share with you what they experienced together.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">v<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">Consider,
then, that Jesus Christ is God and mighty Lord. How did he manifest His divinity
to His mother?</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">v<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">Consider,
too how He consoled His mother after her sufferings.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">v<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">The
talk with Jesus or His Mother, or with the Father. </span><b style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">End with the Lord’s Prayer.</b></p><div><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 2pt; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoCaption"><o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p></div>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-82435863391399147302023-01-21T13:56:00.001-05:002023-01-21T13:56:19.189-05:00Eloquent Wisdom or Christ <p> </p><p align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<p align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_Hlk125201543"><i><span style="line-height: 110%;">This commentary is based on the following readings which were taken from the </span></i></a><span style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US">Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: <b>I</b></span></span>saiah 8:23-9:3; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a name="_Hlk125201543"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">I
appeal to you, brothers and sisters,</span></i></a><a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%; text-decoration: none;">*</span></i></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement
and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united
in the same mind and the same purpose.</span></i></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1
Cor 1:10) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">It
seems no one listened to Paul’s appeal since two thousand years later each year
we set aside a week for all Christians to pray for unity. </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%;">Sadly, these division occur
even within our own Catholic faith. Divisions created by people choosing who to
follow, as Saint Paul points out in his letter to the Corinthians, some profess
“I belong </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I
belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we could go on to say, I belong to John
Paul II, or Benedict XVI <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or Francis and
so forth. In reality, we all know and agree, we belong to Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">Saint
Paul provides the reason for these divisions when he speaks about how attractive
someone’s message can be when they preach with eloquent wisdom. Their lofty
ideas can draw many followers. Sadly, Paul points out, if the focus is on the
wisdom preached, the power of the cross of Christ is emptied. </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let me explain with two stories. The first is
about <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 8.5pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">a motorist who accidentally drove his car into
a ditch. Luckily, a local farmer came to help with his big strong horse named
Buddy. He hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, “Pull, Nellie, pull!” Buddy
didn’t move. Then the farmer hollered, “Pull, Buster, pull!” Buddy didn’t
respond. Once more the farmer commanded, “Pull, Casey, pull!” Nothing. Then the
farmer casually said, “Pull, Buddy, pull!” And the horse easily dragged the car
out of the ditch.<br />
The motorist grateful but curious asked the farmer why he called his horse by
the wrong name three times. The farmer said, “Oh, Buddy is blind and if he
thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Funny<span style="background: white;"> story but it speaks about our natural human tendency to
believe in concepts, as Buddy did, when he accepted the idea he was not alone,
without <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>experiencing a relationship with
the other horses. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125201543;"></span>
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><a name="_Hlk125200446"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Saint
Paul believed in ideas. Everything changed when he encountered the Risen Christ
on the way to Damascus. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He now
understood, Jesus is the one who fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, he is the one
that will bring those who walk in darkness into the light.<o:p></o:p></span></span></a></p>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk125200446;"></span>
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Consider the story Sigmund
Freud once told. A small boy staying with his Aunt and Uncle was put to bed.
The boy alone in the dark bedroom called out to his Aunt, “Talk to me. I am
frightened in the dark. The aunt replied: ”What good would that do? Yu can’t
see me, I am in another room.” The boy said: “That doesn’t matter. When you
talk it gets light.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Saint Paul, through this
letter to the Corinthians, is telling us, It doesn’t matter that we can’t see
Jesus, his voice gives us light. Unless we seek to hear that voice, as the little
boy did, we will simply remain in the darkness, holding on to our opinions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 110%;">Many years later, Pope
Benedict would echo Saint Paul’s teaching. On the day he assumed the Chair of
Peter he acknowledged: </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">“Apart
from Christ the world is living in alienation, in the salt waters of suffering
and death, darkness without light.” For Benedict, as he explained in<b>,<span style="background: white;"> </span></b><span style="background: white;">Deus
Cartias est, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Being a Christian is </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty
idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon
and a decisive direction.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">Pope Francis
seeing the importance of knowing the person of Jesus, rather than getting
caught up with eloquent wisdom that can often divide communities, he declared
this Sunday as the Word of God Sunday to help people grow with familiarity with
sacred scripture and encounter Jesus, who brings us into the light.</span><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">There is a little “Buddy”
in all of us. It is so much easier and quite comforting to cling to concepts
and ideas. Sadly, limiting our faith to lofty ideas leave us blind to the light
of Christ. Again as Pope Benedict wrote: </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">“If my desire is solely to be devout, and to perform my religious
duties, then my friendship with God will grow arid, It will become loveless.”
(Deus Caritas Est, 18) <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-28464162856724371372022-12-10T11:35:00.001-05:002022-12-10T11:35:13.485-05:00Are you the one, or show we wait for another?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">On the Third Sunday of Advent, originally called Gaudete Sunday, we rejoice. One fitting way to do so is lisren to joyful stories, such as the time Jesus was checking on the well-being everyone in heaven. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 3.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 110%;">He begins by checking in with Mother
Teresa and sure enough, and she is having a grand time with all her friends. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Then he checks in on Martin Luther, who is also having
a happy time with all his loved ones around the dinner table. On his way to see
John the Baptist, he comes across a man sitting in a corner crying. Shocked
that anyone could be upset in heaven Jesus walks over to the gentleman and
asks: "What’s the matter? You shouldn’t be crying in heaven. This is a
happy place. Do you realize that there are people here who went to church
fifteen times a week to get up here. What if they all started crying too? You should
stop that right now or you'll bring the morale of the whole place down."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 3.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The man replied, "I'm so sorry. I just can't
find him anywhere and I've looked all over." "What do you mean? Who
can't you find?" ask Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 3.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The man wipes the tears from his eyes and says: "When
I was down on Earth I was a carpenter. I had this boy that I loved with all my
heart and when he grew up, I wanted him to go into the family business with me.
Then when he turned thirty he went off with a group of guys, I think there was
about twelve of them, on some adventure... And he died!... He died for goodness
sake. I don't know, I just thought that once I got up here I would find him."
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 3.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 110%;">With this confession, Jesus, with tears flowing
down his face, shouts, "Father!? How I've missed you!" The tearful man
jumps to his feet and exclaims, "Pinocchio! I can't believe you're
here!"<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Humorous story. Certainly about rejoicing. And surprisingly it does
illustrate what is going on in the gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A gospel whenever I hear it, I wonder, why would John the Baptist need
to send his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or is
there another?” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">After all, did John not leap in his mothers womb when Jesus drew near in
Mary’s womb? When John was baptising Jesus, did he not see the heavens open and
hear God the Father proclaim, this is my son, with whom I am well pleased?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">I am sure John recalled all that. But like the story of Jesus mistaking Geppetto
for his earthly father, Joseph, we can draw conclusions that are not accurate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">What I mean is there are certain expectations. In John the Baptist’s
case, he is in prison, waiting to be executed. He knows Jesus. He even claimed,
“Look, there is the Lamb of God.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But scripture told him that the Messiah who would come from the House of
David, would re-establish David’s kingdom, a kingdom that would never end; a
kingship that would not have to depend on Rome’s permission, as King Herod’s did.
So there was an expectation Jesus would come with an army, military might as
David did when he established his kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The answer John receives back is neither <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a ‘yes’ or ‘no.”’ Rather he is told: “<i>Go tell
John what </i></span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%;">you hear and see: the blind will receive
their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%;">”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%;">In other words, those
who seek the Messiah by looking for one who comes with power and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>authority will only be disappointed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But John’s
question does not end there. As it is for any gospel passage that we read, it always
done in context of our life. Sometimes it is comforting, other times it is
challenging, and occasionally we are left with a message to ponder. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Today, John the
Baptist through Matthew’s gospel, is asking us some vital questions before we
stand at the manger this Christmas. He is asking: “If someone asked you today,
A</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;">re
you a Christian? Are you a follower of Jesus? Are you a conveyor of good news
to those in physical, emotional or economic need? Or should the world wait for
another?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%;">Profound questions. Since
Jesus wants followers not admirers, the only correct answer is acknowledging
that you tried to follow the command Jesus gave his disciples before he was
arrested: “Love one another, as I have loved you, by doing this everyone will
know that you are my disciples.” (John 13:33-35)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 110%;">If we do this, there
will be no tears, only great joy in heaven and on earth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Commentary based on readings found in Common </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Lectionary
# 3 - Isaiah</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
35:1-6a, 10;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psalm: 146:6-7, 8-9,
9-10;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James 5:7-10;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matthew 11:2-11</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-7347299495185664532022-11-27T11:23:00.000-05:002022-12-10T11:28:59.034-05:00An invitation to eternal life<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">T</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">he readings for this article are based on the
following scripture passages, Zekiel 34:11-12, 15-17; Psalm: 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6;
1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28; Matthew 25:31-46, which are proclaimed on
the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">With all the commotion going on with the American
election I was reminded of a story about Calvin Coolidge, the 30<sup>th</sup> President
of the United States. Apparently when he was Vice President and presiding
over the Senate, an altercation arose between two Senators. Tempers
flared, and one Senator told the other to go straight to hell. The
offended Senator stormed from his seat, marched down the aisle and stood before
Mr. Coolidge, who was silently leafing through a book. “Mr. Vice-President,” he
said, “did you hear what he said to me?” Coolidge looked up from his book and
said calmly, “You know, I have been looking through the rule book. You don’t
have to go.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">In some respects this is what Jesus is saying in
the gospel today, if you live by my rule book, there is no need for you to go
to hell. The rule book that I am speaking about is the eight commandments Jesus
gave us in the beatitudes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">But before we read today’s gospel passage Matthew
spends some time explaining what it would look like if we followed this rule
book, and what it means to live the beatitudes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Jesus takes this time because realizes that we
will struggle interpreting them. For example, how do we follow the rule that
says, be poor in spirit, or understand those who mourn will be blessed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Matthew begins by describing people who strive
to follow these eight rules as the salt of the earth and a light of the world.
Then, using a number of parables he invites us to reflect on how our lives
reflect the beatitudes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">For example, last week we heard the parable of the
talents, and how the servant who fears the master buries his only talent,
rather than investing it and misses out on the reward the others received.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Likely, for this reason, just before he is
arrested, Jesus gathers his disciples and in very clear language graphically
illustrates what it means to live out the beatitudes. Hoping to avoid any misunderstanding,
he repeats his lesson four times. He tells care for the least of our brothers
and sisters, by feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, welcoming
strangers, clothing the naked, visiting the sick or those imprisoned. By doing
this we live the beatitudes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Despite this emphasis, when we hear this gospel
passage about the last judgment, we remember more than anything, the threat of
going to hell, a place of eternal punishment. Sadly, even some well preachers
emphasize this threat. For example, <i>one fiery Irish preacher as he
reached the climax of his homily on the Day of Judgment he said: “there
would be wailing and gnashing of teeth”. At which point an old woman put up her
hand and said “Father, I have no teeth” The priest replied “Madam, teeth will
be provided</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Jesus did not intend that the fear of eternal
punishment should shape our faith life. He begins and ends the gospel with
reference to eternal life, not punishment; Jesus is hoping that his invitation
to eternal life will be our memory, reminding us, as Jesus repeated four times,
if we respond with care to the least of our brothers and sisters then we have
cared for Jesus, who then will share eternal life with us. It is that simple.
It is that hard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-47544653610753026442022-10-28T12:34:00.006-04:002022-10-28T12:36:30.727-04:00When life is out of synch seek Jesus<p><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">T<b>his post is based on the story of Zacchaeus as told by Luke in his gospel (</b></span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b>19:1-10)</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span>For the son of man came to seek out the
lost. </span></span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Who are the lost that Jesus’ seeks? It
is not, what you might suspect, the doomed or damned. Rather it is the literal
meaning of the word – something or someone is out of place, and when it is
found we return it to the rightful place. Restoring the lost to their proper
place is the point of the gospel message.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span>Luke recalls the story of Zacchaeus to
help us understand how easy it is to believe you are in the rightful place,
when you are actually lost. </span></span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Let me explain what I mean by
identifying who Zacchaeus is.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">Zacchaeus, first of all was a resident
of Jericho, one of the wealthiest and most important towns in the Jordan
valley. Jewish people had lived there from the time they emerged from their 40
years in the desert. King Herod built his winter palace in this oasis city. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector
for this city, meaning he was not only wealthy, but had great power and
influence. The Romans trusted him and he had authority over other tax
collectors. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">As a tax collector he would not be well
loved by his fellow citizen, </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">the Jews who lived, worked and try to
thrive under roman dominance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other
words, he was lonely. The only friends he would have were those who were his
fellow tax collectors, which he supervised. Hard to find true friends with
those under your management. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #010000;">Zacchaeus
believed wealth, power and status was his
rightful place. The gospel doesn’t state why Zacchaeus decided to see
Jesus, but his choice to do so suggests it was more than curiosity. </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Perhaps, he had
a sense the life he was living was not fulfilling. After all Jesus apparently
was speaking about a kingdom. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">Because he was short, he climbed a tree
to have a better view of Jesus. But it is also likely he climbed this tree to avoid
the crowd that would have given him more elbows
and shoves then the whole season a player would experience in the NHL.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">And, of course, he climbed the tree,
because here it is a safe place to see Jesus. He doesn’t have to directly
encounter him. It is a good and safe place to see this Jesus of Nazareth, who everyone
is championing. He wanted to know him, but with his conditions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">So this lonely and despised man</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">, runs ahead of
the crowd, climbs a tree and waits. Jesus arrives. Jesus doesn’t pass by. He looks up and calls Zachaeus, “<i><span style="background: white; color: #010000;">hurry and come down; for I must stay at
your house today.</span></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #010000;">’ </span></i><span style="background: white; color: #010000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #010000;">Notice Jesus
invited himself to </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Zacchaeus<span style="background: white; color: #010000;">’
home.</span></span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #010000;"> A pretty bold invitation, since most people
don’t invite you for dinner, then add, “oh by the way, it is at your house.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #010000;">This presumptuous
invitation by Jesus</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #010000;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reminds
me of the story </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">of
a party where a host was worried about <span style="background: white; color: black;">too many people and not enough refreshments.</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 14.15pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 14.15pt;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">T<span style="background: white; color: black;">he hostess was sure that not all of these
people had been invited but didn’t know how to tell which ones were the
crashers. Then her husband got an idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 14.15pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 14.15pt;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He turned to the crowd of guests and said: “Will those who are
from the brides side of the family stand up please?” About twenty people stood.
Then he asked: “Will those who are from the groom side of the family stand up
as well?” about twenty five people stood up. Then He smiled and said: “Will all
those who stood up please leave, this is a birthday party”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">Zacchaeus, however, didn’t mind Jesus
inviting himself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a despised
tax-collector he wouldn’t feel comfortable meeting Jesus in a local Tim
Horton’s or some other coffee shop. He would feel comfortable meeting Jesus in
the safety of his home, free from those who despised him and in an environment
he could control. It is this knowledge that moved him from his place of safety,
to come down and meet Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Notice how the gospel language changes</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">. The critics on
the sideline now say, <span style="background: white; color: #010000;">Jesus has
gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner, indicating<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zacchaeus has gone </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from a person ‘wanting to see Jesus’ to one
who wanted to host Jesus. Everything changed. Instead of seeking wealth and
status, he now found true joy by sharing his wealth and even repaying those he
cheated. He was restored to his true identity, <span style="background: white; color: #010000;">a son of Abraham. He was lost, and now he has been
found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All it took was meeting with
Jesus in a place in which he felt comfortable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #010000;">We have all experienced times when we feel lost or our life
is out of synch</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #010000;"> or the joy we once had is missing. In times
like this remember, </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">all
we need to do is look to see Jesus. He is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>always ready to invite himself into our life
story. He knows, meeting a person where they are comfortable will help them
discover their rightful place.<span style="background: white; color: #010000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">And for others</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">, Jesus never
worries if uninvited guests choose to crash his party. Anyone who wishes to be
nourished by what he has to offer, he is happy to include. He is happy to let
them know, they are in the right place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">After all,</span></span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;"> the son of
man came to seek out the lost.</span><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-61627388284077993772022-09-15T09:00:00.008-04:002022-09-15T09:00:53.160-04:00Faithful in little things <p> </p><h3 style="line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>This post is based on the gospel passage: Luke 16.1-13</b></span></h3><div style="background: white; line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In Luke’s gospel,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus concludes his story of the
dishonest manager and rich man by saying “<i>And I tell you, make friends for
yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may
welcome you into the eternal homes.</i>”</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Really! Is
Jesus inviting us to be shrewd in a dishonest way as this manager was? </span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No! Rather,
he is using this parable, and this one, line to get our attention. He wants us
to stop and reread that line again, and ask: Really. You want me to be
dishonest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we read this in
context, along side the preceding sentence: “The children of this age are more
shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light”,
then we understand his lesson, which is the need to give as much attention to
the things which concern our souls as we do with things that concern our
business, then we would be true disciples of Jesus.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In other words, as Jesus himself said in this same
parable: “<i>Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and
whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much</i>.” </span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We will do well – if we get the little things right<b>.
</b>An example of what I mean is found in this story that originally appeared
in the New York Times many decades ago.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /> </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One stormy night many years ago an elderly couple
entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a room. The clerk explained
that because there were three conventions in town, the hotel was filled. He
added, "But I can't send a nice couple like you out in the rain at 1
o'clock in the morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would you be
willing to sleep in my room?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
couple hesitated, but the clerk insisted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The next morning when the man paid his bill, he told the clerk,
"You're the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in
the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe someday I'll
build one for you."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clerk
smiled, amused by the older man's "little joke." A few years
passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then one day the clerk received
a letter from the elderly man recalling that stormy night and asking him to
come to New York for a visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
round-trip ticket was enclosed. When the clerk arrived, his host took him to
the corner of 5th Avenue and 34th Street, where a grand new building
stood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"That," explained the
elderly man, "is the hotel I have just built for you to manage."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"You must be joking," the clerk
said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"I most assuredly am
not," came the reply. "Who--who are you?" stammered the
clerk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man answered, "My name
is William Waldorf Astor."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
hotel was the original Waldorf-Astoria, one of the most magnificent hotels in
New York.<br /> </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
young clerk who became its first manager was George C. Boldt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His act of charity transformed his life. An
act of charity that would change the hotel industry of the time. His belief,
along with his wife’s support, as a manager of the </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Waldorf Astoria they set out to make sure that the visitors
were treated like kings and queens. Louise painted the rooms and gave guests
the most exquisite flowers, candles, and even pincushions while he oversaw the
hotel’s commercial operations. They did little things with great love.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /> <o:p></o:p></span><b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We have two stories</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. <u>Both did little things with
great effect.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the dishonest
manager shrewdness is an example for Christians to quit squandering the gifts
God has given us to use to build up the kingdom of God, only the hotel manager
meets Jesus’ standard of what it means to be his disciple.<br /> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The standard Jesus judges true disciples is found in the last
judgement scene. After Jesus describes how they either responded to his needs
or ignored them, they asked: </span><span style="background: white; color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Lord, when was it that we saw you
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take
care of you?” Then Jesus answered them, “<i>Truly I tell you, just as you
did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me</i>.”</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This concluding line of the Last Judgment scene is often
overlooked. But it is this </span><span style="background: white; color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">line that sums up the whole gospel
message and describes what is meant by Jesus’ claim that those who are “</span><i><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">faithful in a very little is faithful also in much.</span></i><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">”<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #010000; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A classic example of someone who was faithful in doing little
things and has been declared a saint by the Church is Mother Teresa. What I
mean is summed up in the words the future Pope Francis spoke in a homily given
to thousands of children in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; letter-spacing: .4pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Buenos Aires. He
asked the children gathered: “Who told us that we can find Jesus in those most
in need?” “Mother Teresa!” they replied. “And what did Mother Teresa have in
her arms? A crucifix? No—a child in need,” he taught them. “So we can find
Jesus in each person who is in need.”</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 109%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; letter-spacing: .4pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; letter-spacing: .4pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And as Mother
Teresa would say: “</span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Be faithful in small things because it is in them
that your strength lies. L<span style="background: white;">et no one ever come to
you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's
kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your
smile.”</span></span></div>
Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-43481976858982608592022-08-06T15:04:00.004-04:002022-09-02T14:16:16.314-04:00Dressed for action and keep our lamps lit<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">This commentary is i<b><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 13.8px;">nspired by the readings taken from 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time for Year C, especailly the gospel. The readings are as follows: </span></b><b><span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif" style="color: #6a6c6e; line-height: 15.3333px; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalms 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; Luke 12:32-48</span></b></span></p><h4 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">On Saturday, July 31, 2022 , Fr Shea announced my
coming out of retirement to assist occasionally with homilies, he compared me
to Guy La Fleur, who came out of retirement from Montreal to play with New York
and later Quebec Nordiques. Fr Shea added, he was still pretty good.</span></span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Well I hope I am still pretty good.</span></span></p></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Thinking
about Guy La Fleur reminded me of what Wayne Gretzky said about him: In his memoirs,
he explained that <i><span style="background: white; color: #202122;">Lafleur
"was quicker and faster without wearing full shoulder pads" <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">You see LaFleur came dressed for action, perhaps not
with the equipment the world suggested but rather what gave him confidence to
play the best game. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Now you might wonder, what a commentary on a hockey
player has anything to with the gospel today, but it does. You see the image of
Guy LaFleur and his choice of equipment nicely illustrates Jesus’ instruction in
the gospel today, when he says:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>”<i>Dress
for action and keep our lamps lit</i>.” In other words, Jesus wants us to be
ready to play our best game. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Jesus’ request that we dress for action has little
to do with the gear or clothing we wear; it is about our faith, and the lamps
we carry is our witness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">Now you might think, how do I wear faith; isn’t it
the same as giving witness? Not quite. One explanation of how we wear faith is
found in the recent homily <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pope Francis gave
to the youth in Iqaluit (ih-kah-loo-it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here he used a lamp the Innuit people light in the dark winter months.
It is called qulliq (ko</span><span style="line-height: 107%;">͞</span><span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">o′lēk′),
which is made from a hollowing a stone to burn blubber to generate both light
and heat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">For Pope Francis the stone represents our physical
and spiritual self. The hollow is the space we carved out <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to make room for God, displacing our
egocentric desires and wants. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">By making room for Jesus, we are dressed for action.
As the second reading, taken from the Letter to the Hebrews, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>tells us then we will have the confidence
to play our best game, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>since now we are
convinced, we are assured, that things we hope for will turn out.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">In the same way Guy LaFleur’s speed and scoring
ability would never have been realized if he remained on the bench, our faith produces
very little unless we express it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">We often forget that after Jesus identified himself
as the light of the world, he then turned and told his disciples: “You are the
light of the world” (Mt 5:14).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">These words of Jesus are not a compliment but a
reminder that receiving the light of Christ is not just a gift intended to
dispel our darkness, rather it is intended to be shared. Faith is more than a
formula we memorize, or a set of rules we follow, it is intended to be lived by
becoming a light for the world as Jesus did for us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Pope Francis explained to the youth in
Iqaluit., “Our lives are intended to be a perennial testimony to the life that
never ends, a light that shines and that no one has been able to extinguish.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">We know if we have made a place for Jesus, if we are
dressed for action, when we live each day in the manner Pope Francis told the
youth by being a light that brightens the darkness of others. He said: “<i>Each
day you are called to bring new light into the world, the light of your eyes,
the light of your smile, the light of the goodness that you and you alone can
bring.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Guy LaFleur came dressed for action by discarding
what weighed him down. We are dressed for action when we leave room for God in
our lives, so we can play our best game by <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sharing the light of Christ with others.</span><o:p style="font-size: 14pt;"></o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-1327458610255998712022-04-13T09:37:00.002-04:002022-04-13T09:37:51.360-04:00PALM SUNDAY <p> <span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Palm Sunday has always had two gospels.</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> The first, as we did earlier, always occurred before we commenced our Eucharistic celebration. In fact, before Vatican II the celebrant and deacon wore a different vestment before the Palm Sunday Mass would begin. This portion of the liturgy, as we did today, always began with a blessing of Palms, followed by the gospel which recalls Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, and then a procession. No different today, except the red vestments I am wearing, would be removed and replaced with the Lenten purple, since that colour is more fitting to read the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">What the Church is illustrating are two ideas of glory</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">. The glory of a king coming into Jerusalem, as many were happy to cheer. And the glory of the cross of Christ, that some believe is foolish and others see as the very power of God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Needless to say, many people still warn one another when it comes to Palm Sunday, be prepared to be at Mass longer. The gospel is so long.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 14.15pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">An example is captured in this story of two brothers. Unlike today, we were never lucky enough to have Covid (if this is considered luck) which would shorten the gospel and how long we were at Mass.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 14.15pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Apparently the younger brother, five-year old Marty, said he had a sore throat and so stayed home with his Aunt Earla who would go to Mass later. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 14.15pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anyway, when the family returned home, everyone was carrying palm fronds. Marty immediately asked: “What and why everyone had them.” His dad explained, “People held these palms over Jesus' head as he walked by.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 14.15pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Marty quickly replied: 'Wouldn't you just know it?' The one Sunday I don't go to Mass Jesus shows up.'<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Funny story but with an important lesson.</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> We are a little like Marty, we wish to skip the hard lessons, but still hope for a divine experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">But this Palm Sunday liturgy is intended to help us walk with Jesus</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> during holy week. It is given to us to consider who we are when we celebrate Good Friday”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Are we the <b>palm waivers?</b> Happy to cheer for a Jesus that represents our idea of a Messiah, someone coming like an earthly king, or do we choose to walk with Jesus, never abandon him when our faith is tested?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Are we happy to stand and watch</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> – as Luke reports the people did watching Jesus being crucified, or can we stand in solidarity with Jesus as we will hear on Good Friday, when Mary and John stood at the cross?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">As a way to help us consider who we are in the passion story</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> is to take time during holy week to gaze at the crucified Jesus. Doing this during Holy Week is an <u>ancient practice,</u> going back to the very beginning of Christianity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">These early Christians knew the story of Moses</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">, as recorded in the book of Numbers, where God asked him to create a bronze image of a poisonous snake. This image was an antidote for all those Israelites who had been bitten by a snake were likely to die. If they gazed upon this image, they would live. As Saint Paul taught, for some the cross is foolishness and for others, it is a source of new life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">There are many ways to gaze</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> upon the crucified Christ…we can look at an actual crucifix, or artwork…stations of the<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Keeping that in mind, as we gaze upon the cross this week,…</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> gaze upon the one who emptied himself in love for us—gaze upon the one who refused the lure of political power…refused the opportunity to lash out in revenge, but asked for forgiveness for his persecutors instead.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Gaze upon the cross in gratitude that Jesus died for us,</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> but more importantly, and often overlooked, Jesus’ suffering, death on the cross is a reminder that God stands in solidarity with all our suffering and pain.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-15668752925128936152022-01-24T16:37:00.006-05:002022-01-24T16:37:56.689-05:00 A Farewell Sermomily<p> </p><h4 style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> <b>On January 23, 2022, the Third Sunday of Ordonatey time, </b></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> I said good bye and farewell to my parish Blessed Sacrament and Saint Linus. Homily. </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The readings for that day were taken from the Sunday </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Lectionary 69 - Nehemiah
8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 or 12:12-14, 27; Luke
1:1-4; 4:14-21</span></b></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">When it comes to preaching on the day of your retirement, what should you
say? Should it be a homily or a sermon? Since a homily is a commentary
that follows a scripture reading, it would seem my first responsibility is to </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">break open
the word of God so you might find something meaningful in scripture. But if a
sermon is about sharing information, wouldn’t that make it a better format to
say farewell. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since this is a no-win
situation, I chose both, making this talk a </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">sermonily.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"> 1/2 homily
and 1/2 sermon. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">The one experience I hope to
avoid is what happened to another minister who said farewell. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.15pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">in another
parish and another diocese, a deacon, who had just given his farewell homily at
Mass, was greeting people as they exited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One elderly lady approached him as she walked out, and said:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Your successor won't be as good as
you." "Nonsense", the deacon replied, in a flattered tone.
"No, really", said the lady, "I've been here under five
different ministers, and each new one has been worse than the last.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Hopefully, when all is said and
done, I am remembered as a companion who was fortunate enough to walk with each
of you as a member of the Body of Christ, sharing our common journey of faith, each
using our own gifts and abilities to help with completing Christ’s ministry on
earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">And that ministry that we share is
defined by Jesus when he stood up in his home synagogue in Nazareth and said I
have been anointed to bring good news to all those in need. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Way back in
September when this date was chosen for my retirement, I had no idea that my
final homily would be based on the same gospel passage that was read at my ordination
twenty-seven years ago. It was quite a surprise to discover that the gospel passage
that began my ministry as a deacon would also be the final one I would read. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">In my 27
years of ministry I have tried to follow these words of Jesus, that call us to
bring the good news to all those in need. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Over these
years I have served at three parishes, beginning with St. Gregory the Great in
Picton, followed by St. Mary’s Cathedral here in Kingston and my final
episcopal appointment, Blessed Sacrament Parish in Amherstivew and St. Linus in
Bath. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">My ministry has included serving
as Director of Deacons, the Archbishop’s Delegate, Director of Pastoral Care at
Hotel Dieu, but it was my service within the parish that has been the most
meaningful for me, especially here at Blessed Sacrament / St Linus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">And all of this could never have
been done without the support of my wife, Ellen, and family, who shared our
fifty-four years of marriage with the Church. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">My journey
to ordination, which started over thirty years ago, didn’t begin with my choice
to apply to the Formation Program of studies. It began years before. I had doubts.
I was wondering whether I could pick up my cross and follow Jesus. I wondered whether
the cost of serving as a deacon was too much. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Then I read
the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians that spoke about the body of Christ.
Again, another surprise for me, it happens to be our second reading for today.
It is this passage that helped me say “Yes” to God’s invitation. Saint Paul
helped me understand that the high demands that come with ordination should not
intimidate one. Jesus who calls us to follow him will not only walk with us every
step of the way but will also give us many companions to accompany us. As a member
of the body of Christ we are never alone. Together, each of us with our unique
role, complete Christ’s mission on earth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">This idea is
really illustrated whenever we gather as a faith community for Mass. In
addition, to the members who clean and prepare the church for Mass, who wash
the linens, who look after changing the altar cloths and ensuring seasonal
decorations are in place, we have all those who minister at Mass. Father Shea
as the presider, the deacon as his assistant, the altar servers, the readers,
communion ministers, those who provide the music, as well as the greeters,
ushers and most importantly all of us who participate in the Mass by our
presence, our responses to the prayers, offering the sign of peace to one
another, our sharing in the Eucharist and with the peace of Christ leave Mass
to bring the good news of Christ to all we meet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">It has been
a privilege to have been one member of the body of Christ serving with this
community at Blessed Sacrament / Saint Linus. Unlike the deacon who thought for
a moment he was number one, I hope that my service complemented the service
each of you continue to make as individual member as the body of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Today is my
farewell as a deacon who assists at Mass, but not goodbye to the parish, since
in the future I will be able to sit with Ellen in the pew and celebrate Mass
with her at my side. As most clergy who retire, there will be times when I will
help out as needed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">I have only
one worry when I retire, <i>I heard </i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">that the
trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off. – (Abe Lemons)</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-83232093680004111122022-01-10T09:12:00.003-05:002022-01-10T09:12:56.376-05:00A Reflection on the Baptism of the Lord<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>A Reflection on the Baptism of the Lord </b></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>This comentary i</b></span><b style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">s based on the following readings found in the Lectionary for this feast day celebrated in Year C.: Isaiah</span><span lang="EN-US">: 40:1-5, 9-11</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">; Ps. </span><span lang="EN-US">1b-2, 3-4, 24-25,
27-30</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">;
</span><span lang="EN-US">Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">; </span><span lang="EN-US">Luke 3:15-16, 21-22</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Each year the Christian Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord. An
incident in the life of Jesus that might leave us asking: Why did the son of
God need to be baptized?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">A very good question. Scholars point out three
different reasons for Jesus doing what even John the Baptist apparently
objected to when he said: Whom am I to baptize you? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">The first reason proposed for Jesus Baptism is that
it allowed Jesus to take advantage of the religious fervor John the Baptist
created with his preaching and ministry in Galilee. This makes sense. People
are naturally attracted to popular movements, and this would give Jesus an
opportunity to build his ministry on that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">The second reason is solidarity. This would allow
Jesus to be seen standing in solidarity with his fellow Jews who were flocking
to be baptized by John and also all future generations to be baptized. This
understanding is comforting. People are naturally attracted to movements where
the leader stands in solidarity with them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">The final reason is found in the first reading.
Here the prophet Isaiah describes the Messiah as a servant. This too makes
sense but in a different way. Instead of connecting Jesus’ baptism to a popular
movement or a sense of solidarity it is identifying the Messiah on the basis of
what he does, and how he acts, not on who he is seen with. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">It is for this reason that the first public act of
Jesus is to submit himself to the baptism of John. Here Jesus doesn’t present
himself as Lord and Teacher to John, but rather kneels before John and is
washed with the waters of the Jordan. By this humble act Jesus’ launches his
public ministry by setting an example for us to follow, come as a servant. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Now fast forward three years later. Jesus’ last
lesson he teaches his disciples before he is arrested and crucified, is to go
on his knees once again and this time wash the feet of his disciples. When he is
done he says: “<i>If I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also
ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also
should do as I have done to you</i>.” (John 13: 14-15)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">In other words, Jesus came to be baptized not to
begin a popular movement but rather to make a public statement that he came to
serve nor be served. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">For us, then, this means through baptism we have
not just joined a church, but rather joined a movement, not based on popularity
but on service. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Yes our baptism wipes away original sin, but as the
baptismal ritual teaches us it also incorporates us into the royal family of
Jesus, as priest, prophet and king; through baptism we become members of the
body of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Jesus’ witnesses reminds us baptism is a gift, not
so we can Lord it over others or claim special privileges, but rather to
continue Jesus physical servanthood ministry here on earth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Two years ago in a homily Pope Francis gave to a
group of pilgrims who brought their children to him for baptism, he said: </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #414042; font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #414042; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Christ's humble act at
his baptism reveals the authentic identity of those who claim discipleship
through baptism:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #414042; font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #414042; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">How many — it's sad to say — of the
Lord's disciples show off about being disciples of the Lord. A person who shows
off isn't a good disciple. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #414042; font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #414042; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">A good disciple is humble, meek, one
who does good without letting himself or herself be seen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #414042; font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #414042; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">The Christian calling is to follow along the path of humility
and meekness rather than strutting about and being a show-off. </span><span style="color: #414042; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="color: #414042; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">We
recall the Lord’s Baptism each time we remember our Lord and Teacher, as one
who came to serve, not to be served. We celebrate the Lord’s Baptism when we turn
a memory into an action, by the way we live our life through service.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 14.15pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif;">Baptism is
sometimes better explained by children. For example, at a baptism of a new
baby, after the priest poured water over the infant’s head the five year old
daughter with a quizzical look on her face, turned to her father and whispered:
Daddy, why is the priest brainwashing our baby?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Perhaps
Jesus hopes through his example, all those who are baptized are brain washed to
believe, they came to serve and not be served. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-84577860355772437782021-12-22T14:00:00.002-05:002021-12-25T07:54:43.361-05:00Christmas is a union with God<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-size: large;">What is Christmas? </span></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Is it about the birth of
Jesus or something more?</span></b></span></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Perhaps a way to unpack the full meaning of
Christmas is to look at it through the lens of a story. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 14.15pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 14.15pt;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">One
Christmas season a parish priest <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>brought
together a number of parishioners to speak about the faithfulness of God. As
the meeting proceeded the priest called on Pasquale, who was about to celebrate
with his wife their fiftieth anniversary of marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The priest invited him to share his secret </span></i><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">how he had managed to stay married to the same woman
all these years</span></i><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 14.15pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 14.15pt;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Pasquale was happy to
oblige. “Wella, I’va tried to treat her nicea, spenda da money on her, but
besta of all is, I tooka her to Italy for the 25th anniversary!<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 14.15pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 14.15pt;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">The priest responded, “</span></i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Pasquale<i>, you are an amazing inspiration to all
the husbands here! Please tell us what you are planning for your 50th
anniversary?” Pasquale proudly replied, ”I gonna go pick her up.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">I do not propose this as a way to achieve a
long lasting marriage. But as you heard, this man remained married for many
years, and likely many more. But he has no relationship with her. Apparently his
secret for a long lasting relationship is to live apart. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">I share this story with you because Christmas
is about a marriage between God and humankind. As we know <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from the very first book of the bible,
Genesis, God wanted to treat us nice, give us the best of all, and invited us
to live with him in the Garden of Eden. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">But when we decided<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we could have more, that we didn’t need God,
we suddenly found ourselves living outside of Eden.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Even though our choice separated us from God, God
continued to love us and looked for ways to bring us home. Our bible is full of
stories how God sought ways to renew our relationship, where once again he
would be our God and we his people. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Sadly, there are also numerous biblical stories
how we took God for granted in good times and then complained in bad times, where
is God? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Despite our attitude, God didn’t give up. And so
God on that first Christmas day chose to close the gap by becoming one of us,
and as John’s gospel declares: <i>The Word became Flesh. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">As you can see from our biblical history we
are all a little like Pasquale, believing the best way to maintain a long
lasting relationship is to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>keep our
partner at a distance. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Like Pasquale, all of us have had various
reasons to keep God at a distance. And none of our reasons for doing so is a
surprise for God. This is why the Gospel of Matthew and Luke both begin with
Jesus’ genealogy; his family tree, where we find a whole range of humanity, not
only God’s faithful but adulterers, murders, rebels, conspirators. Transgressors
of all sorts, both the fearful and the bold. </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: #141414; position: relative; top: -8.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Three of my favourite ancestors of Jesus are
Jacob, Ruth and David. Each of them reflect some of very human attitudes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">For example, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>some of us might feel like Jacob and because we
have wrestled with our idea or faith in God. we are left </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">spiritually wounded. The
good news is that Christ is pleased to be born to all those who are struggling
with life or crippled spiritually. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Perhaps we feel like RUTH, an outsider to the
church. Yet God chose her, a Moabite woman, an outsider and enemy of Israel, to
become the great-great-grandmother of King David. The good news is that Christ
is pleased to welcome those who feel they don’t belong.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Others might feel unworthy like King David. A
man of many accomplishments, but as an adulterer and a murderer, he felt
unworthy. The good news is that Christ always welcomes sinners. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">At times some of us might feel like Azor, Zadok
and Achim, we are part of the family tree of Jesus, but no one knows us. The
good news is that Christ wants to know us and invite us to his family dinner,
the Mass. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">In the genealogy of Jesus we meet many flawed
characters. All of them offered excuses for keeping their distance from God,
yet God saw them as family.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US">And the amazing thing is when God joined the
human family as an infant born in Bethlehem, we became brothers and sisters of
Jesus, the Son of God. Our names are added to his family tree. There is nothing
that can change that. </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">The good news of
Christmas and the reason to celebrate is that there is no separation between
God, creation ad us. When we say, “It is Christmas” we mean that God has spoken
his most </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">beautiful word, and that word,
means “I love you.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-59773971020643227792021-11-13T16:28:00.001-05:002021-11-13T16:28:35.698-05:00Jesus is our GPS System that never fails<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1;">Jesus is our GPS System that never fails</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListBulletCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">This post is based on the readong for the </span></b><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 21.4px;">Thirty-Third Sunday in ordinary Time, Year B: </span></b><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US"> Daniel 1-3; Psalm 16; Hebrews 10:11-14,
18; Mark 13:24-32</span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoListBulletCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: none; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-align: center;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">“In those days after the time of suffering the sun
will be darkened,</span></i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
<i>and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be
falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.</i></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">These
words of Jesus are shocking</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">. This would be a
disaster. No one would want to witness such an event. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Why
does Jesus use this language?</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> Is he
making a prediction of a future event? Is he forewarning us about the impact of
climate change? While all these things may happen at some time in the future, the
disaster Jesus is speaking about is quite <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>different. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">For
his disciples hearing that the sun and moon and stars will no longer function,</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> they would be alarmed because these three celestial
bodies, which form part of our universe, are their navigational tools. They
would be lost without them. Travel on land or sea would be impossible. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">If
Jesus were speaking to us today in a language that would alarm us, he would
say: <i>In those days when the Global Positioning System or GPS is no longer
functioning</i>, <i>because the satellites in the heavens have been
disrupted.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">You
may not think loss of GPS would have any impact, but if this system failed,</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #111111;"> <span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">roads would be clogged with drivers slowing to peer
at signs or stopping to consult maps</span>. Information boards in
airports and train stations would no longer report arrival and departure times.
You may not recall this but in 2016 when one GPS satellite went offline for a fraction
of a second, in parts of Canada and USA radio systems which police, fire </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">and
emergency medical systems rely on stopped functioning. For those impacted they
felt like the universe was collapsing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Our
daily life is often no different.</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> As
Catholics we know as the gospel of John declares, <i>Jesus is the way the truth and the life</i>. This knowledge is
intended to be our navigational tool guiding us in our life journey. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">Despite
this knowledge</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">, however, there are days where our worries,
concerns and problems distract us from Jesus’ guidance system or blocks the
signals God is sending us to guide our way forward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">There
is a wonderful passage in the book of Isaiah</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">
where the prophet states, when you are considering going to the right or
left<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- making a decision – pause and
“listen for his voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’ (Isaiah
30.1) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">When
Jesus concludes his remarks</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> about the sun,
moon and stars failing, he adds, “I will come in
power and glory.” We might overlook this phrase, but what Jesus is saying,
you are connected with me as your guide when you listen to the inner voice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">One of
the best example of what I mean is found in the story Elie Weisel</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> recalls in his book <i>Night</i>. When a child along
with two adults were prepared to be hanged, one prisoner in the concentration camp
shouted out <i>“where is the mercy of God</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After they were hung the whole camp were required to walk by the three
bodies hanging from the scaffold. Weisel wrote: “The two men were no longer alive.
. . But the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>third rope was still moving:
the child was too light, was still breathing . . And so he remained for more
than half an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>. .Before me, I heard
the same man asking: “<i>For God’s sake. Where is God?</i> And from within me, I heard an answer: “Where is He? This is where
– hanging here from this gallows . . .”</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">(Night
p 64)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">The
difference between these two men is that Weisel</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> found hope in the quiet voice that spoke within him. His
situation didn’t change, but he knew he was not alone. Weisel’s faith reflects
what psalm 16 promises: </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">“<i>it is God who shows us the path of life and
gives us the fullness of joy.</i>”</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">It
is for this reason, after Jesus shocks his disciples</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with the
potential loss of their guidance system, he reveals to them a new GPS – God Positioning
System – that is found not in external devices but within. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">His
words,</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> I will come in the clouds, in power and
glory, is a promise that when all seems to be lost, when hope is diminishing, when
grief and worries dominate our thoughts, Jesus is with us. Yes, the clouds will
remain but Jesus is there showing us the way forward. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;">We
will know this</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"> if we take time
to pause and listen to that inner voice of God saying, it is going to be okay
for I am the only one that can navigate you in those times when people wonder,
where is our merciful God? </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-18773404392710186432021-10-30T14:37:00.001-04:002021-10-30T14:38:38.095-04:00Lessons of All Hallows Eve <p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif"> </span></b><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Love of God and do as you please</span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">The following is based on the readings for the Thirty first </span><span style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="line-height: 25.68px;">Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year B, as reproduced in the Lectionary number 152. </span></span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">Deuteronmy 6:2-6; Psalm: 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51;
Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28b-34</span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">Did you know</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;"> tomorrow
night (tonight) the gateway between our world and the spirit world is at its
thinnest. And, yes, we celebrate this as Halloween.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">But our contemporary Halloween has lost the original meaning of this day</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">. All Hallows Eve as it was one known
originated with the religious practices <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of the Celtic people who set aside one day a
year, which they called <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Samhain
(Sah-win) day to honour their ancestors. Rather then explaining their belief here
is one of their traditional prayers they would pray on the eve of Samhain day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 14.15pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Spirits
of my fathers and mothers, I call to you, and welcome you to join me for this
night. You watch over me always, protecting and guiding me, and tonight I thank
you. Your blood runs in my veins, your spirit is in my heart, your memories are
in my soul. With the gift of remembrance. I remember all of you. You are dead
but never forgotten, and you live on within me, and within those who are yet to
come.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">It is a prayer that could have been written by a Christian for All Souls
Day</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">. Perhaps that
is why the fifth century missionaries sent by Pope Gregory the Great,
to evangelize England, Scotland and Ireland found it so easy to adapt the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>religious customs of these non-Christian
people into Christian practices. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">It is a shame that </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">the
supernatural symbolism and rituals of Samhain Day, which were adapted to fit
with our faith in All Saints and All Souls, slowly morphed into Halloween,
becoming spooky fun rather than commemorating all saints. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">At first glance you might wonder what Halloween has to do with the
scripture readings for this Sunday</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">. That is until you consider how the
words of Jesus about love of God and neighbour are the guiding principles
for the saints we commemorate on All Saints Day, November 1. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">Regardless of the saint you choose to read about,</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;"> they are all
motivated by the love of God, which is expressed through one’s love of
neighbour. They believed as Jesus informed the scribe, love of God and
neighbour comes before the laws requiring burnt offerings and sacrifices. In
other words, Saints know the admission price
into heaven is not following the law, but rather loving God which moves us
to love our neighbour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">Let me explain. </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">God
gave the people of Israel the Ten Commandments so they would know how to live
their life in relation to God and their neighbour. Sadly over the centuries the
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jewish religious leadership gradually
created over 600 laws intended as a guide to interpret the Ten Commandments. By
the time of Jesus, the interpretation of the Ten Commandments had become so
complicated they needed lawyers to decipher them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;">So when the scribe asked Jesus what commandment is</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;"> the first <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of all, Jesus simply took the Ten Commandments
and broke them into their natural divisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Love of God and Love of neighbour. Love of God is expressed in the first
three commandments: </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="line-height: 109%;">worship only God, never take God’s name
in vain and keep holy the Sabbath. The love of neighbour is expressed in the
seven commandments that follow, such as, honour our parents, do not kill, or
commit adultery or covet your neighbours goods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="line-height: 109%;">By Jesus highlighting
the internal division</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="line-height: 109%;"> of the Ten Commandments he is illustrating
<i>our first and primary duty is to love God</i>. If you get
this right, you will get the next seven correct. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="line-height: 109%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As Saint Augustine
explained: <i>If you love God, you can do what you please, because when the
soul is trained in love to God, you will do nothing to offend God. </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="line-height: 109%;">The moral of this
gospel story then</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="line-height: 109%;">, if our love is about following a law
to win a place in heaven, then it is no different then the wealthy man<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 11.35pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">who
was very proud of his possessions and took good care of them, never sharing,
always hoarding . One day while driving his BMW M5 G-Power Hurricane, worth
$750,000, and another car collided with his proud possession. The wealthy man
jumped out and started to scream at the other driver, who could only look with
concern for him. Finally when the man started complaining about how his
beautiful car had been damaged the other driver said: But you are missing your
left arm. The rich man said, “oh no I lost my Rolex.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 109%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Without the love of God animating your relationship</span></span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 109%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> with one another, we are no different than
the rich man now missing an arm. Perhaps a great Halloween costume, but not a
ticket into the kingdom. Like the Celts, on “All Hallow’s Eve” we honour
our ancestors in faith, the saints, who have gone before us; we ask them to
protect and guide us; and we give thanks
to all the saints and souls for showing us how to live the gospel life. </span><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-27215556603098262112021-10-17T13:10:00.004-04:002021-10-17T13:10:57.813-04:00It is for those for whom it has been prepared.”<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The scripture readings for this post are taken from the Twenty-Ninth
Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year B - </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Isaiah
53:10-11; Psalm: 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45 or
10:42-45</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This gospel passage has all the elements for a good
novel or movie. Here you have two men seeking to become Jesus’ second in
command in the kingdom of God, and possibly they figured after Jesus returns to
heaven, they would be the head of the family. And, of course, with two brothers
asking to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in the Kingdom, would either
brother actually be happy to share power with the other. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Their greedy ambition makes for a great plot. I am
sure they were disappointed when Jesus said it was not his place to grant who
will have this leadership role, “<i>but it is for those for whom it has been
prepared</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am sure the two brothers wondered who of the twelve
would be the one. Since we know the ending of the book of gospels, we know that
it was Peter who was chosen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus’ choice of Peter is interesting, since Peter
never applied. So, what did Jesus see in Peter? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think the first reason is Peter’s faith. As we know
from the gospels when Jesus called him and his brother Andrew, they followed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later when Jesus’ teaching became difficult
causing many to abandon Jesus, Peter stayed firm with his belief in Jesus saying:</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
‘<i>Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life</i>.” (John
6.68).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This didn’t mean Peter accepted everything Jesus said
in blind faith. He wasn’t afraid to ask Jesus for an explanation when he didn’t
understand. For example, he asked Jesus to explain the parable, how the blind
man leading another blind, will cause them to fall into a pit. (Matthew 15.15)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When Peter found Jesus’
teaching too difficult, such as the time Jesus spoke about his death and
resurrection , he took Jesus aside and rebuked him, saying: <i>God forbid it,
Lord! objected </i></span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This must
never happen to you.’</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> But Jesus
scolded Peter saying: ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me;
for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
(Matthew 16.22-23}</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And while Peter’s faith
was firm, like all of us there were moments of doubt, such as the time he began
to walk on water to meet Jesus, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a sudden
wind caused him to doubt, and as he began to sink, <span style="background: white; color: #010000;">he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached
out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you
doubt?’</span></span><span style="background: white; color: #010000; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
(Matthew 14. 27-29.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are also times when
Peter is too comfortable with his faith. For example, when he is enjoying the experience
of the transfiguration, Peter wants to build shelters and live there with Jesus
and the two prophets. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again Jesus brings
Peter back to reality and even<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>orders
him ‘tell no one about this experience.” (Matthew 17.1-8)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peter’s faith didn’t
prevent him from falling asleep when Jesus invited him along with the two
Zebedee brothers to join him in the garden where Jesus would pray about the cup
of suffering he is about to embrace. Jesus said to them: ‘So, could you not
stay awake with me one hour? Matthew 26.40<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peter’s faith would not
let him abandon Jesus . When Jesus was arrested Peter followed. As he waited in
the courtyard for the outcome of a trial, his fear of arrest led him to deny
knowing Jesus when a servant-girl and other bystanders recognize Jesus as one
of his followers. (Matthew 26.69-73)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Looking at Peter’s
actions and words, we would think he would be the last choice for a leadership
role. Yet Jesus chose him. Why, for two reasons: First, his faith was not
tempered with pride; his genuine humility would never move him to seek the best
seats in Jesus’ kingdom. And as the letter to the Hebrews teach us, Jesus could
sympathize with Peter’s weakness because Jesus embraced our humanity. Secondly,
Peter loved Jesus. That never changed. And as the letter to the Hebrews remind,
in our human weakness we can all approach the throne of <i>grace where we will
find mercy and the grace to help in our time of need. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow",sans-serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like Peter all of us have chosen to follow Jesus.
But at the same time, we have doubts, other times, we ask for explanations of
Church teachings, sometimes we are afraid to confess our faith in Jesus in a
public way, but by our choice to come to Mass proclaims that like Peter, we
responded with ‘yes’ when Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-55868118600934761092021-10-02T11:26:00.004-04:002021-10-02T11:30:43.133-04:00I did it my way or God's?<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><h1 style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This post is based on the readings selected for the Twenty- Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B, especailly the gospel of Mark <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">10: 2-16. </span></h1><h4 style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">The other readings found in the lectionary on that Sunday are as follows: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Genesis 2.7ab,15, 18-24; Psalm 128; Hebrews 2:9-11</span></h4>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 110%;">The gospel reading concludes by saying: The Gospel of the Lord! which can be
translated as some priests and deacons say: The good news of Jesus Christ! So
what is this good news that we should have heard? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 110%;">Simply put, the good news is
that through Jesus Christ the Reign of God has drawn near. But the kingdom that
Jesus is ushering in is neither a political or earthy reality nor an interior
or spiritual realm. It is an invitation to leave the comfort we have with the
status quo and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cooperate in the work begun
by Jesus. As long as we remain comfortable with our opinions and our
interpretation of things, we will never experience the Reign of God that Jesus
inaugurated on earth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 110%;">Here
is a light story that might help us understand how our opinions can make us deaf
to the truth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 8.5pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">An elderly man who was concerned with his
wife’s hearing called the family doctor to make an appointment for her. Since
the appointment wouldn’t take place for two week, the doctor suggested he use a
few simple tests that will help him later to determine the loss of hearing the
man’s wife is experiencing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 8.5pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Here is what the doctor suggested. When you are
home, speak with a normal conversational voice to see if she hears you. Begin
by standing 40 feet from her, if she doesn’t hear you, go to 30 feet, then 20
feet, and so on until she responds to you.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 8.5pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So when he got home, his wife was in the
kitchen, so he stood in the living room about forty feet from her and said:
Honey, what’s for supper? Hearing no reply, he moved to 30 feet, asking again,
Honey, what’s for supper?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, hearing
no reply, he moved to 20 feet, and asked again, Honey, what’s for supper? Still
no response, he moved to 10 feet, and asked again, Honey, what’s for
supper?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hearing no response he went and
stood right behind her and asked: Honey, what’s for supper? She then said: “For
the fifth time, Chicken. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 110%;">I shared this story because it
illustrates what’s going in the gospel today. The Pharisees set out to trap Jesus
with a clever worded question. If he says, yes then he is agreeing to their way
thinking; if he says, no, then he is denying the law of Moses that prescribed a
man could divorce his wife. The Pharisees, like the husband that diagnosed his
wife as deaf, were unable to hear the truth Jesus taught. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jesus answers their question by framing
a question that draws on the teaching of Moses which shaped the Pharisees
opinion about divorce. He asks: What did Moses command you? They said, a man
could write a certificate of dismissal and divorce her? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Having clarified their question, Jesus takes
the opportunity to put Moses’ command into context. He explains that Moses wrote
this command because of the hardness of heart that generation had. These people
needed some form of legalism or prescription to guide them. Then Jesus drew on
the creation story that we heard<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>earlier
and taught them that marriage is sacred, <i>what God has joined together, let
no one separate.</i> Within this teaching about the sanctity of marriage, Jesus
is also rejecting the Pharisees patriarchal thinking that claims only the man
has the right to ask for a divorce; the woman has no rights. By putting Moses’
teaching into context with support of the creation story, Jesus is saying in
the reign of God everyone is equal or as Saint Paul would later write, in the
reign of God <i>t<span style="background: white; color: #010000;">here is no longer
Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and
female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #010000;">.</span> (Galatians 3.28)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jesus not only taught his generation
about the Reign of God, he also lived it. For Jesus knew that firmly held
opinions can prevent us from treating others fairly and equitable. Examples of
how Jesus lived his life are found in various gospel passages. For example, he
did not condemn the woman caught in adultery, but offered her another chance to
a new life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(John 8). He did not avoid the
Samaritan woman, who was considered unclean because she had 5 husbands and now
living with another man; but welcomed her, an experience of hospitality that changed
her into a person who eagerly brought the good news of God’s love and mercy to
her village, which led to their conversion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 1.1pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Reign of God has drawn near. It is
in our midst but are we open to hear it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 11.35pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Consider the story of a
man who was stopped by the police late one night. The officer asked him. “Where
are you going?” The man said:. “I am on my way to a lecture about alcohol abuse
and effects of it on the body, as well as smoking and staying up late.” The
officer said: Really? Who is going to give a lecture at 2:00 a.m. The man
replied: ”That would be my wife.?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 110%;">This man knew the consequences
of his life choices. Like the Pharisees his opinions of his life style made him
deaf to the lecture he would hear when he got home. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 110%;">Jesus came to inaugurate the
reign of God, which all people are invited to dwell. The only admission ticket
required is a willingness to acknowledge we don’t have all the answers, only
Jesus is the truth, the way and the life. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-29683398993567500172021-09-18T12:32:00.004-04:002021-09-18T16:18:06.261-04:00Who is the greatest? - <p> </p><h1 style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">The following comments about greatness are based on the readings for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) especially James 3:16-4:3 and Mark 9:30-37.</span></h1><h1 style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Who is the greatest?</span> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Some, like Mohammad
Ali, claimed they were. Others, like John Paul II, have that title, John Paul
the Great, bestowed on them by their successor.</span></span></h1><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">But for Jesus, as we heard in the gospel, he never
described greatness based on one’s athletic ability or by their
accomplishments, but rather – as Jesus explains to the disciples true greatness
is found when one approaches life as a servant, when one seeks to be last and
when we can come to him with the innocence of a child.</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">So, then, is it correct to say, we achieve
greatness if we chose to sit in the last pew in Church, or to give up our place
in line at the supermarket so another can go ahead of us, or we act more like a
child. While all this is admirable, it does not meet the standard of greatness
that Jesus invites us to seek.</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">A classic example of what I mean occurred when my
family and I had a private audience with Pope John Paul II in 1984. Okay, well
there was another 500,000 people with us at Downsview Park in Toronto. But, for
a few seconds we had a private meeting. You see – and if you happen to have
been there – you might recall the crowds were roped off in sections, with
pathways to allow for movement of people, but also for John Paul II’s 'Pope
Mobile' to enter for Mass and later to interact with the crowd. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">As he was approaching our section the 500 or so
people roped in with my family and I anticipated he was going to pass on our
right, and so as he came near everyone rushed over to the right, pushing and
shoving their way to get close to him. Sadly, my family and I were left
standing alone, behind the crowd. Fearing my children would get hurt, we
remained still. We were now truly in last place, wondering whether we would ever
see the pope up close as he passed by. Then suddenly the Pope Mobile turned to
the left side of the aisle, coming right up beside us. We were so close we
could touch the pope. In our case the last had become the first. Just as we
were standing in awe of being with the pope, we were suddenly swamped with
people rushing over to us.</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">Now neither my family nor I earned the title of
greatness from this incident, but the experience graphically illustrated what
St. James spoke about in the second reading, when he warned how selfish
ambition, in this case competing for first place, will only lead to disorder of
every kind. Whereas the peaceable and gentle, benefit.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">It is interesting on that September day 37 years
ago, John Paul II’s homily was about Mary who saw herself as she said to the
angel, “<i>Here I am the servant the Lord. Let it be done to me according to
your word</i>.”</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">Mary, the mother of Jesus, understood servanthood
as doing God’s will. It has little to do with giving up our place in line, or the
idea of becoming servant is about surrendering control, or even our right to
lead, it is about doing the will of God.</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">When Jesus corrects his disciples, he is seeking to
correct this misunderstanding. He wants them to know that true
greatness begins with humility. It has little to do with what we have
accomplished. It has more to do with our willingness to acknowledge that we are
not perfect. And if we can do that, then we are open to God’s mercy and love
that will empower us to love one’s neighbour. We will be open to God’s grace
and not our pride. </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">Again, a number of years later, John Paul II
preaching on this very same gospel spoke about Mother Teresa as an example of
greatness. He drew on the words that </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 110%;">Mother Teresa wrote 24 years ago this month, not long before she
died. In these words Mother Teresa explained how we can become the greatest.
She wrote: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN" style="font-size: 15pt;">People
are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.<br />
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.<br />
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.<br />
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.<br />
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.<br />
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.</span></i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN" style="font-size: 15pt;">Give
your best anyway.<br />
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.</span></i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN" style="font-size: 15pt;">It
was never between you and them anyway.”</span></i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 15pt;"> </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="font-size: 15pt;">Are you up for this challenge?</span></p>
<h2 style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></h2><h2><br /></h2>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-90140397837945981062021-09-04T15:16:00.002-04:002021-09-05T12:55:27.434-04:00How do we do everything well <p> </p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; text-transform: uppercase;">BASED ON THE READNGS FOR THE <br /></span></b><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; text-transform: uppercase;">TWENTY-THIRD </span></b><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SUNDAY
– ORDINARY TIME (B)</span><o:p style="font-size: 16pt;"></o:p></span></b></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sunday,
September 5, 2021<br /></span></b><b style="text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">Lectionary
# Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm: 146:7, 8-9, 9-10; James
2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37</span></b></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Have you ever read a book by starting with the last few pages? I avoid that but a sister-in-law of mine often did that. I asked
her, why? She said, by knowing the ending, I <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can sit back and enjoy the characters and
overall story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">I don’t
recommend that. But her wisdom does apply to reading the gospels. If you know
the ending then you can enjoy the characters and even know how the gospel
passages read on Sunday apply to our lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">For
example, Mark’s gospel ends by saying: “<i>after Jesus spoke with them, they
went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere</i>.” This means that we are expected
to proclaim the good news everywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">How do
we do that? What does this gospel passage tell us about, how we do that?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">In this
gospel we are told how to deal with those people who will be deaf to the good
news we will preach. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">As we know, Jesus ran into that problem as well,</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;"> Yes, crowds may have followed him for his miracles, but some,
especially the Pharisees and Sadducees did not accept him or believe him. They would
not judge anything he did as being done well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">So for this reason, Jesus decides
to heal this deaf and mute man in a a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>very particular way, hoping that those who are deaf to his word – not just
the man he heals – but all those who witness it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">Instead o</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">f beginning his healing, as he did with past miracles, by speaking
the words, such as he did with the daughter of Jarius, the synagogue leader we
heard about a few Sundays ago where he takes her hand says get up, Jesus begins
this healing in silence?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">In silence he touches the man’s ears
and then puts his saliva on the man’s tongue.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">By communicating through touch, Jesus is doing is using a form of
sign language to communicate with this man who cannot hear. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">Then</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;"> he looks up to
heaven to show all the deaf man and the crowd the source of his power is
from God, and not some clever magic trick. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">And even more importantly, Jesus </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">shares in the limitations of this deaf and mute man, he sighs or groans
in the same manner this deaf and mute person might speak. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Then Jesus speaks, Ephphatha - be open, and the man's ears were opened and his tongue
released. And the crowd was astounded beyond measure and said: “He does
everything well”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Through this healing of the deaf and mute man Jesus’
teaches us three important lessons”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">First</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">, our actions are
more important than words. Our presence is more important than anything we can
say. Just think how important your presence was for those you chose to visit when they were in need. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">Second,</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;"> speak to those we
wish to share the good news with in ways they can hear. Jesus shared in the limitations
of the deaf and mute man. St. James knows many </span>will never hear the good news unless we walk with them. For this reason he challenges us in the second reading when he
ask: “How often have we made distinctions” How often have rejected the people
who do not look like us, act like us?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Making distinctions of who we walk with will only keep many deaf to the word.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">Finally,</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;"> whatever we do
begins with looking to God the source of any power or authority we bring when we
proclaim the good news. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In this way, we too will do all things well and
many we will hear the good news. </span><o:p style="font-size: 15pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-42459633030112479602021-08-21T07:15:00.003-04:002021-08-21T07:15:54.815-04:00Mother Mary comes to me<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As a child I was always
curious about the statue depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary. Dressed in blue and
white, with her arms outstretched as if waiting to embrace us, she stood on top
of a globe with a snake being crushed under her feet. I must admit, my interest
in Mary had little to do with any devotion to her. I was interested in the
snake. Was it like the rattler my brother told me about or was it one of these
garter snakes we often taunted? At the time I had no knowledge that the artist
who originally depicted Mary in this way was giving his interpretation of the
woman who would crush the head of the serpent, the devil, as recorded in the
biblical book, Genesis 3:15. Later I did develop an interest in Mary. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">An interest that much later
would spark my curiosity when I first heard the song, “Let it be”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>began with these words, “When I find myself in
times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom: let it
be.” I immediately thought the Beatles were describing the Blessed Virgin Mary.
For me, she is the one that comes to us in our times of trouble, whispering
words of wisdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I discovered, as
Paul McCartney explained in his biography, that his inspiration for these
lyrics was his mother,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary Mohin
McCartney. Apparently, whenever Paul McCartney was asked about the identity of
Mary in the song, after explaining it was his mother, not Jesus’ mother, he
would add, but people are welcome to interpret it as they wish. Now I am not
about to change this song into another Marian hymn. However, as a person who
believes you can find the sacred in all things, it was natural for me to want
to reflect on the sacred meaning contained in these lyrics, especially since
this weekend, Catholics celebrate the Queenship of Mary on August 22.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now before I share the
insights I gained through my reflection, it is important to address those
skeptics who dismiss Mary as insignificant, and complain how Catholics have
turned Mary into a deity. The thinking here is a lot like that old axion: “Roman
Catholics tend to adore Mary while Protestants and Evangelicals tend to ignore
Mary.” I can understand why some of our Catholic beliefs and titles given to Mary
might lead to this thinking, but from my perspective, neither adoration nor
ignoring her is ideal. Anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus needs to include
Mary in their faith life because she is a model of faith. She is not-God, but
she is the one who said yes to God. This willingness to hear God’s will and do
it would later be used by Jesus to describe those whom he regards as his mother,
brothers, and sisters. (Mark 3: 33-35 and Matthew 12:50). It is for this reason
when I hear the phrase, “let it be” I immediately recall<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary’s words to the angel, “let it be with me
according to your word.’ (Luke 1:38). Her yes makes her the mother of Jesus,
but also makes her a model of faith, a template for all of us to copy. A way of
life to imitate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Again, whenever I hear the song,
“Let it be”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I automatically think of
how Mary, the mother of Jesus, comes to us in times of trouble. These lyrics written
by Paul McCartney echo the long standing tradition in the Catholic Church that declares
in times of difficulty we can ask Mary to intercede on our behalf. A biblical
example of what I mean is found in the wedding at Cana as described by John in
his gospel. At this wedding Mary intervenes on behalf of a couple to let Jesus
know about an impending wine shortage. When Jesus says this is not our concern,
she tells the servants, “do whatever he tells us you.” (John2:5) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice, Mary does not tell Jesus what to do,
she simply draws his attention to a need. In the same way, our <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blessed Mother Mary is with us in our times of
troubles. She is there drawing Jesus’ attention to our needs. She is there
pointing us to Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">If you wish to know the Mother
Mary that comes to me, take some time to ponder the words of a song she
composed: Mary’s song of praise. (Luke 1:46-55). In her words, you meet a young
joy-filled woman giving thanks to God. She identifies herself as a lowly
servant but also acknowledges how future generations will call her blessed, not
because of what she did, but what the Mighty One, God, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has done for her. This is the Mary we are
asked to imitate, not admire. This is the Mary I see in those statues depicting
her crushing the head of a serpent. My attention today is not on the snake but
rather on Mother Mary’s outstretched arms waiting to embrace our every need. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-18826203301607327072021-08-07T11:08:00.003-04:002021-08-07T11:11:07.042-04:00Do you believe in me? <p> </p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="text-align: left;">The following post is based on the readings for the 1</span>9th Sunday of Ordinary Time -Year B, e</span></i></b><i style="font-family: times; text-align: left;"><b><span style="text-align: center;">specially </span>Ephesians 4:30-5:2 and John
6:41-51</b></i></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.</b></span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>”</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Whenever I read that line from today’s gospel, I can’t help but think
about Charlie Brown in one of Charlie Schultz Peanuts’ cartoons. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 14.15pt;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">The cartoon begins with him standing
all alone. Peppermint Patty passes by, and as she does, Charlie calls out to
her, “Believe in me.” But she keeps going. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 14.15pt;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Next Snoopy passes by, and Charlie
calls out, “Believe in me.” But Snoopy keeps going.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 14.15pt;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Next comes Lucy – and the same thing
happens. IN the last frame Charlie is now sitting, all alone; his head in his
hands and he is saying, “I just can’t get people to believe in me.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I wonder if Jesus felt the same way when he
told the religious leaders of the day, “<i>I am the living bread come down from
heaven</i>.” </span><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">They did not believe in Jesus. They couldn’t grasp</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> what Jesus was saying, despite knowing his
miracles, his teaching, his presence; they simply dismissed his declaration as
nonsense. “<i>How can the son of Joseph say he has come down from heaven</i>.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The difficulty they had is that they relied on visible
and tangible evidence. For them only </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">the visible is knowable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But Jesus ignores them and continues
with a catechesis on the incarnation, that he has come down from heaven, he is
the Son of God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">After reasserting who he is, and just
before he speaks about his real presence in the Eucharist, he declares: </span><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal
life.</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">” </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In effect, Jesus is calling out all those who do
not believe</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is for this reason the Church
chose the creed as our profession of faith, not a set of laws. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As Pope Benedict, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>explained in his book, <i>Introduction to
Christianity</i>,</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> belief is
the core foundation of our faith. Unlike Judaism where you express your
faith by following the Law, or the world religions of the time, doing certain
rituals, whether you believe in them or not, is all that matters. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">For Christians, doing is secondary, belief comes
first since</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">it is our belief than enables us to
transcend the visible to see the invisible, to see God, creator of all things
visible and invisible. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yet when Jesus says believe in me,
there are so many of us are like Peppermint Patty, Snoopy and Lucy, and we carry
on doing everything as usual, carefully relying on tangible and concrete ways
of expressing our faith by following the Law and doing certain rituals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">But the Church, places the Creed, at the centre of the Mass</span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">. In the same way Jesus’ statement of
belief is at the centre of the gospel today, the Creed, which we pray at every
Sunday Mass</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> (except during Covid) or
at the beginning of the rosary, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is
placed first to remind us that our faith is more than following the Law or
doing specific rituals. It is about our faith in Jesus Christ, who came down
from heaven as living bread for us. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Our Church Fathers when writing the Creed</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">, they left out the do’s and don’ts, not because
the Law and Rituals are not important but rather as Saint Paul speaks
about in the second reading, those who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit,
those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God, will </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">seek to imitate God, desiring to live
in love, as Christ loves us</span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">; it is
this belief in Christ that will remove. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>all bitterness, fury, anger, shouting,
reviling, and malice. It is our belief <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in Christ that will move us to be kind to and one
another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ</i>.”
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is belief in Jesus, who came down from heaven as living bread, that
we profess each time we say, “Amen” as we
receive him in the Eucharist and the
promise of eternal life. </span><span face="Arial Narrow, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-20900380337554610342021-07-25T14:34:00.001-04:002021-10-17T13:23:03.433-04:00Do you believe in miracles? <p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Do you believe in miracles?</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">My reflection on this question was partly informed by the readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) as published in the Sunday Lectionary: 2 Kings 4:42-44, Psalm 145: 10-11, 15-16,
17-18; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is the
question the readings are asking us today when they recall the story of Elisha
and Jesus who miraculously fed hundreds of people with just a few loaves of bread.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This question
about miracles is addressed by Pope Francis in a homily that he gave earlier
this year when he announced that the fourth Sunday of July would be a
day the World day of Grandparents and the Elderly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In this homily,
he proposed that grandparents are the hope of the future because their wisdom
gained through life experience and their faith that God is with us provides the
foundation for better tomorrows and the possibility of miracles. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pope Francis does
this by identifying the three pillars that shape the way grandparents live
their life and faith. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The first is
dreams. The pope said: “<i>You faced any number of
troubles and yet you were able to pull through. Use your experience to help young
people find hope in their times of trouble and difficulties. Help them dream of
a future where justice, peace and solidarity are realized. Help them dream
dreams where miracles happen</i>.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The second is
memories. As Pope Francis suggested , the memories
grandparents create through the way they give witness to the gospels in their
lifestyle and practice of their faith. It is these memories that can provide
the foundation for young people as they begin their life journey.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">An
illustration of what I believe Pope Francis is saying when he speaks about dreams and memories of our grandparents, is found
in the gospel for today, which illustrates the way a grandparent has learned
how to one <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can respond to the
suffering and needs of a community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The first is the way Jesus disciples respond </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">to Jesus’ request to feed the crowd by proposing a solution, saying: “there is a boy with five barley loaves and two
fish.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then qualifies his solution,
saying: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">“What are these among so many”? In other words, wondering
will this make a difference? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">It is this experience
our grandparents</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"> likely faced when confronted with overwhelming
challenges but identified solutions, in the little they had, even though they
wondered if it would make a difference. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">The other is
the response of the boy</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">. He does not quibble with Jesus,
nor wonder how so little help can feed so many. He simply handed them over to
Jesus. When he did this the miracle occurred: All were fed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Again, the faith
experience of our grandparents</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">, holds the secret of how we are
called to live out our faith – offer our gifts and talents no matter how little
we think they are, and God will create miracles. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">The third pillar
is prayer. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Drawing on the words of Pope Benedict, he
says: “<i>The prayer of the elderly can protect the world, helping it perhaps
more effectively than the frenetic activity of many others</i>.” Then Pope
Francis added: “<i>your intercessions for the world, and for the Church has
great value: it inspires in everyone the serene trust that all will be well</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Today, we can
celebrate this first World day for Grandparents</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"> and Elderly
by recalling their dreams, their memories and their prayers, we know miracles are possible. </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 17.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-75431334045769369932021-07-11T14:38:00.002-04:002022-01-24T16:40:38.143-05:00Preach the Gospel always, if necessary, use words.<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Preach the
Gospel always, if necessary, use words.</span></b></span></h4>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">This post is based on the readings for the fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B as published in the Sunday Lectionary # 104.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-align: left;">
</span><span style="text-align: left;">Amos 7.12-15; Ps. 85.8ab-9, 10-11, 12-13(R.7) Ephesians 1.3-14; Mark
6.7-13.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><b>So
the twelve went out and proclaimed that all should repent. </b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Consider
for a moment if you were asked you to go out and proclaim the good news to all
the people of Kingston so they might repent and believe, how would you respond?
What would you say? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">I
would suspect many of us – and I include myself in those numbers – would
respond the same as Amos did in the first reading when he was asked to go out
and prophesy. He said:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #010000;">‘I am<a><sup><span style="display: none; mso-hide: all;">*</span></sup></a> no prophet, nor a
prophet’s son I am just <a><sup><span style="display: none; mso-hide: all;">*</span></sup></a>a herdsman; who am I to do
this?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Yet the
readings for this Sunday remind us that this responsibility to preach the good
news is part of our baptismal vocation. After all, at our baptism we were consecrated
with sacred chrism and the priest prayed that we would participate in the
priestly and prophetic ministry of Jesus. In other words, being a catholic is
not a membership in some private and exclusive club but one entrusted with the
sole purpose of continuing the healing mission of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I would
suspect that those of you who are willing to say yes to this call to preach the
good news are saying I would be more comfortable doing this if I had a special
commissioning from the Church along with some theological or pastoral training.
Well these things are important but the lack of them does not free us from our
baptismal duty to give witness to our faith. Listen to Jesus’ instructions to
his disciples: “Take nothing for your journey” Jesus is very clear go armed
with only your faith; you will need nothing more. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It is
a daunting task but one that is realistic. An example – one we have all heard
before but worth repeating - of what I mean is illustrated in the life of St.
Francis of Assisi, who having heard this gospel proclaimed immediately gave
away everything he had and went out and lived the gospel message.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A
number of years later a priest, who admired the simplicity of St. Francis, came
to him and said, "Francis, I know you are a great preacher. Would you
teach me how to preach the Gospel?" Francis agreed. They went off to feed
the hungry, to give shelter to the homeless, to take some orphans to a home
that would care for them. At the end of the day Francis and the priest had
cared for over 50 people. The priest said, "Francis, this is all wonderful
work, but when are you going to teach me how to preach the Gospel?"
Francis replied, "We've been preaching the Gospel all day through how we
have lived the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Francis understood
that it was not through a special commissioning or some extraordinary methods
that made him a credible witness to the gospel but rather how he lived it. His
advice to his companion was take nothing for your journey and to “Preach the
Gospel always, if necessary, use words."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This is our call
– and every mass concludes with a dismissal that invites us to proclaim the
good news. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Go in peace glorifying the
Lord with your life” </i>or<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Go
and announce the Gospel of the Lord! </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5233696313685039362.post-40071095411506213052021-06-26T14:35:00.002-04:002021-08-07T11:21:45.915-04:00Why are You Afraid?<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial Narrow",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 20pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Why are You Afraid?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black;"><o:p>Based on the readings for the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, which are </o:p></span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif">Wisdom
1:13-15; 2:23-24; Psalm: 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15;
Mark 5:21-24, 35b-43</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
readings for this weekend tell us that God does not <i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>delight in death of the living because <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we were created for incorruption</i>. And
as the psalm says, even those who have died, God extends a hand to draw them out
of Sheol or the place of death. All of this is graphically illustrated when
Jesus dismisses the crowd who are making a commotion and weeping, and raises a
12 year old girl from the dead. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">To
understand these three readings we must consider them in light of what we have
learned from scripture since Easter</span><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;">, where Jesus himself
was raised from the dead by God, his Father. As Saint Paul would later write. “Where
<i>O death is your sting now</i>?”( 1 Cor. 15.5)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So what have we
heard. What lessons were contained in the scripture
passages we read since Easter? As you will recall, immediately after a
series of gospels confirm Jesus’ resurrection by reporting his appearances
to his disciples, the Church sets aside four Sundays, which invites us to reflect
on some pretty heavy duty theology about Jesus’ identity: Ascension Sunday,
Trinity Sunday, Pentecost, Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If we look beyond
the theology that scholars spend time analyzing,
we see Jesus' essential message to us, which is as follows: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Jesus promised before </span>he ascended back to heaven,
“I will be with you always.” Then he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, which
we all receive in baptism<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and confirmation,
and finally the gift of his incorruptible physical presence that we receive
in the Eucharist. As you can see, Jesus did not
leave us alone to fend for ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since
there is a chance we might overlook this message that Jesus is with us always,
the three Sundays, culminating with today’s scripture passages, give us <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>three practical illustrations to help see how
to live that knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
recent cycle of readings, which began on the Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, recalls the
parable of the mustard seed. Here we can hear the words of Saint Paul who explained
to the people in Corinth, now that you excel in
faith, you must also excel in imitating Jesus, who became poor so that by
his poverty we might be rich. In other words, the faith given to us in baptism will
grow into something exceptional only if we imitate Jesus, who gives himself fully to
us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial Narrow, sans-serif">How we give growth
to the mustard seed is illustrated in the Mark's gospel from the Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time. In this passage Jesus and his disciples are in a boat
and when a windstorm came up threatening their lives, his disciples call on Jesus to
save them. Jesus responds to them by
asking: “</span><i style="color: black; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">Why are you afraid</i><span face="Arial Narrow, sans-serif">?” It i</span><span face="Arial Narrow, sans-serif">s a question that is directed to all future
generations because Jesus wants everyone to know that if I am with you always, there is nothing to fear. An idea that moved Saint Pope
John Paul II to repeat often throughout his pontificate: "Be not afraid for the Lord is with us."</span><span face="Arial Narrow, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then today, when
Jesus’ raises this young girl from death, he
is illustrating how his resurrection is not a single incident in history, but
that God who does not delight in death, will raise up from the dead all who believe
in him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As you can see
when we view these readings in light of Easter
and the scripture passages that follow, we are
told there is never any reason to lose hope or panic. Jesus never does. Jesus
is with us. We may at times think he is asleep, but he is with us through the
rough times and dark passages and even in those days of great loss. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 110%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span face=""Arial Narrow", sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 110%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Knowing Jesus is
with us always is the cornerstone of our faith, but it only excels when we express our faith by choosing
to imitate Jesus by helping others
from our abundance and gifts so that they never have to fear when trouble and
even death threatens them. </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Deacon Bill Gervais, D.Minhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04452459573922497425noreply@blogger.com0