8 Sunday in the Ordinary Time – A

Our hearts are restless because we worry about tomorrow, we fear what might happen or we think that only in some future time we will be happy. Jesus invites us to trust in God, to serve him now. "Only in God is my soul at rest..."

Maybe you heard about a book “Confessions”. In that book a young man from North Africa tells about his search for meaning. At first he sought happiness in the pleasures of drinking, eating and sex. When those things left his soul empty, he began to pursue oriental philosophies. They seemed more sophisticated than the Bible he had listened to as a child. But something about those philosophies did not ring true, so he decided that he spend his life making money - and making a name for himself. At certain point - it was like a divine intervention - he experienced a conversion. He wound up dedicating himself totally to God. The young man's name was Augustine - and after St. Paul he is considered the Church's greatest theologian. St. Augustine summed up his quest for meaning in these words: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

St. Augustine has spoken to Christians through the centuries because we identify with his experience. Our hearts are restless - and nothing in this world can give us enduring peace. Today's Psalm says "Rest in God alone, my soul..." In the Gospel Jesus tells us how to find peace in God.

Jesus lays it on the line. "No man can serve two masters...You cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon means more than simply money. The word comes from a Hebrew root that means "to entrust" - like today we speak about credit, trust funds and bonds. Mammon came to mean "that in which a man places his trust."

Where is your treasure there is your heart.

In today's Gospel Jesus identifies one of the signs of clinging to a false god: worry. A person devoted to an idol becomes consumed with worry. What will happen if I lose the thing that gives my life meaning? I have talked to people who know that alcohol is ruining their lives - but they cannot stand the thought of living without alcohol. It has become a false god. But it is similar with money, with pornography, with any kind of false god, with any kind of addiction.

Jesus invites us to turn from idols and to trust in God. He uses the example of a wild flower. Palestine has a scarlet poppy that blooms in a single day. No ancient ruler, no Hollywood actress could dress so beautifully. If God can do that for an insignificant flower, why do we worry so much?

Regarding freedom from worry a story is told about a German mystic named Tauler.

• "God give you a good day," Tauler said to the beggar.

• - "I thank God, sir, that I never had a bad one." said the beggar, "I thank God that I am never unhappy."

In amazement Tauler asked him what he meant.

• "Well," said the beggar, "when it is fine, I thank God; when it rains, I thank God; when I have plenty, I thank God; when I am hungry, I thank God; and since God's will is my will, and whatever pleases him pleases me, why should I say I am unhappy when I am not?"

Tauler then asked the man, "Who are you?"

• The beggar replied, "I am a king."

• "Where then is your kingdom?" asked Tauler.

• The beggar answered quietly: "In my heart."

The beggar was a king because he had learned how to live in the present moment. The devil is constantly trying to get us to live in the future - either fearing something that might happen or dreaming about a time when everything will be perfect. God wants us to live in present moment. Jesus tells us not worry about tomorrow. For sure, we need to spend some time preparing - that is part of love and it is today's duty. But none of us own tomorrow. The only moment we have is now. Jesus assures us that if we ask for our daily bread, if we try to love the person God has placed in our lives today, well, "tomorrow will take care of itself."

So we are back to St. Augustine. Our hearts are restless because we worry about tomorrow, we fear what might happen or we think that only in some future time we will be happy. Jesus invites us to trust in God, to serve him now. Only in God is my soul at rest.

Jesus is inviting us to place our trust wholly in the Father who created all things. He assures us that he will provide for us even in the most extreme circumstances.

I am sure that each one of us can call to mind difficult situations in life when something unexpected turned up just in the nick of time. Sometimes we just know deep in our hearts that this was not some random accident but the very hand of God protecting us.

I am not counselling anyone to be irresponsible, I am not suggesting that you throw everything away and expect God to come to your rescue. And neither is Jesus. What he is saying is that we should not worry about material possessions or lack of them.

Jesus does not want us to become consumed with material desires or completely tied up in amassing wealth. He is helping us to understand that these are passing things and invites us to place our trust in God.

He is telling us that these preoccupations diminish our stature as human beings.

The right attitudes of the Christian are to be found in the virtues: faith, hope and charity being the highest of those virtues. If we live our lives aiming to achieve perfection in these things then we might not live our lives smoothly, but we certainly will have lived it well.

In other words we can say:

We are unhappy not because have not enough, but because we worry too much, we search for too much.

We are happy not because we have everything we need but because we don’t need everything.

from the page HOMILIES

Thursday Feb 17, 2011

Scripture: Mark 8:27-33

Do you know there is a classic children’s story by Philip Dey. Eastman, Are you My Mother? It has been a favourite story not only for children but also for everyone. It talks about a mother bird while she is away from her nest, the egg in it hatches. The baby bird’s first words are, “Where is my mother?” He jumps out of the nest, falls to the ground and begins looking for his mother. Because he doesn’t know what his mother looks like, he begins by approaching different animals, and asking each of them, “Are you my mother?” He talks to a kitten, a hen, a cow, and a dog, but he cannot find his mother.

The baby bird thinks the red boat in the river or the big plane in the sky might be his mother, but they don’t stop when he calls to them. Finally, he sees a big red steam shovel. The baby bird is so sure the steam shovel is his mother that he eagerly hops into its shovel, only to be terrified when it gives a big snort and starts moving. To the little bird’s surprise, the shovel rises higher and higher and the baby bird is deposited back into his very own nest. Not only that, but he has found his mother, who has just returned from searching for food for him. The mother bird asks her baby: “Do you know who I am?”

The baby answer:

“Yes, I know who you are,

You are not a kitten.
You are not a hen.
You are not a dog.
You are not a cow.
You are not a boat
or a plane, or a Snort!
You are a bird, and you are my mother.”

Listen to the Gospel today; we also have to ask ourselves: “Who is Jesus for us?” The answer is easy or difficult that depends on us. If we see Jesus as a great man, the answer will be the same with the Jews long time ago. This is a vital answer to all of us. If we have a correct answer, we dare to follow Jesus, and if we have a wrong answer, Jesus will stay in the margin of our life only. Jesus today is also testing us personally with the same question: Who do you say that I am?

What did we do and what are we doing to show we are following Jesus, the Son of Man that God the Father sent Him to the world?

Lord Jesus, we profess and believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are our Lord and our Saviour. Make our faith strong and help us to live in the victory of the cross by rejecting sin and by accepting your will. Amen

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle “A”

Have you ever heard the verse “Judge not lest you be judged?” Do you think that this verse is telling us that we should not ever judge our neighbour? This comes from Matthew chapter 7 verse 1.

If we were to isolate that verse it would seem to tell us that we should not judge our neighbour at all. But if we go on and read the whole passage we see that that is not what God is saying at all. In fact what God is telling us is that we must judge our neighbour when we see him in sin but when we do so we must do so fairly and with love. We must judge our neighbour and correct him with Christian charity. Matthew goes on to tell us in Chapter 7 verses 2-5 “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged [that is to say that if we judge with an evil heart or dark intent, God’s judgment of us will reflect that; however, if we judge fairly with honesty and justice with the intent to correct erroneous behaviour as we are obliged to do, God’s judgment of us will reflect that, too.

Matthew goes on to warn us against pointing out the sins of others while we ourselves are in greater sin because this then makes us hypocrites. Jesus gave this message while He was talking to the multitudes warning them not to become like the Pharisees and other hypocrites who thought they were above sin. Look at John 7:24. There, Jesus tells us to judge, but to do so righteously. Righteously means to use the Truth of His Word to discern sins and not to judge by appearances only. In fact, in 1Cor. 6:2-3 Jesus compels us to judge. We must judge otherwise we could not tell good from bad, proper from improper, righteousness from evil.

But how are we to judge? That is the key. How are we to judge? We are to judge behaviour, not the individual; the deed not the doer; the choice not the chooser. The individual, the chooser, is accountable for his/her /choice, but we are to fairly judge the deed/choice that the individual has made when we make our judgment. So while we must judge one's behaviour we must also try to nurture the goodness in an individual: we have to be like Jesus and separate the deed from the doer. And to continue, Matt 7:6 says. "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces."

Tell me… How are we going to know as undesirable the behaviours of "dogs" and "swine" if we do not judge? Yes, we do have the right and the authority to judge the behaviour of others as long as we honour and obey God’s Word and in fact we are obliged to do so. Now, we know that Jesus is the only one who will judge whether or not someone is or is not saved. Neither you nor I nor anyone else has the authority to say whether another person will be saved. The Church has never condemned anyone by name to hell. Only Jesus can make that judgment since only He can give Salvation.

Jesus did not say “Judge not - lest you be judged” in order to prevent us from correcting others. In fact just the opposite is true. We are required, no, obliged to correct others. In the book of the prophet Ezekiel chapter 33: 8: God says “ If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way (and tell me. how can we do this if we do not judge his way to be wicked?) that wicked person shall die in his iniquity (in other words he shall be condemned) but God says, his blood I will require at your hand.” In other words if we see our brother living in sin and we say or do nothing, we shall be held responsible for his condemnation. If we see some evil going on and we say nothing then we shall be held liable for that evil.

We are our brother’s keeper. However, when we correct others we need to ensure that our sin is not greater than the one we are trying to correct. A couple of weeks ago we were reminded that we have free will and that we can choose to repent, to turn away from our sin and to follow God or we can choose to remain in sin and stay on the path to condemnation.

That same invitation to freely choose to follow Christ is repeated this week when we listened to the first reading - a proclamation from the book of Sirach: “If you choose, you can keep the command­ments, and they will save you. If you trust in God, you too, shall live. And to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. The Lord, has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose. Before each person are life and death, good and Evil and whichever one chooses, that shall be given. For great is the wisdom of the Lord; He is mighty in power and sees everything; His eyes are on those who fear Him, and He knows every human action. He has not commanded anyone to be wicked, and He bas not given anyone permission to sin.”

How can we in our day apply these words? What are the great public sins of our day? First of all there is contraception. The word contraception means against life. There are those who would try to tell you otherwise but for 2000 years the church in her doctrine has always taught that contraception is an evil which must not be practiced. The use of contraception was always wrong and will always be wrong. Many Christians who disagree and contracept will still have to answer to God for their failure to follow the truth.

Abortion – this is one of the great evils of today – the killing of millions of innocent human beings and it stems from the first evil – contraception.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide – two other great evils that stem from the over-population myth. Overpopulation is a myth – did you know that you could gather every person who is alive today on the face of the earth and put them all into the Sate of Texas and each person would have 1/3 of an acre. We couldn’t even touch hands. Euthanasia and assisted suicide. It is quite conceivable that given the mind-set of our present government – it is possible that in the very near future both of these evils will end up with no restrictions on them either.

All of these evils we must speak out against. We are obliged to if we wish to inherit the kingdom of Heaven. In today’s Gospel Jesus said to His disciples “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill it.” In doing this Jesus is drawing our attention to the spirit behind the law. He emphasizes that until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Jesus warns us that whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the least in the kingdom. But whoever obeys them and teaches them, will be called great in the Kingdom of God. Jesus goes on to warn us further that we must avoid the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees who accurately taught and interpreted the law, but did not live by that law in their own lives. They were hypocrites. They demanded strict observance of the law by others while keeping the law only in appearance themselves. By keeping the letter of the law the scribes and Pharisees felt that God owed them salvation. However, Jesus says that such persons will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

In today’s world Jesus would say that we have to be careful and observe all the commandments; however we too must not be hypocrites. For example, there are those who observe the law to attend Mass on Sunday because it is their obligation to do so but on the other hand are far away from God during the week. Like the scribes and Pharisees those people will also never inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Why? Because they worship God for appearance only and not with the hearts.

Jesus said we must be the Salt of the earth and the light to the world. We must set the good example for others and not sit back and let others do the work of promoting the kingdom of God. Make no mistake, no matter what anyone else tells you, we will be held liable if we do not speak out to correct our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the truth. As Christians we must speak the truth in a firm but charitable manner. Two things I want to clarify about abortion because it seems that not all of us know the truth about this evil.

The first thing is that it is true that abortions are extremely costly to our already over strained health care system. That’s right. The government won’t pay for your new teeth or your eyeglasses or even for a much needed hearing aid – but it is absolutely true that your tax dollars are being used to kill babies. Your tax dollars are used to fund abortions in Canada. All of this at a time when tax dollars for health purposes are at a premium. Just think of how many millions of our tax dollars are being used to cruelly snuff out innocent lives instead of saving lives? And all of this done in my name and in your name. My and your tax dollars pay for every abortion that is committed in Canada. We both are paying for this evil - so please don’t anyone try to tell me that we don’t have the blood of innocents on our hands. We may think that we are able to wash this innocent blood off of our hands but I’m sure it is still visible to Almighty God.

Secondly, Canada is the only western so called civilized country in which there is no legal restrictions against abortion. That’s right; there is no law whatsoever restricting abortion. Not even partial birth abortion. Partial birth abortion is where the baby is partially being born but not quite born as the abortionist kills it. I will spare you the gruesome details as to how this takes place but suffice it to say that you can legally have an abortion in Canada right up to and during the birth of the baby.

Only in Canada can you get away with this type of legal murder. Can you imagine what we would do to the person who was this cruel to an animal? I had the opportunity to hold my grandchild recently just after he was born and it broke my heart to think of those little babies who wouldn’t make it that day. And all this is perfectly legal in our beloved Canada. That’s right. In Canada there is no law restricting abortions even partial birth abortions. That went away with Pierre Elliot Trudeau. And our present Prime Minister Stephen Harper is on the record as saying he won’t even discuss abortion let alone allow any laws restricting it.

In Germany right after the Second World War there were those who pled innocent saying that they didn’t know that millions were being sent to the gas chambers. They said they would have done something had they known. We won’t be able to use that excuse when we come before Almighty God, will we? If we didn’t know this before, we know it now and the big question is what are we going to do about it?

As Christians what is our responsibility in the light of the gospel? What are we going to do to stop this slaughter and what are we going to do to try to stop our tax dollars from being used for this genocide? We might say “But what can I do? I am only one person?” We need to act to enlighten those around us about this slaughter and about how our tax dollars are being used for such an evil purpose. We need to act and we need to act now. We need to do it in a firm but Christian way. Perhaps we can begin by enlightening our members of parliament and all of our neighbours around us. Sure it might cost us some heartache and grief but you need to be alive to experience that, don’t you?

In Matthew 5:10 Jesus tells us “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And we need to recognize that there are many mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, brothers and sisters out there who have been victimized by this system and are suffering and we need to do something about that too. The powers that be have made certain that all of us remain in the dark. Isn’t it time we accepted our Christian responsibility and stepped out into the light of the truth? As an example of what we can do - I want to close by reading this letter. It was sent this week as a letter to the editor of the Rocky Mountaineer. I am proud to say that it was written by one of our parishioners and is a wonderful example of proper judgement of deeds and of correction in the light of the Christian Gospel.

With her permission and your indulgence I will read it to you now.

I quote:

Dear Editor

With all the recent uproar in the media regarding the “massacre “of sled dogs in the Vancouver area, I have been compelled to write about my own concerns. I am an animal lover, and I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I am not. However, I am saddened by the fact that much of our population is very quick to “jump on the bandwagon” regarding cruelty to animals, and wanting to punish the people responsible for these acts of violence. At the same time, many people are oblivious to our own actions (or lack of action) which takes the lives of millions of innocent unborn children every year in our own supposedly civilized country. Horses, cows, dogs, cats and even rats are seemingly more important to protect than our human offspring. I’m sure you have all heard the outcry from “animal rights groups” who are outraged by the use of animals for research, even when done to help find cures for human diseases. Yet, you don’t hear the same kind of protests from the public regarding experiments going on using newly aborted human fetuses. Abortions are extremely costly to our health care system and are often used as one choice for birth control. “As the highest ranking animals of the animal kingdom, we humans are the only ones who have mothers who kill their own young, and people who openly encourage mothers to kill their own young”.

Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?

Milly McKenzie

Unquote

You and I both know that there definitely is something terribly wrong with this picture. Canada is our country, and it is a great country that we should all be proud of. We need to let our elected officials know that we love our country and this is not the legacy we want to leave to our children and grandchildren, if we have any.

The powers that be are trying to keep us in the dark, let’s write to them and tell them that we have had enough of that and force them to re-open the topic of Abortion to public debate every chance we get. It’s our country and it’s our duty as Christians. I believe that it is the very least we can do to try to stop the slaughter of the innocents.

Deacon Bernie Ouellette

Thursday February, 10

Scripture: Mark 7:24-30

Do you ever feel “put-off” by the Lord? The Gospel today tells us the only occasion in which Jesus ministered outside of Jewish territory. (Tyre and Sidon were fifty miles north of Israel and still exist today in modern Lebanon.) A Gentile woman, an outsider who was not a member of the chosen people, puts Jesus on the spot by pleading with him to show mercy to her daughter who was tormented with an evil spirit. At first Jesus seemed to pay no attention to her, and this made his disciples feel embarrassed. Jesus treated this woman like this not to put her off, but rather to test her sincerity and to awaken faith in her.

What did Jesus mean by the expression “throwing bread to the dogs”? The Jews often spoke of the Gentiles with arrogance and insolence as “unclean dogs” because the Gentiles were excluded from God’s covenant and favour with Israel. For the Greeks, “dog” was a symbol of dishonour and was used to describe a shameless and audacious woman. Matthew’s Gospel records the expression “do not give what is holy to dogs” (Mt 7:6). No doubt, Jesus spoke with a smile rather than with an insult because this woman immediately responds with humour and faith: “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs”. Jesus praises a Gentile woman for her persistent faith and for her affectionate love. She made the misery of her child, her own and she was willing to suffer refuse in order to obtain healing for her loved one. She also had indomitable persistence. Her faith grew in contact with the person of Jesus. She began with a request and she ended on her knees in worshipful prayer to the living God. And now we can see nobody who ever sought Jesus with faith whether Jew or Gentile was refused his help. Do we seek Jesus with expectant faith?

Lord Jesus, your love and mercy knows no bounds. May we trust you always and never doubt your loving care and mercy. Increase our faith in your saving help and deliver us from all evil and harm. Amen

Thursday February, 03

Scripture: Mark 6:7-13

What kind of authority and power does Jesus want us to exercise on His behalf? Jesus gave his apostles both the power and the authority to speak and to act in his name. He commanded them to do the works which he did: to heal, to cast out evil spirits, and to speak the word of God – the good news of the gospel which they received from Jesus. When Jesus spoke of power and authority he did something unheard of. He wedded power and authority with love and humility. The “world” and the “flesh” seek power for selfish gain. Jesus teaches us to use it for the good of our neighbour.

Why does Jesus tell the apostles to travel with little or no provision? “Poverty of spirit” frees us from greed and preoccupation with possessions and makes an ample room for God’s provision. Jesus wants his disciples to be dependent on him and not on themselves. He will work through and in each of us for his glory. Jesus also calls us to travel with little or no provision as we pass through this world. The aim of our lives is not to accumulate stuff. Rather, we are to live as people on a mission, on a campaign. This does not mean we are to take on a spirit of poverty. It is rather about where our focus is. Do we live to get more and more possessions for ourselves? Or do we live as a person with a calling?

The apostles go and preach the Gospel. “Going” is an important part of living for God. We need to go to our community, go to the poor, and go to those who don’t know Jesus. It is not about huddling in the church comfort zone but about taking the Gospel of repentance to the people.

Are we ready to handle the power and authority which Jesus wishes us to exercise on his behalf? God entrusts us with his gifts and talents. Are we eager to place ourselves at his service, to do whatever he bids us and to witness his truth and saving power to whomever he sends us?

Lord Jesus, make us a channel of your grace and healing love that others may find life and freedom in you. Free us from all other attachments that we may joyfully follow the things of heaven. May we witness the joy of the Gospel both in words and deeds. Amen

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – A – Jan 30, 2011

It is a bit of a cheek to preach a sermon about the greatest sermon ever preached. For that is surely what the Sermon on the Mount is, and the Beatitudes are its summary. As an extraordinarily important religious text it stands by itself, and all we can do is talk around it and give thanks to God for it.

****************

Who will enter the Kingdom?

First, it should be noted that the blessings of the today's Gospel are not only the program of the sanctity or the program of Christ's life, but they are primarily self-characterization of Christ Himself. He alone is poor in spirit, crying and quiet, humble and merciful, pure in heart, hungry for justice. He certainly is the peacemaker, and He suffers for righteousness and is persecuted; it is about Him that others utter all kind of evil words and lies. This is certainly a perfect picture of "Ebed Yahweh" - Suffering Servant of God, an image present in the Old Testament. It is worth remembering when we read those beautiful words. So who wants to follow Christ has to make these words the program of his life, both private and professional. It may not be a separation or gap between what I do on Sunday and my every day's life.

We should also notice the importance of the word "blessed." The word certainly can be understood as a promise of holiness, but furthermore it could be understood as the promise of God's blessings in once life. If I act in my life like that, if these principles are the guidelines of my daily life, I will receive God's blessing. The expression of these blessings is the fact, that with each blessing is associated a "reward" or promise.

For example:

The poor in spirit, will inherit the kingdom of heaven

The second meaning of the word "blessed" is closer to our contemporary desires and longings. We could even say that Jesus is telling or proposing us: "you could be happy only if you live this way." Do not be greedy, do not be too noisy in your life, be just, be merciful, be peaceful and not chaotic, have a pure heart and clean look, see the second man and honour him, and at the same time be prepared for misunderstandings, the mockery, the lies and disdain, the unpopularity, for the fact that you will not be "trendy" that sometimes you will not be "politically correct". But the prize, which you will gain exceeds significantly, what you (apparently) lost.

Many times I thought about the blessings of today's Gospel: Is it worth quoting again these beautiful words of the Beatitudes, and we ponder over them:

Their reward is

Blessed (happy) are:

· the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,

· those who mourn, they shall be comforted,

· the meek, they shall inherit the earth,

· those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall be satisfied,

· the merciful, they shall obtain mercy,

· the pure in heart, they will see God

· the peacemakers, they shall be called sons of God,

· those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven ,

· blessed are you when people insult you, rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven

· blessed are you when you are persecuted,

· blessed are you when others utter all kinds of evil against you because of me

In which of these categories can I recognize myself?

Am I not:

too rich and selfish?

or screaming and loud,

and proud,

unfair and indifferent, merciless?

does my heart, vision, thoughts do not flood the dirt and moral disorder?

or maybe my whole life is one big struggle and war with others?

Do I really live the spirit of the 8 beatitudes?

Will my reward be rather ... emptiness, loneliness, disappear? I have not seen the other, I was ignoring and neglectful and ... through eternity I will be alone ... unhappy, rejected, sad, abandoned ... just watching myself, because I always thought only of myself and for myself I lived! There is still time to change, yet I can change my life, I can still see the others, and stop living for myself.

**************************

One of the reasons it is the best sermon ever given is that Jesus treats his hearers with great respect. He gives no explanations or long detailed clarifications. He simply tells them some important truths which once heard seem self-evident to his listeners, who are if anything only strangely puzzled that they hadn't thought of them themselves.

We call it the Sermon on the Mount, a mount is just a sort of small hill or hummock; just high enough so that Jesus could be heard by the assembled company. But we immediately recognise that it is meant to be a parallel with Moses when he came down the mountain with the tablets of stone on which were engraved the Ten Commandments.

Yet despite the obvious similarities the two situations could not be more different. The differences are a sermon in themselves. They show how differently God chooses to deal with his people.

There was the great mountain with its blasted rocks and dense clouds and here is the grassy knoll in the sunshine.

There was Moses the fierce old man trying to hold his people together as a cohesive group; here is Jesus who respects the individuality of each human being and who builds up his followers with extraordinary gentleness and patience.

There were the tablets of the law, full of do's and don'ts and with the fear of punishment behind them; here are the Beatitudes which bring untold blessings on those who are embraced by them.

Truly things had come a long way by the time of Jesus, but after all so had we. Moses was there at, near enough, the beginning, Jesus is the culmination of all that went before. God revealed himself only slowly through the centuries but we now see him revealed in his fullness in his son Jesus.

As we have frequently said, to be a Christian is not to be a follower of a set of rules, it is to be born again, it is to live a new life. It is to turn around and see things from a totally different perspective.

Here in the Beatitudes Jesus gives us a completely new set of spectacles to look through.

Here in the Beatitudes we see the values of this world turned upside down. We see the world through the eyes of God himself. Through the eyes of the one who does the blessing, the one who makes the life of the poor, the gentle, the mourners, the fighters for justice and peace, the pure in heart and the persecuted, the one who makes all their lives a Beatitude.

The Beatitudes are a privileged glimpse at the world through the eyes of God. They are a wonderful opportunity to see things as they really are.

I clearly remember going to Scotland when my 92-year-old Aunt Helen died. She had been looked after by her ninety-year-old brother, John, but they never got on, even though they had lived in the same house all their lives.

That is until she took ill and was unable to do anything for herself. Then he opened his heart to her, he sold the smallholding where he spent most of his time and devoted himself to her care.

She couldn't communicate but John talked to her all day. He dressed her, cleaned her up and even fed her with a spoon. The place was an absolute tip but he cared for her with all the love and concern he had in him.

When she died I went to see him. He said words I can never forget: I never knew what love was, not till Helen got ill.

It was as if his whole life had been a preparation for those few years spent caring for her in her frailness and infirmity.

He said something else which is also imprinted on my memory: “other people don't understand. They think that what they see is the real world. But we know that there is another world that's just behind this one. And there it’s the things you can't see that really count.”

My Uncle John knew what the Beatitudes were about because he lived them out in his own life.

There are many people in the same position, we meet them every day, they wouldn’t recognise the Beatitudes if they fell over them in the street but they live them out each day of their lives. They have become Beatitudes to the people around them—like Jesus they are goodness and truth personified. And not a few of this congregation are counted in their number.

Fr. Alex McAllister SDS from the page:

http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/sermon/fourth-sunday

Thursday January, 28, 2011

Scripture: Mark 4:26-34

The Gospel’s today is containing two parables of a similar nature. The first parable may be called the “parable of the growing seed” or the “parable of the sleeping farmer”. The second parable can be called the “parable of the mustard seed”. Both parables compare the Kingdom of God to a tiny seed which grows.

The first parable is one that is useful for meditation by anyone raising children or caring for a community. It makes the point that the processes of maturation and growth are to a large extent outside of our control: “Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know.”

We are encouraged to approach our tasks on behalf of the Kingdom with a sense of humility and realism. We are caught up in historical forces far larger than we are. It is not all up to us. I think of parents who “throw seed on the land,” the land here being the hearts and consciences of their children.

Very often they have no choice but to step back and surrender to the mysterious forces of growth in the lives of the children. Quite often they have to worry over their young adults who make life and lifestyle choices that conflict with their upbringing, like associating with a particular crowd. Fortunately, very often, their children grow out of their rebellion without the help of their parents, “how, they do not know.”

The second parable makes a contrast between the smallness of the seed that is planted and the great size of the tree which results. The seed grows, sprouts and “puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can make nets in its shade.”

What can mustard seeds teach us about the kingdom of God? The tiny mustard seed literally grew to be a tree which attracted numerous birds because they loved the little black mustard seed it produced. God’s kingdom works in a similar fashion. It starts from the smallest beginnings in the hearts of human who are receptive to God’s word. And it works unseen and causes a transformation from within. Just as a seed has no power to change itself until it is planted in the ground, so we cannot change our lives to be like God until God gives us the power of his Holy Spirit. The Lord of the universe is ever ready to transform us by the power of His Spirit. Are we ready to let God change us by His grace and power? The Kingdom of God produces a transformation in those who receive the new life which Jesus Christ offers. When we yield to Jesus Christ, our lives are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. St. Paul said: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Do you believe in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit?

God, we thank you for your word which grows like a seed to produce a tree that “puts out big branches.” We thank you for being the kind of God that you are, a God who is large and who invites all people of all walks of life to come and find shade in the branches of the tree of the Kingdom.

Lord, we ask pardon as a nation for the many times when our vision of life is too small or too narrow. We construct visions of national development that benefit only certain sections of the community while others are left on the margins. We think about our country as if it belonged only to one set of citizens and not to others.

Lord, we also ask you for the gift of humility. Teach us the lesson that the growth of the Kingdom is not completely under our control but something for which we must pray, wait and hope. Help us to wait with a sense of hope knowing that “night and day, while we sleep, when we are awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, we do not know.”Amen.

3^rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle “A”

As I read the readings and the Gospel for this Sunday in preparation for the homily these themes brought back memories of an incident which took place in my life many years before.

I have a childhood friend back in Prince Albert, in Saskatchewan. I’ll call him Jack, that’s not his real name but just in case word gets back to him I don’t want to lose him for a friend. Today, Jack is quite well off. He has a couple of businesses. He has a few houses, a big boat and several cars. Each winter he and his wife Agnes go to Arizona for the winter. But, when we were kids back in PA growing up he was always a little bit of a worry to his mother.

We were both Catholic. We went to St. Paul’s Separate School. We were taught by the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary. Jack was never a very religious person. Anything to do with church and he would disappear. He would always try to skip Sunday Mass. Telling his mother that he had gone when in fact he had not. He was like that throughout his teen years also.

Several years ago, well actually about 45 years ago, when I was in my twenties, I went back to Prince Albert for a visit and I ended up at his house. His mother was there also.

I remember that after a nice supper we sat out on the back deck and his mother soon joined us. We began to reminisce about our childhood attending St. Paul Separate School and the trouble we used to get into there. And I just casually mentioned “Yeah, and you used to always pretend that you had gone to Mass when in fact you hadn’t.”

That did it. His mother started in on him just like she used to. He was only 26 years old and was already married twice. The first one was to a Catholic girl and they got married in the Catholic church and the second one was after he divorced the first one and got married again somewhere on the beach in the Dominican Republic. He hadn’t bothered to get a decree of nullity and so was now living in adultery. His Mother reminded him again that if he didn’t repent that he most probably was on his way to hell. And it bothered her a lot that Jack didn’t seem to care about heaven, hell or even God for that matter.

He responded by telling her that he didn’t believe in hell or in the Catholic church or in any of it’s teachings either. That was the wrong thing to say to his mom because then she began to tell both of us her version of one of Jesus’ parables about hell. You probably remember it. This is Jesus’ parable about the rich man and the poor man. Only Mom told it in her own words.

Both men had died. The rich man who had lived a sinful life ended up in hell while the poor man whose name was Lazarus ended up in heaven. The rich man was pleading that Lazarus be allowed to dip his hands in cool water and cross over to hell so that the rich man might quench his thirst since he was in agony being burnt with all the flames.

But Abraham, who apparently was in charge said, “No way. There is a huge valley between us and no one from heaven can go over there and no one from hell can come here.” Then said the rich man “If that’s the case, then can you please send Lazarus over to my Father’s house because I have 5 brothers and I don’t want them to end up in hell like me.” “No way” says Abraham. “They have the church and the Scriptures. Let them listen to and learn from them”.

“No”, said the rich man. “I never listened to the church and neither will they. If you send Lazarus from the dead to tell them about hell surely they will repent.” “No way” says Abraham “If they will not listen to the Church then neither will they be convinced and repent even if a dead man appears before them.”

Today, I know she was paraphrasing but back then I thought it was Gospel. For the exact words you need to read the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 16, verses 19-31. She ended her lecture with the words “You are on your way to hell, son. You need to come to the truth Jack and repent”. Her appeal to her son seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as Jack went on to divorce and marry again. However her words had a profound and lasting effect on me. It seems I was the victim (for lack of a better word) of collateral fire. Mom’s lecture was meant for Jack but I have never forgotten it.

What has that got to do with today’s readings?

Today being the 3^rd Sunday in ordinary time the Gospel tells us that it is also the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. And what was the first word out of Jesus’ mouth as He began His ministry? Let me refresh our memory. “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent”. The first word out of Jesus mouth when He began His public ministry was “Repent”

What did Jesus mean “Repent”? To repent means to turn away from sin.

In order to repent we are told that we must first identify our sins, acknowledge our sins, confess our sins and then turn away from our sin. To do this correctly obviously we must be in possession of the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. In other words like Jack’s Mom said we need to be in possession of the truth.

What Jesus taught His disciples is the truth.

What His disciples taught their successors is the truth

What Jesus taught His church is the truth.

Therefore, what Jesus’ teaches us through His Church is the truth.

It follows then that if we are in the possession of the truths of the Catholic Faith then we are in possession of the truth. Jesus tells us that His Father in Heaven wants all people to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.

And here, just like my friend Jack, we have a choice.

We can accept Jesus’ teachings as presented to us by the church or we can reject it – that is our free choice. God gave us free will and He loves us so much that He will not interfere with our choices right or wrong, truth or error. It’s our choice. For example, the bible and the church teach us that there is a heaven. Do we believe this? Heaven is the place about which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as entered the mind of man, the wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love Him. Our souls need to be absolutely spotless when we die in order for us to enter heaven.

The Bible and the Church also teach that there is such a thing as sin. The bible says that not all sin is mortal, that is, not all sin is deadly. Therefore there are sins which are deadly and there as sins which are not deadly.

We call these sins venial and mortal sins. Venial because they are not sufficiently grave enough to separate us completely from God. Others are called mortal because they are deadly – they separate us completely from God.

The Bible and the Church teach that there is a place called Hell. Do we believe this? Hell is the place that is reserved for the devil and his angels. It is the place of awful and terrible punishment where those who die unrepentant with mortal sins on their souls choose to spend all eternity with the devil and his angels separated from God.

Did you know that Jesus spoke more about Hell than He did about Heaven? No wonder He started His ministry with the word “Repent” – He is warning His dear children. Jesus doesn’t want us to choose Hell. The Bible and the Church teach that there is a place called Purgatory. Do we believe this?

Purgatory is the place where those who die with venial sins on their souls, or those who die without having made full reparation for their sins are purged of these sins and the attachment to sin before they can enter heaven. They are assured of their salvation but they must be purified first before entering heaven. The bible tells us that nothing impure can enter heaven. That is why we pray for those who have died, in case they are in need of our prayers – If they are in heaven they have no need of our prayers. If they are in Hell our prayers cannot help them. If they are in purgatory – our prayers on their behalf can help them.

All of these truths are called Dogmas. This means that they are divinely revealed truths which the church presents to us to be believed. Catholics are required to believe all Dogmas since they are divinely revealed truths.

Jesus instituted the sacrament of Reconciliation, confession. He did this for a reason. This was the way that Jesus chose to forgive sins after He had left us and ascended into heaven. If, like my friend Jack, we say that we have no need for confession to a priest and that we will confess our sins directly to God – that is not the way Jesus set it up – but that’s our choice. We have free will. If God says that we need the sacrament of Reconciliation and we say we don’t – that’s our choice.

Jesus instituted that Sacrament of Marriage.

If, like my friend Jack, we say that as that Catholics we don’t need a sacramental marriage – we can marry, and divorce and then marry again. And still come up and receive Holy Communion – If we believe that - then that’s our choice. That’s not the teaching of Jesus or the church and to do so means that we are committing a worse sin - a sin of Sacrilege - but that’s our choice. Jesus gave us His Body and His Blood, His soul and His divinity when He instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, Holy Communion.

He said “This is My Body, this is My Blood and He meant it literally. If we say that it is rather just a symbol of His Body and Blood – that is not what Jesus taught and that is not what the Church says. The Bible in John chapter 6 teaches clearly that it is the Body and Blood of Christ. But, if we choose not to believe then just like my friend Jack, that’s our choice. God loves us and will not interfere in our choice.

In fact, God loves us so much that He will not interfere in our choices even if our choice puts us in Hell for all eternity over Eternal Life with Him in heaven. If we have closed our mind to hearing the truth then what the Holy Father says, what the Bishop says, what Father says will not have much effect on us because we have already made up our minds.

My friend Jack is quite comfortable with his beliefs or non-belief - just as it is.

What he chooses to believe may not be the truth but he seems ready to accept the consequences. Jack knows the teaching of the Catholic Church but he continues to reject it – for now. He says when he gets on in years he may change his mind. But right now he’s not ready to do so.

My dear friends, the only way for us to know the truth is to ask God for the grace to know the truth when we see it. The only way to the truth is not through our own knowledge or ideas but rather through Jesus Christ. We can’t save ourselves.

Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Him. Jesus has provided a way for us to come to the knowledge of the truth. That is why He gave us a church. So that we might be guided to the truth. We need to turn on the light of Christ in our lives. We need to examine our lives and see where we need that light to shine. Where in our lives might we have rejected the truth?

When I was a kid, my mom and dad invited Father to come and bless our house. For the whole week before we kids had to help clean the house. Everything that did not belong in the living room was carted downstairs. Everything that did not belong in the dining room went downstairs into the basement. Likewise with the kitchen and the bedrooms. Everything that didn’t belong or was in the road went downstairs. On Saturday, Father came and blessed the house. He blessed the living room and dining room. The walls the ceilings, the windows, that bathroom, the kitchen and the bedrooms. He blessed the whole of the upstairs including the cat on the couch. (who didn’t like the Holy water very much).

Then Father started to leave. He put on his hat and coat and as he reached for the door he noticed the basement door and so he grabbed his holy water and headed for the basement. But, he was too slow because Mom headed him off at the door and said “That’s OK Father, the house is all blessed. Thank you very much.” Dad then gave Father a stipend and off he went.

Dad had a puzzled look as he wondered why Mom didn’t want the basement blessed and so he headed for the basement. He turned that light on and there it was - “Poof”, all the junk from upstairs was piled at the bottom of the basement steps. No wonder she didn’t want Father to see that mess. Sometimes our lives are like that. Everything seems bright and rosy as long as we don’t turn on that light in our basement.

We need to turn on the light of Christ in our lives. We need to accept his invitation to repent. Repentance gives us a chance to clean that basement. Repentance gives us a chance to identify our sins, acknowledge them and confess them. Then the light of Christ washes away all our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

We should not be divided in our beliefs. We need to accept the teachings of the Church. If we are Catholic then we should all be of one mind, one belief. If we are not, then we should ask Christ to show us the way to the truth.

St. Paul tells us: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

He goes on to warn us: “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (that is those who are on their way to hell) but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

God Bless you.

Deacon Bernie Ouellette