In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity, as reported in Jeremiah 31:31-34, every human being can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so please feel free to share with others these homilies and your own personal faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.
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15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
VOCATION: Jesus calls us - He calls you to follow Him, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and become a missionary disciple....
Prayer for deliverance from all evil and demonic influences, blessing of the water, and sprinkling of the Assembly
The Prayer MP3 version - PDF version
Gospel & Homily MP3 version - PDF version
What are the offerings that we bring to God? What is the meaning of "HOSANNAH!" We acclaim God for his greatness and praise Him, while at the same time calling upon Him to rescue us in our distress.... "HOSANNAH!" MP3 version
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves!” Saint Paul to the Romans 8:22
God wants to hear us ask the questions that trouble us. Why, Lord, do You let our forests burn? Why the floods, the tornadoes and destructive storms, the earthquakes, the landslides, the volcano eruptions, the droughts, and the famines? Why the quarrels and the wars? Why all the illnesses, the pain, and the suffering? Why allow the poor to be exploited, or poor nations to be exploited by the wealthy nations?
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves!” Saint Paul to the Romans 8:22
We know that birth pains are the necessary and inevitable transition through which the pregnant woman must pass in order to be delivered of the infant she carried in her womb for nine months by giving birth, by pushing it into the world. The infant must leave the security of its mother’s womb in order to pass into a world that is much bigger, richer in possibilities, and with infinitely more space to explore and enjoy. In this word of God received by Saint Paul, God our Creator reassures us by declaring that we, that the whole Creation, “groans in labour pains” because we are all compressed in the birthing canal towards the fullness of life.
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves!” Saint Paul to the Romans 8:22
For the baby, the canal through which it must pass is so narrow that it must endure terrible compressions in order to pass through into the world. This image of the baby squeezed in the birthing canal in its mother’s body is an image that helps us to understand a little better the narrow passageway in which we are actually stuck by our mortal life on this Earth. We are stuck in the passageway between our mortal life in this world, the place of our beginning, and the place of our destiny which is Heaven, the divine domain of the Most Holy Trinity, in the presence of God with all his angels and all the saints from all times and places.
“You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it!”
Our situation is far from
hopeless, because God our Creator declares: “Don’t be afraid in spite of all the
dangers which you must face.” As well, six centuries before the arrival of Jesus in this world,
God declared: “My
word, that goes out from my mouth, shall not return to me empty, but it shall
accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” God fully intends to
realize his will for us. He wants us to enjoy eternal life beginning now, because
“this is eternal life, that they
may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3 The question is,
are we nurturing within us this desire to understand the Word of God?
“You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it!”
After telling the parable, Jesus explains it. If we receive the Word of God with no desire to understand it, then “the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart” and we lose all that God wants to give us. If we don’t cling to God with confidence in Him, then there is little soil within us, and the Word of God “has no root”. “When trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.” If we focus our attention and our preoccupation on “the cares of the world and the lure of wealth”, that “chokes the word, and it yields nothing.” All this means that the Word of God cannot bear fruit in us without our free, desired, and determined participation.
“You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it!”
In order for there to be in us “good soil”, we must first of all make efforts, with the grace of God, to read, study, pray with, and finally understand the Word of God. In addition, we must cling to God with confidence in Him; in order to hold on when “trouble and persecution” come to us. Also, we must not let troubles or persecution frighten us, but on the contrary turn towards the Most Blessed Trinity and put all our confidence in God. It goes without saying that we must accept to endure the inevitable troubles and sufferings of life. It’s no use comparing ourselves to others; for we have no idea of the trials and interior sufferings others are going through.
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him, says the Lord!”
It is impossible for us to understand everything of the mysteries of God. It is enough for us to at least nurture the desire to better understand the ways of the Lord. Jesus invites us to contemplate the Word of God, and to carry it within us as we go through our day’s activities. Then, with his Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus does within us what only God can do. For our part, we offer to the Father all that we experience and do, and all that we endure out of love.
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him, says the Lord!”
“Mary Mother of God, St. Joseph, walk with us in the steps of Jesus. O my Jesus, I trust in You! Thank You; You who are God, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
In silence now, the Holy
Spirit helps us to unite our offering of ourselves to that of Jesus….
https://frgilleshomilies.blogspot.com https://homeliesabbegilles.blogspot.com
In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity, as reported in Jeremiah 31:31-34, every human being can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so please feel free to share with others these homilies and your own personal faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.
© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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