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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5th 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....
Saturday Gospel & Homily MP3 - PDF version
Sunday Gospel & Homily MP3 - 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
“Sing praises to the Lord who heals the broken-hearted!”
The Book of Job is very precious and useful to us because it relates the trials of a man who lost everything except his own life and the life of his wife. He complained openly about all his pain and suffering, but he got no sympathy from his friends; who tried to convince them that he must have done something wrong in order to deserve all his bad luck and tribulations. Even his wife told him to give up on his faith, to give up on God, because it wasn’t doing him any good.
Have you ever been so down and out that you felt you could not pray? The first time I had a kidney stone, I was terrified by the pain that kept intensifying more and more, with no end in sight. I was in hospital for 11 days, and during that time, I found it difficult to pray; even as a priest. Thankfully, even our moaning and groaning are a prayer which rises up to God, and in his love, our Father understands our heart, mind, and spirit, and he answers us in his own way.
“The
Lord is near to all who call on him!”
“Sing praises to the Lord who heals the broken-hearted!”
Last Sunday and today, Saint Mark the Evangelist shows us Jesus casting out demons, and He sternly orders the demons not to make him known. This is called the “messianic secret”, the way in which Jesus tried to keep secret his true identity as the Son of God. Jesus knew that the religious leaders would never be able to accept him as the Son of God, and that sooner or later they would set out to kill him. Jesus knew He was just starting his mission, and He did not want it to be cut short before the time appointed by his Father. This is also why He wanted to move around and go from village to village; in order to spread as widely the good news as possible before his time ran out.
Jesus lived in close communion with his Father in Heaven. We see in the Gospels that Jesus didn’t try to make plans and strategies for his mission; instead, He was attentive to his Father and focused all his energies on doing the Father’s will. We see this attitude of Jesus reflected in Saint Paul, who gave God permission to use every aspect of his life and labours for the Gospel; so that as many people as possible might come to know Jesus and his good news.
“Sing praises to the Lord who heals the broken-hearted!”
The Lord is
inviting us to consider this today, and perhaps wonder within ourselves how
much room we are making in our lives, in our plans, in our mind, heart, and
soul for the will of God, the will of the Father for us. Am I willing to put
all my trust in God, or do I prefer to make my own plans and strategies? God
want us to make plans, yes, but at the same time, he wants us to make room in
our planning for the will of the Father. We discover the will of the Father for
us in the life of Jesus; by allowing every aspect of Jesus’ life and mission to
shed light on the details of our own lives. Jesus’ mission from his Father is
our mission too.
“The Lord is near to all who call on him!”
Brothers and sisters, every priest in the world – from the Pope to the newly-ordained young priest – we all want the same thing, Jesus has put into a priest’s heart the same fire of the Holy Spirit, and the same desire. We desire you to have the same relationship with God that Jesus had as a human being; as the son of Mary and the adopted son of Joseph.
“Sing praises to the Lord who heals the broken-hearted!”
The simplest human being, even one with no education, who can’t read or write, everyone can be a saint. All it takes is a willingness to receive the gifts that God is offering. All we need to do is to trust in God, and to open our mind to his Word; open our heart to his love; open our soul, our spirit, to the indwelling Presence of the Most Holy Trinity. John in his Gospel, 14:23, reports Jesus saying: “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” There is no magic formula for praying… all we have to do is to pray… just to do it. God is always present to us, and He is always waiting for us to respond, to be there with Him, to be open and trusting, to pray.
“The Lord is near to all who call on him!”
Jesus is still casting out demons and He is still healing people today. The press and the media are not interested in God; they prefer to think that God doesn’t exist, because they don’t want to be told what to do. We occasionally find out about the wonders that God is still doing when we learn about the lives of the saints, like Saint Brother André. You may have witnessed God’s miracles yourself, or know someone who has experienced them. All too often, when we are witnesses to one of God’s miracles, we are inclined to think: “Did I really see that? It must be just a coincidence.” We need to practice giving God credit for the wonders He does in our lives and in the world around us. Glory be to You, O Most Holy Trinity!”
“Sing praises to the Lord who heals the broken-hearted!”
“Mary Mother of God, St. Joseph, help us walk 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….
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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.
© 2006-2024 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2006-2024 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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