The Father calls each of us to follow Jesus and to become more loving like Him! - January 13-14th, 2024 - 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Transfiguration of Our Lord Parish

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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2nd 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 

“The Lord is near to all who call on him!”

The young boy Samuel heard in the night a voice calling his name. He did not know that it was the Lord calling him. He learned this from the Lord’s priest Eli, who served in the Temple of the Lord. Eli was not a good man and displeased the Lord. Notably, he failed to discipline his two sons. They abused the Lord’s Temple and had no respect for God or for others. Still, Eli did a good thing in guiding young Samuel to learn to listen to the voice of the Lord.

Have you ever heard the voice of the Lord? I haven’t; at least, not with my ears. What’s really important here is not whether or not we hear the voice of the Lord with our ears, but whether we are even interested in listening for the Lord’s voice within our spirit. We all have voices inside of us: our own conscience, voices we remember, like those of our parents; the voice of our spouse, of friends and relatives, or even voices we dread, like that of our boss. Most important among all the voices echoing inside of us is the gentle, quiet voice of God.

“Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will!”

Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus, I should get down on my knees and ask your forgiveness for the neglect of all the pastors and priests you have ever known; forgiveness for all the ways in which we have failed to coach you in learning to listen, to discern and recognize, and to obey the voice of the Lord… deep down within your spirit. The Holy Spirit is close to every human being, whether we realize it or not. This is in part because God is our Creator, and it is the will of the Father alone which brought us into being and which sustains us in being. Without the stable and loving will of the Father that we should exist, we would simply disappear without a trace, without even a puff of smoke. We would simply vanish.

“The Lord is near to all who call on him!”

The fact that we exist is evidence that God exists, and that He also wants us to exist. In the Bible’s perspective, our very breath is not our own, but it is God’s breath which He breathes into us. Further evidence of the great and unconditional love with which God loves us is the free will with which we have all been endowed. Our free will is a very great gift indeed.

However, we don’t always like the fact that we have free will. We would much prefer God to wipe out in a single stroke every hint of evil, violence, pain, poverty, and suffering in the world. Isn’t that right? Hello? We don’t realize that if God did as we wish and wiped out all evil doers, illness, violence, natural disasters, pain, and suffering, we would no longer be free. We would simply be a bunch of robots, programmed machines, like ChatGPT, with no free will. Family, love, friendship, and caring for others, especially those in need; none of that could exist if there were no free will, no possibility of freely deciding to make acts of love and caring. Would you really want to live in a world like that? I would most definitely not want to live in that world.

“Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will!” 

Sadly, there is another reason for me to get on my knees and ask for your forgiveness on my behalf and on behalf of all the clergy you have ever known. It’s not just because we have failed to coach you in learning to know God personally and to relate to God personally every day. In addition to this, we have given you the impression that all you need to do to enter into Heaven when you die is to be a good person; to avoid committing crimes, and to do some good deeds. This is all good, but it is only part of what God expects of us. Our Creator cares a great deal about his Creation, and especially about all his human children.

If we don’t freely decide to learn how to also care a great deal about God’s Creation, and especially about all of his human children; then how can we possible stand to live in God’s company for all of eternity in Heaven? At times, aren’t we already allergic to people who, we may think, are too holy, too devout or too good. Such people give us to feel a bit uncomfortable. Unless we change, it won’t get any better in Heaven; in fact, it will only get worse. We won’t want to be in Heaven.

“The Lord is near to all who call on him!”

A few minutes ago, we heard St. Paul declare that in order to be in sync with God, we need to hold our bodies and the bodies of others in great respect; even reverence. That means there is no room for sexual hanky panky; no room at all. More important than this, though, is that God is calling each and every baptized person to do as John, Andrew, and Simon did. We are all to follow Jesus and become his missionary disciples. We may feel weak, imperfect, and fragile, yes, and that is what we offer, but the Lord brings to bear his power, holiness, and divine mercy; so in this partnership, God can do wonders and in fact does wonders through us. Jesus wants to fill us with the life and love of the Holy Spirit and send us out into the world to bring his good news to all those poor people who are starving and thirsting for the good news that God loves them unconditionally.

In our day, we have no excuse. Anyone can own a Bible as well as a copy of the Catechism. Anyone with a computer or smart phone with internet can read the Bible, the Catechism, and even listen to the Liturgy of the Hours and read along. The Lord, in the Word He addresses to us today, is testing us, scrutinizing our spirits, to bring to light our willingness to let Him work in us and bring about his holy will in us, for our own good and for the good of others. We have everything at our fingertips.

“Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will!”

“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….

https://frgilleshomilies.blogspot.com         https://homeliesabbegilles.blogspot.com

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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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Lord, give your servant an understanding mind to discern between good and evil! - July 30th, 2023 - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time "A" - MQP Church in JLW Parish

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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17th 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....

  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 

“Lord, give your servant an understanding mind to discern between good and evil!”

God loves to listen to all of our prayers. However, it is not good for us to only pray for our own good. This is why the young King Solomon’s prayer was so pleasing to the Lord: “Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this, your great people?”

“Lord, give your servant an understanding mind to discern between good and evil!” 

God does not need us to inform Him of our needs; for He already knows them, even before we do. Nor does our prayer have as its objective to convince God to give us his blessings; for He already desires to give us all good things. The purpose of our prayer is to bring our heart, our thought, our body, and our soul into sync with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with his thought, his Body, and his Soul; which perfectly reflect the will and the love of God our Father. Our prayer, as we persevere in prayer, our patient waiting on the Lord and our hopeful anticipation of his reply; all of these make us exercise the holy desires which the Holy Spirit places in us.  The passage of time increases the intensity of our holy desires. This gives us time to empty our hands in order to be ready to receive more, and our patient waiting allows the empty space within us to grow sufficiently large to have room to take in the gifts God wants to give us.

“Lord, how I love your law!”

Life, with its pleasures and pains, with all of its changes and the passage of time, and with our losses and grieving, our gains, our blessings, our thanksgiving, and our praises to the Lord, all of these enable us to grow in our love for God and for our neighbour. If we are to be ready for heaven in God’s eternity, we need while there is time to attach ourselves more and more to God and his holy will; while detaching ourselves from the concerns and goods of this world. Rare is the person that is a saint right from their infancy. Our life passes through stages, and at each stage, God is there to immerse us in his grace, and in the life and love of the Most Holy Trinity; in the unity of their will and in their communion of love.

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God!”

The parables which Jesus tells invite us to examine the intentions of our heart. “The one who found a treasure in a field” and “the merchant who found a pearl of great value”, both realized the value of their discovery and decided “to sell all that they had” in order to acquire that treasure or that pearl. Have we discovered yet the great value of the kingdom of heaven? To live in the kingdom of heaven actually means to live in a real and personal relationship with God the Father, through Jesus his Son, in the power of love of the Holy Spirit. Living in an intimate relationship of love with God doesn’t happen by itself, but it requires our decision and our participation from day to day. Praying is opening ourself up to God dwelling within us.

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God!”

The parable of the “net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind” warns us that at the end of our life, and “at the end of the age, the Angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire”. Let’s not wait. It is up to us right now to separate ourselves from the evil in order to be ready for the Lord. It is not up to us to judge those who appear to us to be evil; on the contrary, we must pray for them. However, we must take care not to let ourselves be influenced or confused by their words, their attitudes, their gestures, their practices, or their behaviours.

“In the furnace of fire, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you understood?”

Today, there is great confusion over the gender ideology: am I a man or a woman? Does this depend on how I feel inside, or am I man or woman according to the design of God our Creator? In the 1960’s it was all about the so-called sexual revolution. The father of sexual permissiveness and experimentation was a certain Alfred Kinsey. His research included the sexual abuse of infants and the sexual practices of sexual criminals who were in prison. He was fraudulent in publishing his findings in 1948 and 1953 as the behaviours of ordinary citizens. His successor, John Money, invented gender theory. He experimented on two young twin boys who later committed suicide. I invite you to watch the YouTube video “What is a woman?”

“Lord, give your servant an understanding mind to discern between good and evil!”

We need to wake up and get informed. The one who doesn’t have both feet on the ground, and a spirit deeply rooted in God and his Word, can easily be confused by the voracious wolves who are now experimenting on our children in schools and universities. We must pray for the evil, but we must be vigilant to not let ourselves be confused by them. “Lord, give discernment to us and our children; form us and help us form our children. By your Word, make us into missionary disciples equipped with “what is new and what is old.” 

“Lord, give your servant an understanding mind to discern between good and evil!” 

“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

 

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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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2006-2023 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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If now I have found favour in your sight, O Lord, I pray, stay with me forever. Alleluia! - June 4th, 2023 - The Most Holy Trinity "A" - MQP Church in JLW Parish

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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The Most Holy Trinity 

VOCATION: Jesus calls us - He calls you to follow Him, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and become a missionary disciple....

 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 

“Blessed are You, O Lord, God of our fathers and
blessed is your glorious and holy name. Alleluia!”

Dear Sisters and Brothers, two weeks ago, on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, I invited you to do a spiritual exercise – “God’s Sacred History with Me”. Did you try to do it? If you did, how did it go? Did you have any trouble remembering or identifying moments in your life when you were touched by God, by his power to save, by his love and mercy, by his healing grace? If you didn’t try to do it, I invite you to look into your heart to see – why not?

Of course, we are not obliged to remember when God blessed us; nor are we obligated to have a relationship with God our Creator, our Father, nor with Jesus, Our Lord, nor with the Holy Spirit. But then, why would we not want, not only to have, but also to develop a personal relationship with each of the three Divine Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity? 

“Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
and to be extolled and highly glorified forever. Alleluia!”

It all begins with believing that Jesus, the son of Mary, is the One sent by God the Father to come into the world to reveal to us that the Father loves us as his very own children, but more than that. Jesus is the One who reveals the Father to us; He makes it possible for us to come to know the Father personally, and that He loves me personally; He loves each of us personally.

“Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
and to be extolled and highly exalted forever. Alleluia!”

So, how does it happen, exactly, that Jesus reveals the Father to us? It all begins with us deciding to believe in Jesus, not only that He is the son of Mary, but also that He is the Son of God the Father, and that it is the Holy Spirit who caused Mary to conceive in her womb the baby boy whom she and Joseph would call a holy Name, Yeshoua in Hebrew. Jesus, in English, means “God saves”. Believing in Jesus as son of Mary and at the same time Son of God, we look at Him. We look at Him on the cross, in an image, or in our imagination – and, looking at Jesus, we contemplate Him – and we realize He is already looking at us with love. We accept and welcome his loving look, and He pours into us the fire of his divine Love, the Holy Spirit.

“Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne on the cherubim. Alleluia!”

Have you ever suffered from the painful impression that what you think doesn’t matter to anyone? It is a very common human experience to feel that no one cares about what I think. It is also true that the greatest pain experienced by people who are itinerant, living on the street, is feeling invisible because people passing by very rarely look into their eyes. St. Paul tells us to “greet one another with a holy kiss.” The person in front of me will feel that I care when I look into their eyes with love. They will feel that their thought matters if I listen to them express it.

“Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, to be sung and glorified forever. Alleluia!”

“Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped” in the presence of God. He made room for God in his thoughts and in his heart. Jesus made lots of room for his Father by spending many hours in the silence of the night watching and listening. St. Paul tells us to “agree with one another”. This just means making room for one another in our mind and heart. We don’t have to agree with others, and they don’t have to agree with us. But it is an act of love to make room for the other in my mind and in my heart. Then, the Holy Spirit actually uses others to teach me about them, about life, about myself, and about God.

“If now I have found favour in your sight, O Lord, I pray, stay with me forever. Alleluia!”

We have been blessed with 50 days of Easter and today we celebrate the wondrous mystery of the Most Holy Trinity – that our Creator God is actually a divine community of 3 Persons – and that we all come from God and are all returning to God. We can feel confused or afraid in the face of the unknown – whether it’s a strange or different or unknown human being or God. We have nothing to fear from God, who wants nothing but our good and our eternal happiness. But God’s ways are not our ways, and in the ways of the Lord, the unpleasant experiences of life – storms, accidents, illness, pain, misunderstanding, conflicts, temptation, and sin – all can be used by God to help us become the person we are meant to be, the person we want to be.

“If now I have found favour in your sight, O Lord, I pray, stay with me forever. Alleluia!”

I have placed on my website a spiritual exercise to help you go back over the moments when you were touched by the love of God. The people of God reflected on their sacred history with God; that’s the Bible. You also have a sacred history with God. On the Internet, look for my name – Gilles Surprenant blog – that will open a link Father Gilles Surprenant. Click on the link and you’ll come to my home page. There, you will see several navigation links; look for the link Fr. Gilles’ English Homilies and there you’ll find today’s homily with a link to:

 

 SPIRITUAL EXERCISE – “GOD’S SACRED HISTORY WITH ME”

 

https://fathergillespages.blogspot.com/2023/06/christian-prayer-gods-sacred-history.html

 

“If now we have found favour in your sight, O Lord, we pray, stay with us forever. Alleluia!” 

“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 lay down our offering together with that of Jesus….

 

https://frgilleshomilies.blogspot.com         https://homeliesabbegilles.blogspot.com

 

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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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2006-2023 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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Are we really "good enough Catholics"? Or does Jesus expect more from each and every one of us? Tuesday in the 2nd Week of Lent

  Sign of the +                            Greeting                        

 Penitential Rite         Brothers and sisters let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.  

HOMILY

Do you know that people generally tell me they are Good Catholics? They believe that they are “doing enough” to satisfy God’s expectations. “We go to Church often enough. We give enough to the poor and to the Church. With regards to sexuality and other moral questions, we are good enough. Although this attitude seems to be almost universal, there is a question that bothers me and just won’t go away. Is being “good enough” really pleasing God our Father?

Come to think of it, I find distasteful people who seem content to be “just long enough” with me in person, on the phone, or by email. By contrast, I believe we all much prefer the person who enjoys our company so much that they lose track of time and almost miss an appointment. Our human heart, mind, soul, and body are made for relationship, and only authentic personal relationships are deeply satisfying and meaningful to us. This is real life. This is really living.

Why should eternal life be different? We have been designed for relationships with other human beings and also with God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. John the Beloved Disciple, Apostle, and Evangelist in his Gospel in chapter 17 verse 3 recalls Jesus saying: “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” That means that by the gift of God, by his grace, we can already taste here and now on Earth how good it is to know and to love the Father and the Son Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.

The sad reality is that we don’t do the good we want to do, and we don’t always avoid the evil that deep down we don’t want to do, but we do it anyway. God is not pleased because He knows this is not how we can give meaning and purpose to our lives; this is not the way to love God, others, and ourselves with our whole mind, heart, soul, and strength. Because He truly loves us and wants our lives to become truly meaningful, good, and beautiful, God is eager to forgive us if only we are willing to confess to Him our sinfulness and seek his forgiveness.

Jesus hated the scribes and Pharisees because they were hypocrites who preferred pleasure and comfort rather than make room for others in their hearts. Jesus taught people to do what the religious leaders taught, because they were teaching the Word of God, but Jesus warned people not to imitate what they did, because they did not live in accord with the Word of God. The religious leaders did not care about people or about God. God wants us to care for Him as well as for others, because only then will we live truly of love and taste the goodness of our life.

It is hard for us to go to a priest and confess our sins. We don’t like to admit we messed up. Yet this is how Jesus wants us to reconcile with God, because Confession humbles us and makes us real. “Father in Heaven, help us put away our pride and humbly declare by confessing our sins that You are God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Blessing and Dismissal

https://frgilleshomilies.blogspot.com

 

© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC

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Thanksgiving in Canada: cultivate an attitude of gratitude - Oct 12th, 2020 at Mary Queen of the World Montreal QC

 Homily MP3 file                                      A Poustinik's Prayer of Dedication PDF file  

THANKSGIVING IN CANADA - 2020 

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the gifts of life, family, friends, and most of all, your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ - son of Mary who with her husband Joseph mentor us in our family life - Glory be to You O God in your Holy Spirit for ever and ever! Amen!

A Poustinik’s Prayer of Dedication

For the renewal of my journey into and from the Poustinia – October 11-12^th, 2020 – Thanksgiving

Dedication of my service to the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Most Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, by the Father’s holy Will, you are united by the Holy Spirit in perfect love and you look upon us with mercy and caring.  You inspire in our hearts – through the same openness to the Holy Spirit – the same confidence you have in the Father’s love and the same eagerness to obey Him. 

Lord Jesus, with the prayer and love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to help us, I consecrate my heart, my life, my family, my fraternal community, the great Family of the Madonna House Apostolate – every parish community, leadership team, pastoral council, and fabrique – every diocese, every baptized brother and sister, and my ministry to You.

We know the beautiful example of your home in Nazareth – kept with love and devotion by Mary and Joseph – was meant to be a model for each of us and for our families.  We hope to have, with your help, the unity and strong, enduring love you gave to one another.  Mentor us in the ways we need to walk in order to live as loving children of the Father – men, women, youth, and children – especially those suffering from confusion in their sense of who they are as human beings. Fill our homes with joy, and may we always be close to your sacraments.

Bless those who are present, as well as those who are absent, both the living and the dead; may your peace always dwell among us.  Bring to your gatherings of faith everywhere all those You are drawing to yourself, and those who have drifted away, or are lost, and especially – in person or virtually – all those who are ill, homebound, disabled, or suffer in any way.

Grant your reconciliation to all those who have taken offence on account of us, and grant us the grace of being ambassadors of your reconciliation and peace. Keep us in communion with your United Hearts; may your guiding light and protection be with us always.

United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, I trust in you – hear our prayers.

Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Holy Family and Protector of Christ’s Mystical Body the Church, walk with us through daily life in God’s Love, and lead us unceasingly to the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary. 

Holy Angels – especially our Guardian Angels – we bless and thank you for your faithful and precious assistance. Keep us close to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and far from evil ways.

Heavenly Father, I trust in You.  I offer You the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the Triumphant Bleeding Wounds of Jesus, and the Tears of our Loving Heavenly Mother Mary.  Lord, your Will be done.  Amen.

© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC            © 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC

The Holy Spirit helps us accept others and serve out of love. Sept 27th, 2020

Homily MP3 File 

            Good day dear brothers and sisters! It is good to be here, gathered together, in faith and in joy in the Presence of the Lord. It has been a difficult and perplexing week. Our public health authorities are very concerned – as we all are – about the rise in cases of Covid-19 infections in Québec. In fact the measures taken a week ago in the middle of the night between Sunday and Monday morning give the impression of a reflex action suddenly taken in a spirit of panic.

How else are we to understand such harsh measures to suddenly, and without warning or consultation, demand that churches reduce the maximum number of people for worship from 250 to 25 in the orange high alert region of Montreal? It takes at least a few weeks for churches to communicate effectively with all of their members. In addition, we could well ask the question: “Are churches in actual fact hot spots for the propagation of the virus?”

All reports indicate that it is in bars and other social centers where people mingle freely that the virus is most quickly propagated. Planned and spontaneous gatherings with no social distancing are also at high risk for spreading the virus that causes the Covid-19 infection. With our safety measures here in church we are quite safe from spreading the virus if any already infected come and don’t know they are carrying the virus. If we have symptoms of infection we all know we must stay home and of course isolate ourselves until the infection is over.

There are many other reasons why we experience trouble in life today. One reason is because of our faith in God. Our God the Creator of the universe is infinitely attractive and fascinating, and people are either drawn to God or else they turn away from God with anger and hatred or simply indifference. This is what happened to Jesus. In today’s Gospel, it is the time when Jesus is coming to the Temple in Jerusalem and will soon be arrested and put to death. The chief priests and elders of the people have hardened their hearts against Jesus and refuse to be impressed or even consider the truth of his words or the wonder of his miracles.

Instead they are obsessed with knowing what authority He claims to have and the origin of his authority. This is because they are convinced that Jesus speaks with authority and that He is a threat to their own authority over the people. Well, they are right. They refuse to consider that it is actually God who invests Jesus with authority and that Jesus is God’s own authority in Person. They refuse to accept that the authority that Jesus exercises is motivated by divine love.

For these and other reasons many people love Jesus and others hate Him. Through the prophet Ezekiel God showed the people how their way of thinking was unfair. God declared that if a good person abandons their goodness and turns to evil and does evil acts, and if they remain in their wickedness; then they will die and be lost. On the other hand if a wicked person has a change of heart and turns away from their evil ways and repents; then they shall not die but live and in this way they shall gain their life also for eternity. Some people don’t like the Lord’s ways because they are attached to their evil ways or to evil desires they keep secret.

The possibility that a good person might change and do evil might frighten us, but this is a warning to us to keep a guard over our hearts and remain vigilant over our words, attitudes, emotions, and behaviours. The Holy Spirit comes to us as God to bring light to our minds, hearts, and spirits and peace to our consciences and bodies. As we welcome the Holy Spirit He opens our minds, hearts, and spirits to Jesus, and it is Jesus who leads us and shows us the way in every moment and situation of our daily living. Jesus fills us with his love and the love of the Father and They show us how to love others in the same way that They love us.

Saint Paul teaches us to make efforts to “be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”

The Holy Spirit can show us how to become more like Jesus if we are willing to pay close attention to the guidance the Holy Spirit gives us inside our own mind and heart. Let me give you an example. For most of my life since I was a child, I became aware of the ways in which other people were kind and good to me or, in contrast, how they were mean or unkind or rude or unpleasant and so many other ways in which people can be a cause of suffering.

Then, when I was middle aged, I suffered losses when two wonderful young priests who had lived with me were moved and assigned elsewhere. Soon after I suffered another loss when my time ended and I had to leave a parish where we loved one another. Then I found it painful to live with a certain priest and suffered additional grief after the death of my mother and then a year and a half later the death of my father. As a result I suffered a mild clinical depression. As I received treatment, I began to receive hints that it might also be difficult at times for other people to live with me. That possibility had never occurred to me until that moment. For many years I lived my life without thinking what it might be like for others to live with me.

That was a major turning point in my life. The light the Holy Spirit gave me, with the help of doctors and other health professionals and priests and women counsellors, opened a whole new chapter in my life. I was now able to relax in the presence of others and not worry anymore about how other people behave or whether I like their behaviour or not. I was finally able to accept others just as they are, just as God accepts all of us just the way we are. God still offers us divine grace and help to move away from evil and do more good and in this way to grow in our willingness to be loved and our eagerness to love others in the ways they need to be loved.

So let us continue to pray for one another that we might accept the encouragement and grace of the Holy Spirit to open wide our heart, our mind, our spirit and even our body to the presence and the love of God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us take a few moments in silence to reflect on this Good News spoken to us by the Lord.

© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC

Jesus is attractive - OT 18A 2005 at St. Thomas à Becket

 Homily MP3 File  

© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC

Homily while in training - Saint Paul University Seminary - S.P. Institute of Pastoral Studies - St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Nov. 17, 1981

 The Kingdom Is Now

Le désir d’appartenir est universel, et notre foi allume en nous le feu qui guette le Royaume. À tout âge ils nous sont donnés des signes indicateurs de sa présence, dans les personnes et les événements de chaque jour. Arrêtons-nous et soyons attentifs, dans la solitude comme dans le partage, aux moments d’humour et de larmes, d’angoisse et de joie, de faiblesse et d’amour : - pour y voir les signes; pour y découvrir le Royaume qui nous précède.

The striking personal differences in persons that we know invite from us an equally personal response; which either brings us together or sets us apart. There comes a moment of truth. Remember the baseball fever that gravely afflicted some of us a month ago, or the far-out costumes that some of us brought to life at Hallowe’en: from the Wicket Witch to the Happy Clowns. We laugh and sing about our differences, or accept them after some difficulty; because, “After all, variety is the spice of life!”

On a deeper level, we are moved when a person’s whole being is filled with sadness, anger, pain – for them a searching moment of truth; or elated by friends who are married, give birth to a child, or return from a retreat – as they overwhelm us with a joy they cannot contain… a beautiful moment of truth.

Such is the experience of Eleazar – a 90-yer-old man still filled with awe for the Almighty. This intimate relationship, enfleshed in the tradition he received as a boy, continues to fill his life with meaning and peace. He is glad to tell the world; - even if his friends don’t understand and the henchmen beat him; it is his moment of truth.  We see here an old man caught up in a powerful vision of the Kingdom – a vision which his friends cannot share – reluctant as they are to endure the same death. Remember Pontius Pilate who later found himself equally reluctant to share Jesus’ vision of the truth; - he heard only the words.

Zacchaeus experiences the unexpected; - “What they say is too good to be true!” Bored with life, he boldly displays his eagerness to catch sight of this Jesus; - who immediately under-stands him as he sits in the tree. The door to the Kingdom swings open, and Zacchaeus joyfully enters in! – surprising yet longed-for moment of truth – giving his life new value and purpose. Yet the joy of this encounter touches no sympathetic chord in his onlookers; only self-righteous annoyance and jealousy.

The Kingdom is here: waiting behind the doors of every person, moment and space, every encounter and inner experience. The doors aren’t always open to our awareness, and the door that opens is often unexpected. As Master of the House, Jesus knows which doors are the most accessible for us, and He opens them… even catching us by surprise. Others might not see the opening at all, but our heart beckons us on…. What joy waits for us there. What greater joy there is when we also see others enter the Kingdom through their experiences – how enriching to let their vision strengthen our own as we journey…. God as we worship – in Spirit and in truth.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC