God in Jesus accompanies us into the storm and saves us - 3rd Sunday of Easter - LSM sponsored by CAM - April 18th, 2021 - OLF Parish

    Homily MP3 version                                 Homily PDF version      

Christ is risen, alleluia! Good evening dear sisters and brothers in Christ. So, how are you? How is your family? Although we are in Easter joy, nevertheless, life goes on. I was in a parish this morning that is grieving because their elderly English choir leader was killed by fire in his sleep this week, leaving his elderly handicapped wife with burned lungs and throat. Life is not a picnic by any stretch of the imagination.

The troubles of life often leave us sick to our stomach, flabbergasted, and in shock. All the evil in the world seems an insult to life and to our human dignity. In fact, God is even more horrified than we are in the face of all that is evil. What’s even more astounding is that God understands our inability to react or to respond when evil knocks us down.

The Acts of the Apostles remind us that God in his goodness shows understanding to the people and religious leaders who put Jesus to death. God had already foreseen that his envoy from Heaven would be rejected and killed, but He fully intended to make of his death the very instrument by which God would offer us liberation from our sins, from every evil, and from the very fear of death itself.

Admittedly, it is difficult for us on seeing Jesus to acknowledge him the Son of God and our Lord. Even the Apostles “were startled and terrified” when Jesus appeared to them. They remained “frightened… and doubts arose in their hearts… disbelieving and still wondering” for quite some time. Jesus made considerable efforts to convince them that it was indeed Him and that He had indeed overcome death itself.

As incredible as it seems, God has confidence in us, even though from all time God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit had foreseen that when the Son would come to Earth, very few of us would be capable of welcoming Him, and the powerful among us would put Him to death. Not only had the Father foreseen this disaster, but He wanted that Jesus’ death would give ultimate expression to the merciful love of God for humanity.

In spite of their terror and astonishment, their doubt, and their slowness to believe all that Jesus had taught them, Jesus is fully confident in his Apostles. He takes the time to “open their minds to understand the Scriptures”. Then, concerning all these things, Jesus said to them “You are witnesses of these things.” Notice that Jesus did not send them out to the whole world; He did not put pressure on them to carry on his mission. No. Jesus left them entirely free and to their own initiative to decide for themselves whether they wanted to be his witnesses.

Brothers and sisters, do you realize how free you are before God? God does not push you in the back to do this or to do that…. What God desires is that we all personally meet Jesus, that we may become convinced ourselves that Jesus is living, that He is risen from the dead, that He is with us, that He loves us, and that He would like us to be his witnesses today. Jesus wants to share with us his own joy and He wants our joy to be complete, but He wants it to be really our own experience, that we may truly taste the goodness of his love within us.

It's possible for us to meet God when life is wonderful, when we are successful, when all goes well, when we find nature beautiful, when it feels good to be alive. Yes. But more often than not, when all goes well, we are inclined to not even think about God. We all too often forget to thank Him. We don’t realize that the most important reason to go to church on Sunday is to give thanks to God and glorify Him. We don’t often think during the day to adore the Lord in his grandeur, in his goodness, for his love and for his inexhaustible mercy. We are often distracted.

As it is, all too often it is when things go wrong, when we suffer, when we feel alone or rejected, all too often it is in the storm that we think of God. When we finally do turn to Him, He lets us know that He is always there for us, that He is always here, and always ready to rescue us and to welcome us into his love. Jesus calls us to not be afraid to live, to not be afraid of life, to not be afraid of the unknown; for He is always with us.

When we are tempted, Jesus gives us his Spirit to helps us resist the temptation and to put all our trust in Him. When we are in pain, Jesus reminds us that He endured his passion so that he could share all our distress; so that we might realize by his presence that we are never alone and that He is our strength.

When we are faced with people who bother us, Jesus helps us to understand that these people are offered to us by God to provide us with the opportunity to love our neighbor as God loves us, even when they are difficult to love.

In the storm of our emotions, we can, with Jesus, stop, remember, and put our trust in the love of God for us, and encouraged by his love, we can choose to go through our trials with attitudes of love and of peace. In spire of the burden of our emotions, we can put aside our anxieties, preoccupations, and worries, and instead turn to God, and with God we can show mercy to our neighbor, our family, and even to strangers. Christ is risen, alleluia!

Allowing God to manifest the power of his love and mercy through us in all our encounters with others, this is the joy of Easter! Let us find our delight in God the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us take a few moments in reflect on Jesus radiant presence among us.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Poustinik

Easter Sunday / - Dimanche de Pâques - 4 avril / April 4th, 2021 - Paroisse Sainte-Suzanne Parish

 Gospel & Homily / Évangile et Homélie - version MP3        - version PDF   

Christ est ressuscité! Alléluia! (Il est vraiment ressuscité! Alléluia!) (Expliquer)

Christ is risen! Alleluia! (He is truly risen! Alleluia!) (Explain)

Frères et sœurs, la résurrection de Jésus n’est pas un événement de l’ordre de la politique, de l’économie, ou de la culture populaire; ni alors, ni aujourd’hui. La preuve est que Pierre devait tout annoncer et expliquer au centurion romain et sa maisonnée. Le matin de Pâques, Pierre est allé avec Jean au tombeau et ils l’ont trouvé vide comme Marie Madeleine. Ensuite Jésus leur est apparu, mais au début ils étaient lents à croire ce que Jésus leur avait déclaré : qu’Il devait mourir et ensuite ressusciter le troisième jour. Pour nous non plus, la résurrection de Jésus n’est pas évidente. Nous avons tous à croire en Jésus et Lui faire confiance.

So, the resurrection of Jesus was not a fact belonging to the political or economic world of those days; nor was it part of popular culture, no more than it is today. Peter and John and the other apostles and disciples were slow to believe what Jesus had told them: that He would die and rise again on the third day. Jesus’ resurrection is not obvious for us either. We need to put our faith in Jesus and trust Him. God waits for our faith in order to give us new life.

When we were baptized, we were introduced to God and the Father adopted us as his very own children. God loves every human being, but through Baptism we are brought into a more personal and intimate relationship with our Creator in Jesus. Now it’s up to us every day to make room for God in the course of living our days and nights.

Par le baptême nous avons été introduits au Bon Dieu et le Père nous a adoptés pour ses propres enfants en Jésus. Dieu aime tous les êtres humains, mais par le Baptême nous entrons dans une relation plus personnelle et intime avec notre Créateur. Maintenant c’est à nous de faire de la place pour Dieu dans le courant de nos jours et de nos nuits.

Pourquoi souffrons-nous tant de découragements, d’anxiétés, de craintes, ou de désespoir au milieu de nos défis, de nos troubles, de nos déceptions, de nos craintes, et de tout ce qui vient assombrir nos existences? Au fond de nous il existe toujours un doute que Dieu est vraiment bon. Toutes les misères du monde semblent crier à pleine voix que Dieu est méchant. Mais cette voix ténébreuse et malfaisante est la voix du diable – l’adversaire de Dieu qui divise et cherche à nous séparer de Dieu. Son nom est aussi Satan, l’Accusateur.

C’est un non-sens que nous pourrions être séparés de Dieu… Jésus a accepté d’être exécuté pour nous démontrer à quel point Dieu est pour nous et qu’Il nous aime. Dieu fait déjà tout ce qu’il Lui est possible de faire; maintenant c’est à nous de donner une réponse à ses avances d’amour et de réconciliation. Allons-nous humblement admettre notre péché et nos fautes? Allons-nous accepter son pardon? Allons-nous croire qu’Il nous aime? Allons-nous chercher à L’aimer à notre tour? Mais comment nous est-il possible d’aimer Dieu?

Why is it that in the course of our challenges, troubles, disappointments, fears, and all that darkens our human existence we suffer so much discouragement, anxiety, fear, and despair? Deep down we doubt that God is really good. The world is full of troubles which seem to cry out loudly that God is evil. To tell the truth, this dark and evil voice is that of the devil – God’s enemy who divides and tries to separate us from God. His name is also Satan, the Accuser.

It doesn’t make sense that we could be separated from God… Jesus accepted to be executed to show us how much God is for us and loves us. God is already doing all He could possibly do; now it’s up to us to give a response to his overtures of love and reconciliation. Will we humbly admit our sin and our faults? Will we accept his forgiveness? Will we believe that He loves us? Will we try to love Him back? But how exactly can we possibly love God back?

How can we love God or give Him anything when He is already complete? God is a Holy Trinity of divine Persons full of life and of love for each other; we cannot add anything to God. However, since God loves us, He hates to see us suffer and be miserable; so, we can stop causing misery and stop hurting ourselves and each other. We can accept to be loved by God and show gratitude by loving our neighbor; even when the neighbor is difficult to love.

Comment est-il possible d’aimer Dieu, Lui qui est une Sainte Trinité de Personnes divines pleines de vie et d’amour mutuel? Dieu est déjà complet et on ne peut rien ajouter à Dieu. Mais puisque Dieu nous aime, Il n’aime pas nous voir souffrir. Nous pouvons cesser de nous faire du mal à nous-mêmes et aux autres. Nous pouvons permettre à Dieu de nous aimer et montrer notre gratitude en aimant notre prochain; surtout quand notre prochain est difficile à aimer.

Nous laissons Dieu nous aimer quand nous Lui ouvrons notre pensée, notre cœur, et notre esprit par la prière souvent durant la journée et même la nuit. Dieu nous invite à être intime avec Lui; alors pourquoi pas le faire? Nous aimons Dieu quand nous acceptons l’invitation de Jésus de participer à la Sainte Eucharistie le dimanche pour ensuite faire de toute la journée du dimanche le Jour du Seigneur pour nous reposer et prendre joie dans notre famille et nos amis.

We let God love us when we open to Him our thoughts, our heart, and our spirit through prayer often during the day and even at night. God invites us into intimate friendship with Him; so, why not do it? We love God back when we accept Jesus’ invitation to participate in his Holy Eucharist on Sunday and rest all day long on the Lord’s Day and take our delight in our family and in our friends. C’est l’Esprit Saint qui vient à notre aide pour nous ouvrir à Dieu. The Holy Spirit is with us to help us love God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us take a few moments in silence to reflect on this Good News given to us by the Lord. (bil) 

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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

Palm Sunday / Passion Sunday - LSM sponsored by CAM - March 28th, 2021 - OLF Parish

  Gospel & Homily MP3 version                                 Homily PDF version     

Dear brothers and sisters, what a story we are living today! We have been held captive for a year now by this worldwide Covid-19 Pandemic. Behold! Today we have been allowed – to a maximum of 250 people – to return to church. Naturally, we must still observe the public health protocols; so, our church doors have not yet been opened wide. Here, the maximum is closer to 65. Still, we can give thanks to God for inspiring those who govern us to allow us to worship God this Holy Week and for Easter.

Today, the Lord’s Day, is a day of contradictions – we call it Palm Sunday but also Passion Sunday. The palms are for praising Jesus and for welcoming Him as King… while the passion, well that is literally the execution of our God. On one side of our face, we make Jesus our King, but on the other side, we kill Him. We have really messed things up…. What a story!

God must love us a lot to send his only-begotten Son to Earth, and for the Son who became Jesus to accept to take the risk of living among us. We’re a sorry lot, and I include myself in this. Sooner or later, we hurt those we love, and we neglect or forget our loved ones when it doesn’t suit us anymore to please them. We believe in God, but we don’t really expect Him to make a difference in our daily lives. We constantly throw ourselves into taking charge of our situations just because we can’t stand to wait to give God time to act. What a story!

Nevertheless, Jesus knows us very well; so, the big shock is that He loves us anyway! So, this is the great drama of Holy Week. What shall we make of Jesus? This year, how will we react to the proclamation of his passion, his death, and his resurrection? What shall we do about our life, our family, our situations and our concerns? What a story!

In addition, it is as clear as mountain stream water that God invites us to enter into intimate family relations with the Most Holy Trinity. Jesus presents us to his Father and the Father invites us to accept his love, his forgiveness, and his great mercy. The Holy Spirit invites us to enter more deeply into our spirit, and there to welcome friendship with the living God. These three Divine Persons invite us to show our love and gratitude by loving our family and our neighbour as ourselves. How shall we respond? What a story!

And here is the clincher. God asks us to forgive each other all our sins and all our faults, without limit! He even wants us to love our enemies, without necessarily making them friends; at least there’s that. What a story!

This Holy Week let us walk together with the Apostles, Mary Magdalene, Veronica, Simon of Cyrene, Mary the Mother of Jesus, and accompany Jesus on his Way of the Cross; as we pray to God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us take a few moments in silence to reflect on Jesus’ awesome Passion.

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3/28/21 | Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion - The main event upon which our faith is based... Had it not been for what happened between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, we would never have heard of Jesus. - Homily by Archbishop Seán Patrick O'Malley OFM Cap of Boston Archdiocese, MA

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Pope Francis on Palm Sunday: Let us ask for the grace to be amazed 

Presiding over the liturgy of Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Pope Francis underscored the sense of interior amazement that marks this celebration and remains with us throughout Holy Week. For the second year in a row, Pope Francis led the celebration of Palm Sunday inside Saint Peter’s Basilica with a limited congregation participating due to the Coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, millions joined the celebration with the customary global television and radio broadcasts and live streaming. In his homily for the occasion, the Holy Father focused his thoughts around the sense of amazement evoked in today’s liturgy and all of Holy Week, since we go from the joy of welcoming Jesus as he enters Jerusalem to the sorrow of seeing him condemned to death and crucified. We hear of the crowds shouting “Hosanna” and a few days later crying out “Crucify him”. The Pope said this contrast reflected a reality where people admired Jesus, but did not let themselves be amazed by him. He said both terms are fundamentally different: admiration “can be wordly” since it follows its own likes and expectations, whereas, amazement remains open to the wonder of others and the newness they bring, allowing our attitudes and lives to change as a result. We have to go be beyond admiring Jesus, the Pope said, and “follow in his footsteps, to let ourselves be challenged by him; to pass from admiration to amazement.”

Homily of Pope Francis on Palm Sunday 2021 HD on YouTube 

Every year this liturgy leaves us amazed: we pass from the joy of welcoming Jesus as he enters Jerusalem to the sorrow of watching him condemned to death and then crucified. That sense of interior amazement will remain with us throughout Holy Week. Let us reflect more deeply on it. From the start, Jesus leaves us amazed. His people give him a solemn welcome, yet he enters Jerusalem on a lowly colt. His people expect a powerful liberator at Passover, yet he comes to bring the Passover to fulfilment by sacrificing himself. His people are hoping to triumph over the Romans by the sword, but Jesus comes to celebrate God’s triumph through the cross. What happened to those people who in a few days’ time went from shouting “Hosanna” to crying out “Crucify him”? What happened?

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Poustinik

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

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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

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God offers us friendship and calls us to accept that we need to believe and trust in Him - 2nd Sunday of Lent, Feb. 28, 2021 - MQP - JLW Parish

 The Gospel and Homily MP3 file                    The Homily PDF file   

Today, the Lord’s Day, Almighty God speaks to us, the divine Eternal Word of our Father in Heaven and Eternal Son speaks to us about human sacrifice, trials and tribulations, the scary reality that God lets us be tempted and tested, and the transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of his chosen Apostles Peter, James, and John.

When we hear or read about human sacrifices, we spontaneously think of primitive societies and of people practicing primitive religions in which idols – strange gods who are not the true God but in fact are probably demons – demand human sacrifice. It seems shocking to us that God, who called Abram to leave ancestral religion behind, to leave his country for an unknown land He promised to give him; that God now demanded that Abram sacrifice his only son.

When Abram left his homeland, he also put behind him the local religion with its common practice of making human sacrifices. Abram followed God’s voice for 25 years and God blessed Abram and lengthened his name to Abraham as a pledge of his promise that he would have so many descendants that he would expand and become a people, God’s Chosen People.

As it happened, God gave Abraham and Sarah in their old age only one son, Isaac. So, it is all the more difficult to understand why God would demand that Abraham make of Isaac, his only son, a human sacrifice: killing him and burning him up as a holocaust. At the last moment God stopped Abraham and provided a substitute victim, a ram caught in a bush; saving Isaac from death. Then God revealed to Abraham that he had passed the test.

This is very disturbing, because it confirms our experience that God does at times put us to the test. We don’t like being tested, but God is sovereign, and He alone knows his holy will for us, for our eternal destiny, for the good of our families, and for the salvation of humanity. It is also true that our human potential for good does not become activated until we face adversity and are obliged by troubles to make an effort to put into practice our ideals and values. If we never had any trouble in life; then we would remain weak and undeveloped.

God also needed to prepare a people who would one day be ready to welcome his divine and only-begotten Son when in his incarnation He would take flesh of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the action of the Holy Spirit. We just finished celebrating Jesus’ Nativity at Christmas.

Today we see Jesus transfigured in radiant light and talking with Moses and Elijah about his suffering and death about to take place in Jerusalem. When Isaac, the true son of Abraham and Sarah was substituted for sacrifice by a ram, God taught humanity that his divine Son was substituted for sacrifice by Jesus’ humanity. The Divine Son of God could not die, but Jesus in his humanity could die. Death is the just punishment for all of humanity’s crimes and violent exploitation of others, and for all our sins against God’s love. Jesus died so we might live.

Illness, trials and tribulations, suffering and death – we find all of these revolting – and we often pray to God, asking Him to deliver us from all of them. We know from experience that at times God does deliver and protect us; while at other times, He allows us to suffer instead. We find it almost impossible to understand the ways of the Lord; still, we need to be more grateful.

Part of God’s plan for our life and eternal salvation, is that we learn to put our faith in God, to trust in Him. God has revealed to humanity through his Son Jesus that our Creator loves the human beings He has created. We cannot give our Creator a genuine return of love; not unless we choose and decide to believe in Him, to put our trust in Him. We cannot love what we fear, but we can love what we hold in awe and amazement with respect.

This is the meaning and purpose of the Season of Lent, and of our whole life on Earth: to learn to freely choose and decide to hold God in awe and amazement with respect and to give our Creator a genuine return of authentic love. This is why Jesus gave his apostles the “Last Supper” and commanded them to “do this in memory of Me”. This is the primary purpose of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: Jesus invites us to share in his own attitude of obedience to the Father’s will, even when we don’t fully understand his will, and especially when we find his will revolting, scary, and completely undesirable. This is how Jesus himself felt on Holy Thursday.

This is also why Jesus declared that we cannot be his disciples unless we accept to carry our cross and follow Him. No doubt the heaviest part of our cross is the daily burden of not knowing or not understanding why God allows us to suffer trials and tribulations, to be sick, suffer, and die, and why God gives humanity such extreme freedom that we actually do terrible things to one another. At no time in human history have there been as many human sacrifices as in our own day. Each year 40 million innocents are ripped from their mothers’ wombs and killed. They are slaughtered primarily because we men don’t support our women, and because both men and women have lost any sense of the sacredness of life and of our fertility. We have made pleasure our idol and have made it more important than life itself. We need to be saved.

If you haven’t been to confession in a long time, maybe now would be a good time to do it while we are still alive on this Earth. Jesus is there through the priest to give us his mercy.

So let us continue to fast, do penance, give alms to the poor, and pray for one another that we might accept this Lent to allow God to purify the intentions of our heart, our mind, our spirit and even our body, and renew our ability and willingness to trust in God our Creator with our lives, and to love God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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

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

God our Father makes us his children and says to us... "Do not be afraid!" - N.Y. Day, 2021 - MQP - JLW Parish

 Gospel & Homily MP3 version        Gospel & Homily PDF version     

Happy New Year dear brothers and sisters! Happy Feast Day of Mary, Mother of God!

To some people it sounds strange to call Mary the Mother of God. They understand that she is the Mother of Jesus, but why call her the Mother of God? In the first few centuries of the life and history of the Church there were many arguments about the mystery of Mary’s motherhood.

It was because some believed that Jesus was God but only pretending to be human. Others believed that Jesus was truly a man but only blessed by God and not actually God Himself. It took quite some time for the Holy Spirit to help people understand that Jesus is truly God, the only-begotten Son of God the Father, and at the same time, Jesus is truly human, the son of Mary by the mysterious overshadowing of the Holy Spirit who conceived Jesus in her womb.

 Can we try to imagine what it must have been like for 13 or 14-year-old Mary to receive the visitation of the Archangel Gabriel and his astounding message? We have trouble trusting in God for our health or daily bread or job or marriage or harmony in our family or peace in the world. I don’t think we would react very well to the visitation of an angel from heaven.

Zechariah, the father of the child who later grew up to become John the Baptist, was a priest. He was a good and holy man of God; yet even he had trouble believing the Archangel Gabriel who appeared to him with a heavenly message. As a result of his unwillingness to believe, Zechariah was struck dumb by God. God’s plans for humanity are not trivial because they are about life and death, but more importantly, they are about our eternal salvation.

The heritage that God our Creator has in store for every human being is eternal life. To live forever, without any ending at all, is a very big deal. Eternal life is so precious that its value is impossible to calculate. In any event, eternal life cannot be bought or sold, and no human being will ever be able to produce eternal life. Living forever is a gift that only God can give.

The quality and the kind of eternal life into which we will enter at the moment of our death, when we leave behind our mortal earthly home, depends on the quality of life we will have put together all along the way leading up to our final moments and our final breath on this Earth.

When Jesus had become a man and entered into his public mission entrusted to Him by the Father, He made it crystal clear that our eternal life will be either happy or miserable based on whether or not we become willing to live our life out of confidence in God and love for others; as opposed to living our life out of fear and obsession with our own selfish impulses.

That is why today’s Solemn Feast of Mary Mother of God is also the World Day of Peace. It is God’s design that human women have been created with an innate capacity and willingness to give life and to nurture life. There is no equivalent feast of fatherhood because all men are called to give life by lovingly and generously putting themselves at the service of all women.

 We could well ask ourselves one simple question: “Am I living my life out of love, or out of fear?” Many men are called by God to follow Jesus and serve humanity as priests, but so many don’t answer the call; it is probably out of fear. Many of us priests could be more generous or dedicated as we are called to be; but we might be afraid. Many infants in the womb never see the light of day, but instead are torn to shreds and ripped out of their mother’s womb; again, it is probably out of fear and probably more the fear of the man than the fear of the woman.

You see, God loves us so much that He has designed our human life in such a way that we never have to live in isolation, but rather, in the warmth and harmony of family life and human community. If we live in isolation it is all too often because we make choices based on fear and not on love. Love pulls us away from the objects of our fear in order to draw our attention to the God who loves us and wants to fill us with his love. God wants every woman to be cherished and surrounded by those who love and support her, and similarly, God wants every man to be respected and surrounded by those who love and support him.

When the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and Mary, his first words to them were “Do not be afraid.” Gabriel observed that both the old man and the young virgin were startled by his appearing and he immediately addressed their fear and invited them to replace their fear with confidence and trust in God. Opening our heart to others also opens our heart to God.

Through Baptism God has given us the power to become children of God by freely choosing to believe in Him and put our trust in Him. This is faith: choosing freely to put our trust in God even when we don’t understand. It is this faith, this willingness to trust in God no matter what that enables us to receive the relationship God is offering us every moment of every day. As we turn to God with joyful anticipation and hope, we turn our back on fear and open ourselves to be touched and given life by the love of God. We get to know God more personally by reading the inspired Word of God in the Bible, by opening up our mind and heart to God in prayer at all hours of the day and night, and by opening our heart and our hands to our neighbor.

If you haven’t been to confession in a long time, maybe now would be a good time to do it while we are still alive on this Earth. Jesus is there through the priest to give us his mercy.

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 given to us by the Lord.

 

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

Funeral Mass - Alice Winifred Marolly - Dec. 30th, 2020 - Sainte Suzanne Parish Church

Homily in MP3 mode file         These Christmas Days we wonder at the marvelous light shining on the face of the Infant Jesus - and we get the message that all God wants of us is to share friendship and the love of family bonds. If we accept to receive what God offers; then He is free to give us all that He wants to give. However, if we don't accept to receive his offer; then He can do very little for us. In such a case, we isolate ourselves and are "on our own". This choice is ours not only in a potential relationship with God, but in all our relations.

Brief Communion Reflection - Closing Rites - in MP3 mode file            Alice Winifred Marolly obviously enjoyed a close relationship with her God, and this was reflected in how she related to everyone else, beginning with her family. How can we delve more deeply into fully engaging and rich relationships with others and also with God? It begins at every moment with "desire". We are so designed that there emerge within us many desires, but the key desire is to have a relationship with someone... with other human beings... and also with God. As long as we nurture this desire and do something about it; then the other can respond and reciprocate. If I stop desiring; then I shut the gate. 

At the cemetery - Bede Jarrett's poem prayer 

We Give Them Back to You, O Lord

We give them back to You, O Lord who first gave them to us;

yet as You did not lose them in the giving, 

so we do not lose them by their return…..

For what is yours is ours also, if we belong to You.

Love is undying, and life is unending, 

        and the boundary of this mortal life is but a horizon, 

        and the horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.

Lift us up, strong Son of God, that we may see further. 

Cleanse our eyes that we may see more clearly….

And while You prepare the place for us, 

        prepare us also for that happy place; that we may be with You, 

        and with those we love forevermore.

 

Prayer used by Fr Bede Jarrett, O.P. (22 August 1881 – 17 March 1934)

Written by William Penn (1644 – 1718)

Christmas Day / - Jour de Noël 25 décembre / December 25th, 2020 - Sainte-Suzanne

Gospel & Homily / Évangile et Homélie - version MP3        - version PDF   

It has been a full nine months since the beginning of the worldwide Covid-19 Pandemic in Québec and Canada last March. That is the duration of a human pregnancy, and it has not been a joyful one, but a difficult, painful, and sad time of dreaded expectancy. Under these circumstances, how can we go around wishing one another “Merry Christmas?”

 La Pandémie mondiale Covid-19 nous a frappés ici au Québec et au Canada il y a neuf mois, le temps d’une grossesse. Ce temps d’attente n’a pas été joyeux mais difficile, douloureux, et trop souvent triste. Comment allons-nous faire pour nous souhaiter : « Joyeux Noël? »

La joie de Noël que Dieu le Père nous offre en donnant à toute l’humanité son Fils n’est pas la jovialité du « party ». C’est plutôt la joie de se savoir aimé, et que cet amour est permanent. Dieu n’arrête jamais de nous aimer. The joy which God the Father offers all of humanity at Christmas is not the merriment of “party time”; rather, it is the joy that erupts from knowing that we are loved, and that this love is permanent. God never stops loving us.

We who are disciples of Jesus and known as Christians and Catholics are not naïve. We know well enough that life is an uninterrupted procession of troubles ending in physical death. Human beings have always known this. Today, and for the next 16 days until the Baptism of the Lord, God envelops us in the warm blanket of peace and love, joy and hope at the sight of the Infant Jesus in Mary’s or Joseph’s arms or in the manger. The beauty and peace of the Infant Jesus is a balm applying God’s healing and merciful love on the wounds of our heart and soul.

Cependant, nous Chrétiens et Catholiques, nous ne sommes pas naïfs. Nous savons comme toute l’humanité que la vie est une procession ininterrompue de troubles nous menant jusqu’à la mort. En ce Noël, et pour les prochains 16 jours jusqu’au Baptême de Jésus, le Bon Dieu nous enveloppe dans une couverture douce et chaude de sa paix, de son amour, de la joie et de l’espérance à la vue de l’Enfant Jésus dans les bras de Marie ou de Joseph ou dans la crèche. La beauté et la paix de l’Enfant Jésus est un baume appliquant l’amour miséricordieux et guérisseur de Dieu sur les plaies de notre cœur, de notre âme, et de notre esprit.

This Pandemic has confirmed what humanity has always known, namely, that God does not come to rescue us from trouble as if by magic. On the contrary, God leaves wide open the full range of our freedom of thought, word, emotion, attitude, gesture, and action. We all suffer the consequences of our errors and sins; as well as of the errors and sins others. We know that we will die; yet in the face of all this darkness, Jesus has come to offer us the hope of sharing with Him in the resurrection and joining Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit in Heaven.  

Après neuf mois de Pandémie mondiale il est tout à fait évident que le Bon Dieu ne vient pas nous secourir comme par magie; au contraire, Dieu nous laisse grand ouvert le champ de notre liberté de pensée, de parole, d’émotion, d’attitude, de geste, et d’action. Nous souffrons tous et toutes les conséquences de nos gaffes et de nos péchés, et de ceux des autres. Nous savons que nous mourrons; mais face à tous ces ténèbres, Jésus est venu nous offrir l’espérance de partager avec Lui la résurrection et le Ciel en communion avec le Père et le Saint Esprit.

The Infant Jesus is small, humanly weak, and innocent, but we already know that as Son of God He will be great, a master of divine wisdom, and a true champion. He will courageously face our faults and all our troubles. He will not make what hurts or frightens us disappear as by enchantment. No, He will show us that we have nothing to fear regarding our eternal destiny, and because He is always with us in the Holy Spirit, we can face the present with complete confidence in God and endure everything without complaining. Jesus is our joy.

L’enfant Jésus est tout petit, humain, faible et innocent, mais nous savons déjà que, Fils de Dieu, Il sera grand, un maître de sagesse, et un vrai champion. Il fera face courageusement à nos défauts et à tous nos troubles. Il ne fera pas disparaître comme par enchantement ce qui nous fait peur ou mal. Non, Il nous montrera que nous n’avons rien à craindre concernant notre destinée éternelle. Il est toujours avec nous dans le Saint Esprit. Nous pouvons affronter le présent avec toute confiance en Dieu et tout endurer sans nous plaindre. Jésus est notre joie.  

Alors laissons-nous emporter dans la joie de contempler l’innocente beauté de l’Enfant Jésus et laissons notre cœur se dilater par amour pour Lui et pour Notre Père du Ciel; car l’Esprit Saint vient à tout moment nous remplir de la vitalité et de l’amour de Dieu. Faisons plaisir au Bon Dieu à tout moment et en toute circonstance; car Emanuel vient trouver sa demeure au-dedans de nous. Il vient nous rendre capables d’aimer tout le monde, même ceux qui veulent se faire nos ennemies. Jésus vient faire toute chose neuve; alors en Jésus nous pouvons dire à tout le monde sincèrement et avec abandon : Joyeux Noël!

So let the innocent beauty of the Child Jesus sweep us away, and let our hearts swell with love for Him and for our Father in Heaven; for the Holy Spirit comes at every moment to fill us with the vitality and love of God. Let us seek to please the Good God at every moment and in every situation; for Emanuel comes to dwell within us. He comes to enable us to love everyone, even those who would make themselves our enemies. Jesus comes to make all things new; so we can truly say to everyone with great abandon: Merry Christmas!

Let us now wish one another “Merry Christmas!” in the love of God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Tournons-nous les uns vers les autres maintenant pour nous souhaiter un « Joyeux Noël! » dans l’amour de Dieu : le Père, le + Fils, et le Saint Esprit. Amen. « Joyeux Noël! » “Merry Christmas!” 

https://frgilleshomilies.blogspot.com

 https://homeliesabbegilles.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

The LSM sponsored by CAM continues... God invites us to unburden our hearts to receive his JOY... Jesus' Nativity is near... "Rejoice!" - Sunday Dec. 13th, 2020 - LSM - OLF Parish

 HOMILY MP3 file          HOMILY PDF file   

Good evening dear brothers and sisters! Welcome to our 3^rd Sunday of Advent! For the first time in seven years and 2 months we are no longer gathered together around Bishop Thomas Dowd, who is now bishop elect of Sault-Ste-Marie Diocese. He served us and offered us his friendship since his ordination to the priesthood December 7^th, 2001 and his consecration as Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal September 1oth, 2011. This Thursday, December 17^th, he will be installed as 7^th Bishop of Sault-Ste-Marie Diocese, Ontario. This week he is moving into his residence and office in Sudbury and will also be working in North Bay and Sault-Ste-Marie. You will be able to take part by Internet in his installation in North Bay via Salt+Light or SSM.

The 1^st Candle in our Advent Wreath gave witness to the great reason for our hope: that in Jesus our heavenly Father is eager to grant us forgiveness for our sins and restore our dignity and abundance of life as his children. The 2^nd Candle in our Advent Wreath gave witness to the faith of all those who went before us on this journey towards God on Earth and that we too are called to deliberately choose to live our life with complete faith and trust in God through Jesus.

Today, the 3^rd Candle in our Advent Wreath gives witness to the nearness of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. The other 3 candles are a beautiful, deep purple, signifying our need to repent of our sins, to accept God’s grace to change our attitudes and behaviours and convert our lives to become more like Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Today the 3^rd candle is pink, expressing beautifully the JOY which is ours as we come closer and closer to December 24^th and 25^th; when we will celebrate the Nativity, the Birth of Jesus, the Saviour of the world, Jesus, the Light of the world.

The joy which our God offers us today is not like the joy which people can experience every day in the course of our earthly life. Earthly joy naturally erupts within us when we receive and open a beautifully wrapped present, or have a birthday party, or receive a promotion at work, or get a raise in salary, or when we get married, or witness the birth of a baby. These moments all have their own value, and it is God’s intention that we have moments of joy in our lives.

No, the joy which God offers us today, and every day as his children living in this world, is a supernatural joy; it is a participation in the joy which is in the Most Holy Trinity, and it is a joy which has eternal value because God the Most Holy Trinity is eternal.

This divine JOY erupts within us when we freely choose to use the supernatural gift of faith infused within us by the Holy Spirit and recognize that all that we are and all that we have is coming to us from God, from within the Most Holy Trinity, and is an expression of God’s love.

Today this divine JOY erupts within us by the grace of the Holy Spirit as we approach our celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, the Saviour of the world, Jesus, the Light of the world. As we turn our eyes, minds, hearts, and souls to Jesus, like a bright ray of sunlight the love of God shines upon us and gives supernatural warmth to our spirits; no matter our situation in life.

It is the Holy Spirit who filled Mary with this divine JOY, prompting her to erupt in praise to God in what we now call her Magnificat: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” When we permit God to shine his radiant divine light within us, we too erupt with divine JOY. This divine JOY is one of the wondrous characteristics of the eternal beatitude of the saints in Heaven, in the divine Presence of the Most Holy Trinity. We can be aware of this divine JOY when we encounter Jesus in the sacraments, and especially in Holy Communion, when Jesus gives us a transfusion of the divine life He has with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Our body needs to replenish its strength be eating one or more meals each day; so too our spirit needs to be constantly replenished by God.

As our local star the Sun constantly shines forth its light and heat; so too does God the Most Holy Trinity constantly shine forth divine light and the fire of divine love. However, just as our rotating Earth plunges us into darkness and cold every night; so too can we plunge ourselves into the cold and dark of distance from God by our choice of thoughts, attitudes, words, actions, and behaviours. It is true that some thoughts, emotions, and gestures erupt from within us as if without our consent; so God does not blame us for those human faults. However, God as our loving Father, does discipline us and lovingly expects us to make efforts to “clean up our act” in order to give more room to the expansion of love, to make efforts to spread attitudes of kindness and compassion, and to spread the works of mercy.

That is why this Late Sunday Mass is the foundational activity of Catholic Action Montreal; as intended by Bishop Tom Dowd, and as maintained and developed by the leadership of CAM and all those who bring their cooperation to this great communal work of love and mercy. John the Baptist baptized with water to give the people an opportunity to decide to turn away from all that is evil and become free to live their lives in the company and spirit of the living God.

Jesus continues to offer God’s mercy to all who desire his forgiveness, to unburden our heart to love God and others as we love ourselves, in purity of heart. In addition, Jesus refills us with the Holy Spirit, without whose power we are often powerless to change. If you haven’t been to confession in a long time, now would be a good time to do it while there is still time.

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. 

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