Father Gilles' English Homilies

God doesn't usually save us from having trouble, but He is with us in the trouble to enlighten and strengthen us. 2nd Sunday of Advent - MQP Church in JLW Parish - December 5th, 2021

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“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy!”

Brothers and sisters in Jesus, we heard an echo this morning of the suffering endured by the People of God centuries before Jesus; when many of their relatives, friends, and neighbours were taken into captivity in exile. After a few generations, the Lord addressed this good word of encouragement to them – which we just heard – through the prophet Baruch: the Lord had not forgotten his people in exile and He fully intended to bring them back home.

We notice the same pattern today and, in fact, in every generation. The Lord does not keep us from enduring trouble, but once we are in trouble, the Lord does not forget us. In fact, He is right there with us in the very midst of our trouble, and the help we need is what He offers us: He pours his own Spirit into us to give us light and understanding, courage and strength.

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy!”

We would much prefer that the Lord would save us from having to endure trouble in the first place, but that is not the way of the Lord. God knows that when the burning flames of our trouble cast us into the heart of the fiery furnace, those very flames burn away impurities in our mind and spirit, and they purify the intentions of our heart. The very efforts we make to face all our trouble, these efforts actually make us stronger and bring us closer to the person we deeply want to be, closer and closer to the best possible version of ourselves.

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy!”

When we find ourselves in the jaws of some trouble or other, it is a challenge for us to remember that we are always in the Presence of the Most Holy Trinity, and that God is most interested in our life and in our progress. We have been designed by our Creator to love all things and all people with a love that is pure and unselfish, a love that forgets itself in order to give all its attention to the other. However, because of our damaged human condition, we are forgetful of God and, living as if God were absent or as if God did not exist, we put all of our attention and energy into trying to meet all our challenges on our own.

To resolve this human condition of isolation from our Creator, our Father God first sent prophets to his Chosen People, and then in time He sent his only begotten Son into our midst. Now, in our own lifetime, the Father continues to send us his beloved Son, who is one and the same with Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Lord of lords and the King of kings.

Every moment of every day the Holy Spirit, who came to dwell within us at Baptism, shines his divine light within our mind, heart, and soul; reminding us of Jesus and inviting us to open our mind, heart, and soul to Him, to Jesus, the One who came among us as a little Child.

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy!”

Before Jesus launched into the mission entrusted to Him by his Father, the Holy Spirit led Him into the desert, where He was tempted by the Enemy of Mankind, Satan the devil, to be rich, famous, and powerful. He tempted Jesus to be the opposite of what the Father sent Him to be among us: poor, unknown, and weak, like us.

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy!”

We are all of us tempted in similar ways by the Enemy of Mankind, Satan the devil, to be rich, famous, and powerful. Wealth, popularity, and power are of themselves good things and are very attractive to us human beings. The problem with ordinary good things is that they tend to distract us from the best and most important things, like integrity, family, and mutual love.

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy!”

God our Creator designed us; so, He knows that we will only be truly happy when we become the person we are meant to be, when we know where we belong, and when we forget ourselves in order to give our loving attention to others, especially those most in need of us.

John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, is God’s gift to us today, the 2^nd Sunday of Advent, in order to remind us that we don’t need to remain trapped forever in the attractive things of this life. If only we open our mind, heart, and soul to God our Father and ask Him to deliver us; then, He will most certainly set us free by bringing us into a more personal relationship with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The beauty of Advent is that it is a time for us to prepare to approach Jesus at his poorest, most vulnerable stage of life, when He was a helpless little newborn Baby.

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy!”

At Jesus’ Birth, even the shepherds brought little gifts to the newborn Infant. Every Mass is like Christmas. With bread and wine to honour Jesus, we offer to the eternal Father everything that is happening in our life, and all our efforts to live as children of God, since the last time we came to the Altar of the Lord. In our poverty, we pray: « O my Jesus, I trust in You! » Our Good God wants to forgive us our sins and remove from our minds, hearts, and souls every obstacle to his love, for He is God: the Father, and + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In silence with the Holy Spirit guiding us, let us ponder the gift we bring to the Lord.

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

We live in the presence of Jesus, Christ the King of the Universe and the Great Judge - his love helps us not turn our backs on one another. - 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 21st, 2021 - Homily from the Poustinia

Thank you Lord for the little children... their cries and babbling are not a distraction, but they actually help us allow the cries of our own hearts to come out... fears, pains, grief, joy, surprise, anxiety.... MP3

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“Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ, Great King, the Prince of the kings of the Earth!”

Brothers and sisters in Jesus, have you noticed how our Good God makes Himself hidden and silent? As Creator of the Universe, the Most Holy Trinity has no need to give humanity any further proof of its existence than what is already before our eyes. The wonders of nature and of all living species and the magnificence and extraordinary abundance of the stars render their eloquent testimonies to the existence and grandeur of the Good God.

These testimonies come to us from the visible world, but beyond the visible world, there are the innumerable quantity of angels in the Presence of God in his eternity and whom He sends to the Earth with messages, like Archangel Gabriel appearing to Mary to announce God asking her to become the Mother of his only Son; which we are preparing to celebrate at Christmas.

“Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ, Great King, the Prince of the kings of the Earth!”

When the governor Pontius Pilate interrogated Jesus, he did not realize that he was in the presence of Jesus as the Great King of the Universe, the Son of God. What he did not know is that Jesus is the true Judge and that at that very moment it was Jesus who was interrogating him. Would Pilate open himself to the truth manifest in Jesus standing before him? Well, my brothers and sisters, Jesus is also our Judge, because He is the Great Judge of all humanity, and here we are standing in his Presence.

“Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ, Great King, the Prince of the kings of the Earth!”

At this very moment as I speak to you and as you listen to me, brothers and sisters, we are being interrogated ourselves before Jesus, the Great Judge; for He is the only Son of God, the Truth in Person, because He receives from the eternal Father divine Life and He lives this eternal life in the communion of the Holy Spirit. God the Trinity contains all Truth in Himself.

“Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ, Great King, the Prince of the kings of the Earth!”

We who are at this very moment living on planet Earth, we are surrounded by all sorts of truths proposed by human beings but which are not the truth at all. They all demand and grasp constantly after our attention, and they do it either to sell us something or to convince us of something. Whom shall we believe? In whom shall we place all our trust? That is the question of the hour, and it is undoubtedly the greatest question of our lives. There you see one of the reasons why Pope Francis has transferred the annual World Youth Days from Palm and Passion Sunday to this solemnity of Christ the King just before Advent.

“Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ, Great King, the Prince of the kings of the Earth!”

From the dawn of humanity, we inherit from those who preceded us a certain rejection of the Good God. God created us in communion with Him, but with the liberty to choose. We abuse of our liberty by rejecting the Good God, by turning our back on one another, and by destroying the natural environment which is our common home. We observe that humanity is still acting out its adolescence in the face of God and of life, and He, as perfect parent, He respects our choices but never gives up on the hope of winning us back by his merciful love.

How exactly do we experience this interrogation before Jesus, the Great Judge of all of humanity? We live through our interrogation in all the diverse moments of everyday life as we are faced with our neighbour, either in our family, or outside the home at work or at school, at the market, with friends, and in our refusal to take good care of the environment.

“Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ, Great King, the Prince of the kings of the Earth!”

At Christmas we will see who are those who turned their back on Joseph and Mary so pregnant with Jesus, and who welcomed them. The same goes for us. Whom did we welcome this week, and to whom did we turn our back? What did we do for the environment?

Today, whom will I welcome? To whom will I turn my back? This week, whom will I welcome? Against whom will I turn my back? What will I do for the environment?

“Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ, Great King, the Prince of the kings of the Earth!”

What personal offering of myself, represented by the bread and wine, will I now place on the Altar with Jesus? I confess and offer to the eternal Father all those against whom I have turned my back; that He may bless them and forgive me. I also offer to the eternal Father all those whom I managed to welcome since the last time I presented myself before the Altar of the Lord; for I acknowledge that it was only by the grace of God that I managed to welcome them.

Here is my prayer in my poverty: « O my Jesus, I trust in You! »

It is happy for us that the Good God greatly desires to forgive us our sins and to restore us to life, for He is God: the Father, and + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us take a few moments to contemplate the Presence of God in our spirit.

Here's something that can help us keep silence within ourselves... where we meet the Most Holy Trinity... by allowing to echo within us the Name of Jesus... Jesus... Jesus... Jesus...

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When we pray we need to patiently wait on the Lord. He is a great King and communicates as He decides is best. - 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - LSM sponsored by CAM - October 31st, 2021 - OLF Parish

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During the homily, I referred to the crisis experienced by the prophet Elijah as related in the First Book of Kings, chapter 19; when Elijah went seeking the Lord for rescue.

Elijah Flees from Jezebel

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

Elijah Meets God at Horeb

11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

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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

God allows us to endure waiting for his answers to our prayers so we can amplify our desire and so He can purify the intentions of our heart. 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - MQP Church in JLW Parish - October 24th, 2021

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“What do you want me to do for you?”

When you pray to God, what thoughts are you thinking in your mind? What emotions are you feeling in your heart? What is happening in your body? What are the movements in your soul? In your mind, are you thinking that you need to inform God about what you need, about what it is that you are asking of God?

A thought like this is misguided, because God is our Creator, and the Most Holy Trinity knows everything about you… what is happening to you, what you think you need, and what you want God to do for you, but more than this, God knows what you really need the most, and it may not be what it is that you are asking of Him. You may not even be aware or understand.

Perhaps you may be thinking a different thought, that God is not interested or that for some reason you need to convince God about what you think you need. It is not true that God is not interested. It is not true that God needs us to persuade Him to give us good things. However, it is true that often God waits for us to ask for good things. There are many reasons for this.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

In his “Letter to Proba”, Saint Augustine taught that God wants us to exercise our desire. It is hunger that brings us to look for food and to prepare it. It is thirst that brings us to get and to take a drink of water. Bartimaeus called out to Jesus even after “many sternly ordered him to be quiet” and then he cried out even more loudly. The blind man was very motivated to ask for what he wanted from Jesus. He was exercising his desire to see again.

When we pray and ask God for something, we may not be ready to receive it. Our hands may be too full of many things, or we may be too attached to other things, making it difficult or even impossible for us to be able to receive what it is that we are asking of God. It may be that our heart is too narrow and our desire too small to be able to make room for what it is that we ask of God. We may not be willing to forgive someone, or our heart may be full of anger or a desire for vengeance, or our heart may be tied up with many bonds of jealousy. There are so many weeds that can prevent us from being able to receive good things from God.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

We are human and our heart is damaged by evil desires or bad things we have said or done. Our heart can be choked and overgrown by the weeds of sinful desires. For these reasons the intentions of our heart need to be purified. Jesus has given us ways and means to let Him purify our heart. We can go to the priest and confess our sins with the firm intention of turning away from these evils from now on. When Jesus lets us wait, He lets us exercise our desire; so that a desire for the best thing may push out bad desires or desires for good things that are too small.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

So, you see how many thoughts can distract our mind from the one thing that is necessary, and many emotions might be boiling in our heart and preventing us from trusting in Jesus, but we see how kind and tender Jesus is with the blind man. In the same way, Jesus looks at us with great love and compassion – He feels with us what we are suffering – and He waits patiently for us to exercise our desire by asking again and again for what is good, what is most necessary.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

When you are praying to God, what is going on in your body? Are you doing the dishes? Are you driving your car or in public transit? Are you busy at your work place or your work station? It is very good to send to God short prayers all day long during our many activities. It is also necessary at least once or a few times each day to put aside all other activity, to relax our body and be still inside and outside, and to give our full and complete attention to God. It is a relationship with a living being that unites us with God, and we need to practice reverence and respect for God. This is what the Bible calls the “fear of the Lord”. When we love someone and we want to show them our love, we give them our complete and undivided attention.

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”

As we pray to God, the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are listening to us with great love, and They ask us to put all our trust in Them. One excellent way to put our trust in God is to be willing to endure the waiting. God knows what we really need, but often we don’t know what we really need. As we accept to endure the suffering of waiting for what we seek and for what God knows that we really need, in the very fire which burns within us while we suffer the waiting; God is purifying the intentions of our heart and cultivating within us the very best treasure. The very best treasure is our relationship of communion with the Most Holy Trinity.

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”

This is the very best treasure: the grace and the gift of communion with God: the Father, and + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us take a few moments to let the Holy Spirit renew and deepen our love and trust in God.

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We are preoccupied with ourselves, but Jesus calls us to be considerate of others, listen to them, love them, and serve them. 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - MQP Church in JLW Parish - October 17th, 2021

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“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” “Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.”

We hear Jesus. What Jesus declares remains true today. “Among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.” We see how those who exploit the resources of the Earth destroy the landscape, deprive all the creatures of their natural habitat, and pollute the soils, the waters, and the air. In their frantic pursuit of ever greater profits, the wealthy and their companies don’t care about the survival or the well-being of humanity, and they engage in their destructive practices with impunity. They live for today without caring practically about the consequences for tomorrow. For our part, we are so obsessed with our comfort that we justify murder by participating in the extermination of unborn children, mostly because we men do not support our women.

In the face of the destruction of Creation and the death of innumerable people, God our Creator does not impose Himself as almighty King or God to put an end to every evil. No, but rather, the Son of God continues to come among us humbly and as the One who comes to serve. He went so far as to give his life as a ransom for our sins. Jesus accepted to endure the pain of all the evil consequences of all our sins and the sins of all of humanity. He did this to obey the will of his Father; because God wants to show all of humanity for all time how He has chosen to act in order to correct the errors of humanity and the defects of Creation.

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” “Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.”

Jesus loves his apostles and teases the brothers James and John by calling them “sons of thunder”. Like all of us, they are preoccupied with their situation in life here and in eternal life, and they want to assure for themselves a “good position” for their future. Jesus teaches them a lesson, and He teaches us the same lesson, that God – almighty that He is – chooses to walk humbly among us. He has no need to impose his power; instead, God enters into solidarity with us in our weakness and in our sin. Why does He act this way? It is because He loves us and comes to show us the way; in order to save us. What exactly is salvation?

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” “Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.”

What is salvation, exactly? Jesus defined salvation as eternal life, and more specifically, He declared: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” In other words, God offers us to participate in his own divine life, the divine life within the Most Holy Trinity. It is a life of authentic and practical love.

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” “Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.”

How can we adopt within ourselves the attitude of a servant? How can we recognize eternal life as communion with God? The Good God gives us lots of time to convert ourselves and to improve our behaviours. When we are responsible for others, rather than demand to be always right, we might show them patience and understanding, and offer them mercy and kindness in the face of all the challenges of life.

In our family relations, instead of always grabbing the first places, we might put ourselves at the service of the other members of our families; instead of wanting to be loved, we might put all our efforts in recognizing, affirming, loving, and serving others like they were Jesus Himself.

In our intimate relationships, let us not seek our own pleasure and comfort; let us rather try to please others and to offer them comfort and encouragement. With others and with strangers, rather than try to show ourselves as superior, let us simply be present to them, accompanying them with attentive listening in all sympathy and with encouragement.

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” “Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.”

For our own needs, let us take in hand our responsibilities, and for the rest, let us put all our trust in God by practicing to wait patiently for the unfolding of divine providence. Let us keep our spirits free to notice the needs of others and then to put ourselves at their service.

Every day, life offers us endless opportunities to practice putting our whole trust in God; for God alone is deserving to fully enjoy having all of our trust. From moment to moment, let us pray intensively to the Good God for ourselves but also for all the others in the world.

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” “Let your love be upon us, Lord, even as we hope in you.”

Thankfully for us the Good God never tires of forgiving us, He who is God: the Father, and + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us take a few moments to let the Holy Spirit renew and deepen our trust in God.

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