Jesus calls us to be perfect and holy - how is this possible? The key is authentic love. - February 19th, 2023 - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The L.S.M. of C.A.M. at St. Willibrord Church, Verdun

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.

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

  7th Sunday in Ordinary Time  

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

 Homily MP3 version - PDF version 

Optional Spiritual Exercise: Sacred History Reflection on My Life 

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 

“Whoever obeys the word of Christ, grows perfect in the love of God. Alleluia!”

Sisters! Brothers! Good evening. Here we are at the end of the Lord’s Day. Our Lord Jesus does not beat around the bush tonight – he says to us: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Through Moses, the Word of God addressed all the congregation of the children of Israel in similar terms: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

The Lord is merciful, too; so, we don’t have to strain our brains to figure out what his word means. We are not to hate anyone of our kin; we are to reprove our neighbour. We are not to take vengeance or bear a grudge, and we are to love our neighbour as ourself. Jesus will have us imitate Him in his attitude as the Lamb of God. We are not to fight or resist those who impose on us but, on the contrary, we are to be generous and go beyond what is demanded of us. We are even to “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us”.

“Whoever obeys the word of Christ, grows perfect in the love of God. Alleluia!”

There is no denying that it is very difficult for us, and even seems impossible at times, for us to follow in the steps of Jesus. Consider the challenge for Fr. Robert Clark to accept to endure his sudden illness and find himself on a hospital bed for weeks, or Fr. Robert Assaly, who has recently shared with his parishioners the news of his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Their attitude of trust in the Lord is from a human point of view astonishing, but from a faith point of view; both of these younger priests are an inspiring example for us. For those who know him, so is the layman Stephen Sims, who is currently in the palliative care unit of Lachine Hospital. 

We who are here to worship our God on the Lord’s Day believe that our Creator God is merciful and loves us, and that the Most Holy Trinity want us to enjoy forever their company with all the angels and saints in the Father’s House, in Heaven. Isn’t it ironic or even strange that none of us are in a hurry to come to the end of our lives? No matter what difficulties are ours in this life, we seem to be quite content to remain here on Earth for as long as possible. This is natural, given the beauty of God’s Creation and the wonder and value of life itself.

“Whoever obeys the word of Christ, grows perfect in the love of God. Alleluia!” 

Isn’t it strange, then, although we value life a great deal for ourselves, that under certain circumstances, we deprive others of this same value of life. If it is inconvenient to find ourselves pregnant, so many people around the world become willing to kill that innocent life which is unable to speak for itself and say to us in no uncertain terms: “Please, let me live!” All too often, the pregnant woman is abandoned to her own resources by the man. Where is that man? Why is he unwilling to take responsibility for his part in giving life to a new human being?

“Whoever obeys the word of Christ, grows perfect in the love of God. Alleluia!” 

Consider the challenge of being married and our reluctance to accept the other as they are, our relentless impulse to control the other and reshape the other according to our own desires and expectations. Jesus has revealed to us the key to understanding why we allow ourselves to get caught in such traps and contradictions. The key is love, and that love drives out fear. If we do not live as children of God, if we are not holy as God is holy, if we are not perfect as God is perfect; it is simply because we are afraid and we give in to our fear, instead of trusting in God. 

“Whoever obeys the word of Christ, grows perfect in the love of God. Alleluia!” 

The most heroic human beings who ever lived were afraid, but they refused to surrender to the fear. When it is easy to pray and we feel God’s love, that is not faith; we are simply being carried by God’s grace like a baby in its parent’s arms. When we feel alone or abandoned by God or it is hard to pray, activating our faith is simply deciding to pray anyway, to trust in God anyway, no matter what. That is faith. We are holy when it is difficult to love, but we love anyway. We are perfect when we have been hurt and it hurts to forgive, but we forgive anyway. This is foolishness in the eyes of the world, but this is the truth and wisdom of the Most Holy Trinity. God fills us with peace and joy when we walk in the ways of the Lord; when we listen and obey, when we give up our will and deliberately seek to know and to do the will of God.

In a few moments, it will be time to place at the altar our offering to God. It is ourselves that we offer: all that we carry within us, our reluctance to be holy, our distaste for being perfect; our hopes and our fears, our desires and our regrets, our sins and our repentance, and even our own will. Let us open wide our spirit to God; so that the Lord may do in us all that He desires to do: to lead, to forgive, to heal, to make us holy and perfect, and to give life.

“Whoever obeys the word of Christ, grows perfect in the love of God. Alleluia!” 

“Our Lady of Ville Marie, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. St. Brother André, pray for us. St. Kateri, pray for us. St. Willibrord & St. Thomas More... St. Marguerite Bourgeois & St. Marguerite d’Youville... All you holy women and men, pray for us. 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 continues to fill us with the Radiance of the Most Holy Trinity.

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

© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC           © 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC

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

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 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Jesus invites us to be real and honest with God and accept his friendship. - January 29th, 2023 - 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The L.S.M. of C.A.M. at St. Willibrord Church, Verdun

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.

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

  4th Sunday in Ordinary Time  

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

 Homily MP3 version - PDF Sacred History Reflection on My Life 

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 

A few afterthoughts from the homily....

The Word of the Lord speaks to us today a lot about humility... a virtue, attitude, perspective on life which we find everywhere in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Have you ever thought much about humility? What does humility have to do with anything in your real life? What difference does it make, or can it make, in your family, home life, at school or at work, with your friends, out in society at large? Why does God insist so much on it?

This is simply because God's attitude from the beginning towards us human beings, and why He created us male and female to begin with, is that the Most Holy Trinity are forever offering us to enter into friendship with them. God is inviting us to enter into and to participate in the intimate life of the Most Holy Trinity, and to do so by way of friendship.

Friendship is a relationship based in complete freedom and it is always a gift which can never be demanded, bought or sold, or expected. To enter into friendship with anyone, we need to be honest with ourselves as well as with them. This is what humility is all about, accepting the truth about ourselves rather than living in an illusion of what we would like to be or how we would like others to see us. 

Jesus goes so far as to actually offer us to enter into partnership with Him - this is the meaning of the "gentle yoke" He offers us - He offers to be our "first reference" in our Marriage, family life, business enterprises, work or school, in all that we do. Imagine how different our life could be if we accept Jesus' offer and do nothing, make no decisions, without Him, without consulting Him in prayer first!

A humble person can of course improve themselves and grow; they simply refuse to entertain any illusions about their actual conditions and circumstances at any given moment. As we do admit our own truth to ourselves, we become aware of our shortcomings, our faults and failures, and our sins. Sins are the ways in which we shut God out or shut others out of our mind, heart, or soul. We sin whenever we enter into illusions of life rather than the reality of life, or when we try to grab for ourselves that which can only be given as gift. We sin when we refuse to accept the love of others, humans and God, or when we demand that they love us on our terms rather than in the freedom which is theirs.

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

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 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

The Lord calls us to surrender our will to his... his will is better. - December 18th, 2022 - 4th Sunday of Advent - The L.S.M. of C.A.M. at St. Willibrord Church, Verdun

   4th Sunday of Advent 

VOCATION: Jesus calls us - He calls us to follow Him, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to 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 

“May the Lord come in; He is the King of glory. Alleluia!”

Sisters! Brothers! Again, good evening. St. Joseph is our Father’s gift to us today, this 4^th Sunday of Advent. The testimony we receive in the Gospel is that St. Joseph was a righteous man. He was a good man, a holy man; who loved God and always wanted to do God’s will. It is not always easy to know what is God’s will or to do it, as we observe happened to St. Joseph; when he found out that Mary had become pregnant before they had begun to live together.

The Law required adulterers to be stoned to death. Any woman who became pregnant by a man not her husband or before marriage was an adulterer. As Joseph searched his religious tradition in order to know what God’s will was for him in this situation, the best he could see or understand was that he should withdraw from his engagement to marry Mary. However, Joseph did not think that Mary deserved to die; so, he decided to withdraw secretly from marrying her.

“May the Lord come in; He is the King of glory. Alleluia!”

Everyone knows that after a few months, it usually becomes obvious that a woman is pregnant. This automatically made a pregnant woman an adulteress if the man who joined with her was not her husband. What can often be unfair in these situations is that there is no external sign on the man who commits adultery. Jesus draws our attention to this disparity, even today, between the treatment of men’s sins and the treatment of women’s sins.

There is another disparity which causes us even more trouble: the disparity between our human will and the will of God. Even when we try to discern or interpret the will of God, what we want to do remains, basically, our will. The will of God remains, in itself, hidden within the Most Holy Trinity. We know that the will of God is manifest in nature, in the order, beauty, and purpose of Creation, but even then, in order to know with certainty what is the will of God; we need to ask God to confirm our discernment. St. Joseph thought the will of God was obvious in Mary’s pregnancy, but as it turned out, her pregnancy was the work of the Holy Spirit in Mary, and the will of God was for Joseph to go ahead and marry her anyway in spite of the Law.

“May the Lord come in; He is the King of glory. Alleluia!”

This need for discernment and for confirmation from God continues to be the way it is for us. We need to learn how to ask God to show us his will and to confirm our understanding of what is his will. If we don’t take this additional step; then, we are likely to misinterpret what is the will of God like Joseph did. We cannot expect God to give us signs in every circumstance like the dream He gave to Joseph. The normal way to ask God to show us his will and to confirm our interpretation of his will is through prayer and praying with Scripture.  

“May the Lord come in; He is the King of glory. Alleluia!”

God is greater than the Law. If we make no effort to know the will of God, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer; we are likely to distort the words and their meaning. Without even realizing it, we can end up praying like this: “MY kingdom come, MY will be done, in Heaven as I want it to be on Earth.” It is good to pray carefully and intentionally the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” However, just saying the words over and over again isn’t enough. We need to take the extra step each day of looking for confirmation of our understanding of what the will of God is for us in the real circumstances of our lives.

“May the Lord come in; He is the King of glory. Alleluia!”

Christians have come to understand that the “highway” to always doing the will of God is to make it a common practice every day to surrender our will, to set aside what we want in order to make room for what others want – our spouse, our parents, our siblings; yes, and even our children and our enemies. The more we set aside what we want, the more likely we are to make room for the will of God. This Christian discipline is called mortification, or dying to oneself, or putting to death our own weak, narrow, limited, and selfish human will.

This sounds gruesome, but the Most Holy Trinity actually fill us with peace and joy when we walk in the ways of the Lord; when we deliberately seek to know and to do the will of God.

In a few moments, it will be time to place at the altar our offering to God. It is ourselves that we offer: all that we carry within us, our hopes and our fears, our desires and our regrets, our sins and our repentance, and even our own will. Let us open wide our spirit to God; so that the Lord may do in us all that He desires to do: to lead, to forgive, to heal, and to give life.

“May the Lord come in; He is the King of glory. Alleluia!”

“Our Lady of Ville Marie, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. St. Brother André, pray for us. St. Kateri, pray for us. All you holy women and men, pray for us. 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 continues to fill us with the Radiance of the Most Holy Trinity.

 

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

 

© 2006-2022 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC           © 2006-2022 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC

Rejoice! Jesus comes to manifest his power as God in our poverty and weakness. - December 11th, 2022 - 3rd Sunday in Advent - The L.S.M. of C.A.M. at St. Willibrord Church, Verdun

  3rd Sunday in Advent 

VOCATION: Jesus calls us - He calls us to follow Him, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to 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 

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. Say to the faint of heart: Be strong and do not fear. Behold, our God will come, and he will save us. Alleluia!”

Sisters! Brothers! Again, good evening. Have you ever thrown one spaghetti strand to the ceiling or wall in your kitchen to see whether it was done? They say that if it sticks; then, it’s ready. I may have tried that in my youth, but I didn’t like it; rather, I learned to bite into it and in this way, I developed a conviction about the precise moment when the pasta is “al dente”, which means, literally, “to the tooth”; that is, cooked but still firm, not soggy. There is no better conviction than that which comes through our own personal experience. This is the great lesson of life that we all come to learn as we journey through our youth towards adulthood.

For many centuries now, Christians – especially in the Western and Eastern traditions – rejoice on this day, the 3^rd Sunday in Advent, realizing that “the Lord is near”. Are we able to rejoice, simply on hearing someone say to us: “Rejoice!”? Anyone can, with effort, put on a happy face, but that is not the same as joy. In a similar way, nothing and no one can make us happy. Happiness is a wild thing that unpredictably drops in, unannounced, perhaps when certain conditions are right. Joy, on the other hand, is a gift from God, a heavenly attitude.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. Say to the faint of heart: Be strong and do not fear. Behold, our God will come, and he will save us. Alleluia!”

Have you noticed recently any of God’s wondrous miracles? Don’t be too quick to say no. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.” These things happened too often to count during the 3 short years Jesus walked this Earth. Then, before his Ascension into Heaven, Jesus commissioned his disciples to “go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to observe all that I have taught you.” Jesus assured them, and us, that He would manifest his power and glory through us and confirm the truth of our words with his deeds of power.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. Say to the faint of heart: Be strong and do not fear. Behold, our God will come, and he will save us. Alleluia!”

If we haven’t seen manifestations of Jesus’ power to transform hard hearts, to reconcile enemies, to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and speech to the mute, or to make the lame walk; it is perhaps because we have not dared to ask, we have not risked making fools of ourselves by offering to pray with others, to gently lay hands on them in prayer.

Another possibility is that we have prayed in faith for others, but our eyes have been blind and our ears closed to notice the Lord acting with power in the lives of those for whom we have prayed. We pray, then walk away; we stop paying attention. Well, maybe it’s time to wake up!

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. Say to the faint of heart: Be strong and do not fear. Behold, our God will come, and he will save us. Alleluia!”

“But Father, you’re a priest; we’re only lay people. We don’t have Holy Orders!” Ah, yes, but Jesus ordained only the 12 Apostles. All the other disciples were lay people. Jesus sent all of them, as he sends all of us, all of you, to go out and make disciples by telling people about Jesus, offering to pray with them, and calling on the Lord to show them that He is real.

People say: “I don’t need Confession. I confess my sins to God directly.” Wonderful! Do this often, but you also need to be reconciled. We are all connected in Christ. Every sin I do affects everyone. Every act of love, courage, service, or generosity that I fail to do darkens the sky over us all. Jesus is our Head. Jesus alone can restore our unity and peace, our solidarity in love, and our joy in the Father’s love. Jesus has chosen to offer this reconciliation through the ministry of his priests. When I offend the whole Body of Christ and God; only God’s chosen envoy can bring me back through reconciliation into the communion of the Most Holy Trinity.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. Say to the faint of heart: Be strong and do not fear. Behold, our God will come, and he will save us. Alleluia!”

Jesus came for sinners. He wants to shine the Light of his truth to dispel the darkness deep within us. His Light is gentle, a divine Fire which burns away all that is sinful, bitter, impure, untrue, false, to make room for the love, peace, goodness, truth, and beauty which are in the Most Holy Trinity. One of the fruits God gives in a good Confession is heavenly JOY!

In a few moments, it will be time to place at the altar our offering to God. It is ourselves that we offer: all that we carry within us, our hopes and our fears, our desires and our regrets, and even our sins and our repentance. Let us open wide our spirit to God; so that He may do in us all that He desires to do: to forgive, to heal, and to give life.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. Say to the faint of heart: Be strong and do not fear. Behold, our God will come, and he will save us. Alleluia!”

“Mary Queen of Peace, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. St. Brother André, pray for us. St. Kateri, pray for us. All you holy women and men, pray for us. 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 continues to fill us with the blazing Light of God.

 

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

 

© 2006-2022 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC           © 2006-2022 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC

Jesus wants us to confess our sins to Him through his priest so that we may be reconciled. - December 4th, 2022 - 2nd Sunday in Advent - MQP Church in JLW Parish

 2nd Sunday in Advent 

VOCATION: Jesus calls us - He calls us to follow Him, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to 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 

“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!”

 Hello, Sisters! Brothers! Have you ever kicked a soft drink dispensing machine? Maybe you haven’t, but you probably have felt frustration with something mechanical, or more likely, with another human being. It is so very human to experience frustration and even anger when things go badly or don’t work properly or when what we expect to happen just isn’t happening.

Fr. Francis is available right now to receive you if you would like to meet Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we make a good confession, Jesus sets us free from our sins, our regrets, and from anything holding us prisoner and preventing us from being fully alive.

“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!” 

Well, it’s hard to admit the truth to myself, and it’s even harder to admit the truth to others, but it is not uncommon for us Christians to feel frustrated with God. We pray and we pray for some intention and we wait and we wait for the answer to come, and for various reasons, we feel as though God is not answering us. At least, the answer we want just isn’t happening.

Fr. Francis is available right now to receive you if you would like to meet Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we go before the priest to make a confession, it is Jesus Himself, in Person, who listens to us, suggests to the priest what to say to us, gives us his mercy and forgiveness, asks us to make a penance or gesture of thanks, and sends us on our way with his blessing. Jesus needs us to be his witnesses in our world as his missionary disciples. When we put our weakness in his hands, we allow Jesus to manifest his power through us.

“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!” 

During Advent, the Word of God spoken to us is so beautiful and encouraging. Through the prophet Isaiah – almost 800 years before Jesus – the Lord spoke of the coming of the Messiah, the promised Anointed One who would bring perfect peace to humanity and to nature itself. We all know only too well that both humanity and nature are still in terrible trouble today. There are wars in many places on Earth and our natural environment is in deep trouble. We could well ask: “Lord, why aren’t You doing something about all of these troubles?”

This is how the Lord Jesus answers us, as He does every day: “My Father and I are doing everything we can with the Holy Spirit. The Father sent Me, and I came. There was no room for me in Bethlehem and I accepted to be born in a stable among the animals. My Mother Mary and Joseph accepted to endure these things with complete trust in the Father. Join with us.”

“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!” 

We just heard the voice of John the Baptist denouncing the religious leaders of his day: “But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, John said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”” The others coming to John for baptism in the Jordan River were sincere in their intention to make a change in their lives, but the religious leaders considered themselves to be perfect and above reproach. They blamed everyone else for the troubles of their world.

We are preparing to enter into the joy of Christmas which explodes within us when we see God coming to live among us as a Baby. This Baby will grow up into the Son of Man who will accept to take on Himself the blame for all the sins and troubles of the world. Jesus doesn’t ask us to carry the weight of the whole world on our shoulders, because He is already doing that, but He does ask us to admit our own part, to stop blaming others, and to confess our own sins.

“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!” 

We all carry a darkness deep in our soul… our refusal to admit the truth about ourselves, not wanting to humble ourselves before God, thinking we don’t need to go to confession. Jesus wants to shine the Light of his truth to dispel the darkness deep within us. His Light is gentle, but it is a divine Fire which burns away all that is sinful, bitter, impure, untrue, false, to make room for the love, peace, goodness, truth, and beauty which are in the Most Holy Trinity. Fr. Francis is still available to help you meet Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

In a few moments, it will be time to place at the altar our offering to God. It is ourselves that we offer: all that we carry within us, our hopes and our fears, our desires and our regrets, and even our sins and our repentance. Let us open wide our spirit to God; so that He may do in us all that He desires to do: to forgive, to heal, and to give life.

“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!”

“Mary Queen of Peace, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. St. Brother André, pray for us. St. Kateri, pray for us. All you holy women and men, pray for us. 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 continues to fill us with the blazing Light of God.

 

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

 

© 2006-2022 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC           © 2006-2022 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC

Memorial Service for Bernie Lavigne & Lois Floyd Lavigne - Our God loves to be part of our assemblies. We trust Bernie & Lois are with Him. - October 22nd, 2022 - Assembly in Danny & Sheila's home

 We pray in anticipation of the Resurrection 

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

 The Word of God, Fr. Gilles' Homily, Prayers, and sharing by Danny, Kaytlin, & Grace MP3 version 

Memories shared by Kaytlin, Grace, and Danny PDF file

(Grace Lavigne)

 Celebration of life

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

I cry because you have passed away, but I smile because we lived a great life together. Today is

a very special day because all I can think of is you.

A few weeks ago on your anniversary, we took out your old projector and we watched pictures

of you. It made me feel good to see all of your memories.

Grandma, you were so smart, kind and creative. You made me a baby blanket, which is still my favorite blanket. I would love spending time with you while you would knit.

Grandpa, we used to walk to the park together and go on the swings. Once you surprised us with a cool Lego set and every time after it would be on the same shelf. I loved when you lived with us and we would come home from school, you would ask us how our day was and would tell you all about it.

What I miss the most is every Father’s Day we would get your favorite meal, which is lobster and you taught me to crack open the shell. Grandma didn't like lobster, so we would make her chicken Alfredo which made me happy because I would eat it too.

Grandma and Grandpa, I know that you are safe and happy together now. I know you are not in pain and you are running free in heaven. I think about when you were young and healthy and I believe that is how you are spending your days together. I love you both with all my heart.

I have a little video for you guys –

love you so much –

love, Grace

(Kaytlin Lavigne)

Grandma and Grandpa were the most amazing and incredible people in the world. They would make me laugh and smile all the time.

Grandpa would tell me thousands of stories about him when he was younger. I remember when I came home one day from school when grandpa was living with us, he told me the story about how he met grandma in a bar. He told me how he would take the train from New Brunswick to Quebec on Christmas eve and sing Christmas carols with people on the train.

One time we went to visit grandma in the hospital and we brought a bunch of nail polishes and we let her choose her favourite colour and she pointed out this really pretty purple and I painted her nails for her.

When they lived in the house in Pierrefonds, we would always go on the deck swing. It was our favourite thing. Grandpa would go on with us and make us go really high until we hit the back of the deck railing. While we were doing that grandma would make us kraft dinner or butter and salt pasta.

They had a bird house and we would watch the birds go in and out grabbing the seeds. There was a park down the road we used to go to and there was this one time when we were pretty young but old enough to remember.

We saw a guy with his dog and the dog was so cute, his name was PK. We turned around for literally one second and grandma started swearing. PK peed on grandma's shoe. We all started to kill ourselves laughing. That was probably one of my favourite memories. Now to this day we all sing PK peed on grandma's shoe.

Grandpa and Grandma spent so much time with us. They would help mama and Dada with the house. Grandma would help with the gardening and grandpa would help with the building. Grandpa loved Tim Hortons, every time we slept over, we would drive to go get Tim’s. Every Christmas we would get him a gift card and he would always order a coffee and an egg sandwich.

Grandma loves chicken alfredo pasta and whenever we asked for mama to make it, she always does and it reminds us of grandma. It makes me feel better to know that they are together now. I love them with all my heart and I know Grandpa and Grandma are still looking over dada, mama, me Liam and grace. We will always be a family!

(Danny Lavigne)

Hi guys thank you for being here with us it means everything in world to me. All of us here today have different beliefs and our own thoughts but one thing we all have in common is life and death. I’ve learned that every day after their passing is hard, but remembering all of the good times we all spent with them makes it a little easier.

As a child, you look at your parents as your teachers, the ones you look to for comfort and support love and guidance. I looked to my parents for everything and they were there for whatever I needed, all their attention, time and love because they knew that's what counted the most.

Time, the one thing you can't get enough of but they showed me that if you fill that time up with love it will last forever. As a little boy it felt like time stood still, because it was filled with road trips, sports bike rides and summers at Thorndale pool. It didn't matter what we did, we were together. It was the three of us and that's all I needed.

As an only child some People would say oh you must have been spoiled. and I was, not in the sense of material things but with love and attention because I didn't get whatever I wanted, they taught me at a very young age that if I wanted something that I would have to work for it, so dad helped me build a trailer for my bike to pull the mower and mom helped me get contracts from her friends in the neighborhood. Because of their love and support I worked hard and was the richest self made 9-year-old around.

Lois and Bernie were the kindest, most loving parents I could have ever asked for. The both of them Hard working and driven to never give up on a better life and to be better people. I understood why they worked so hard; it meant I was loved and everything they did as husband and wife and as parents they did for our family.

I was lucky to have two people in this world who would love me that much, no matter what. Lois never shied away from being there for others who needed support in one way or another, or to call them out as needed with her favorite saying “what the flip". As her son, I feel like I grew up with the most incredible role model who taught me to be kind, be myself and to always try to be a better person. With Kaytlin, Liam, Grace whom she loved more than anything else in this world. Lois would come to the house and right away grab a baby and smother them with kisses and squeezes, playing with them and making them laugh. Our kids made her love life that much more.

Mom was a good gardener, that's one of the things she took pride in. Her garden was always looking great and well manicured. So, when she came to the house and saw a weed growing in the path or flowers, she would pick it! Lois's blankets. She would spend hours night, after night, making one for everyone she knew, it showed how much she cared for them.

Sheila you were the daughter she never got to have. They both loved you as you were their own and were so proud of the strong woman that you are. I remember when you and my mom first met, Sheila was giving me a lift to school every day and during those first few weeks getting home I would shop talk with dad, but mom more importantly wanted to know about the girl in the car.

I explained how nice Sheila was and how every day was a good day working with her on projects in class. So, one of those first few days, way before we were even dating, Lois wanted to meet; so, she had Sheila out of the car, with a big smile holding her by the arms in true fashion, the hugs and touching of your face and hair turning saying to me! “oh my god she's so beautiful" not embarrassing at all! Mom looking at me then looking at you, and back to me with a smile as if to say don't fudge this up I love her!

Lois was a strong woman who was never scared of hard work, her determination and strength she took with her everywhere especially in sickness, whether it was brain surgery, strokes or car accidents she took one step at a time and worked her way back to health or as close as humanly possible. I will miss her smile, her laugh, her incredibly loud whistle you can hear a mile away when she wanted me home from the park. My Dad the love of her life was there with her throughout every good and bad day.

Dad From Bathurst New Brunswick. The most beautiful country town, but due to the pulp and paper factory it smelled like rotten eggs and cabbage, I missed it the second we pulled out in our old car down Lavigne Street every single time we had to leave to come back home. I loved seeing my Dad; when we were there in the summer, he was an outdoorsman, he knew exactly what to do, where to find it, how to make it, how to fix it or how to catch it. He was my MacGyver.

He was also a great carpenter, building furniture for anyone and everyone, from complicated rocking chairs to folding tables, he even built the tabernacle at church to store the Eucharist, nothing was too hard for him to create. He would read books and magazines to educate himself on techniques and then build something new like he's done it 100 times before and of course with attention to detail. But his favorite creation was what he called the Newfie tambourine. It took quite a few beers to build that masterpiece. I'm sure a few of you have seen him in action or have tried to play it. Once he started it was hard to get him off and the party was going.

One thing I know is that my dad had a good life with a wife who love him and a family who adored him, a son who looked up to him and was always proud to call him my Dad. So, in their vows they said till death do us part. In death they did part, but not for long as I believe they couldn't live without one another. I know all of us will miss them. So, after all Bernie and Lois made good time, the life they created together with that little bit of time, they created a whole lot of love that will never be forgotten. Thank you again for being her today to honor them. They loved all of you and their memory will live on in all of us.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Prayers at the Graveside - Final prayers and Commendation - MP3 File 

Poem by Bede Jarrett - "We Give Them Back to You O Lord" 

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

© 2006-2022 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC           © 2006-2022 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC