February 27, 2011
Posted in Homilies
at 9:00 am
Eighth Sunday, Year A, February 27th, 2011 – By Father Tim McCauley
We live in the Age of Anxiety, but Jesus speaks to our hearts, saying, “do not worry about your life” (Mt 6:25). They say that the Middle Ages was an Age of Faith, but the modern world, being an age of skepticism and practical atheism, is necessarily also an age of anxiety. How can the people of our times expect to have inner peace with no trust in God?
Technology can do many things, but it cannot take away our fears and anxieties. It is Jesus Christ and He alone, the only Son of the Father, the Bread of Life, the Resurrection and the Life, who frees us from useless fears and anxieties.
I myself have an anxious personality, so I sympathize with all you worryers out there. In sharing with my mother about some of my worries, she says with some regret, “Oh, you get that from me.” But I think it’s just part of life. If I blame anyone – which I don’t – it would be Adam and Eve and original sin! Yes, that broken relationship with God causes us to doubt God’s love and goodness.
Instead of blaming anyone, we must appreciate the hidden grace in all our fears and anxieties. They drive us to pray; they direct and lead us to Jesus Christ. And once we come to Jesus, He is so concerned with every detail of our lives, so grieved when He sees us suffering unnecessarily, adding to our burdens by our worries, that He teaches us in today’s Gospel, “do not worry about your life” (A commandment! Just obey it!)
There are many ways in the Gospels that Jesus teaches us how to conquer fear and anxiety. Today I will touch on four of them. The first is childlike trust in God. As the Son of the Father, Jesus wants to draw all people into His own total trust and self-abandonment to the Father. In today’s Gospel, He encourages us to meditate on the Father’s providential care for all creation, the birds and the flowers, and to consider how much more God our Father loves and cares for us, His children. For we are indeed very small and totally dependent on Him, like the “nursing child” of the first reading (Isaiah 49:15). Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus teaches us that unless we become like children, we will never enter the kingdom of God (Mt 18:3). So the first way to conquer fear and anxiety is to pray for the grace of a childlike humility and trust in God our Father.
The second way is linked to these simple yet mysterious words of Jesus in today’s Gospel: “seek first the kingdom of God, and all these other things will be given to you” (Mt 6:33). We have heard this so many times, that usually we pass over it. “Oh, yeah, we have to put God first to have more peace . . . “ But let’s think about this verse for a minute. “Seek first the kingdom of God.” If we really want to be free from all our useless fears and anxieties, if we really want to enjoy the deep peace that Jesus promises us in the Gospel and in every Mass, we should really strive to get as close as possible to the kingdom of God. Where is it? What is it? Pope Benedict explains in his book Jesus of Nazareth that the kingdom is Jesus Himself. And where is Jesus besides being seated at the right hand of the Father?
I am reminded of a line we pray at the end of Benediction at every Holy Hour (or 24 hours of adoration as we had this weekend – thanks for all those who came to pray). “Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, may your kingdom come through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Interesting. Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, may your kingdom come. We can seek and find the kingdom of God on earth in the Eucharist. Notice that we pray in every Mass, “protect us from all anxiety.” And Jesus promises us in every Mass, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.” The more we are devoted to Jesus present in the Eucharist, during Mass and during a time of adoration, the more His kingdom of peace will come within us. And the more that Jesus lives and reigns in us, the more He himself will conquer in us all fear and anxiety, and even sin and death and hell.
OK? Are you following me? The first way to conquer fear and anxiety in our lives is to pray for a childlike heart, and to trust in God our Father. The second way, to seek the coming of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus in us. The third way is linked to the second. The Eucharist is the Risen Body of Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ and the Eucharist is inseparable from faith in Jesus Christ risen from the dead, in Jesus Christ the Resurrection and the life.
In the book-length interview with Pope Benedict, Light of the World, the Pope and his interviewer, Peter Seewald, remark that in the Church we need to talk and preach more about the last things, about death, heaven, hell, purgatory, the Resurrection, the Last Judgement (179). (By the way, for anyone interested, we will be discussing this book on Saturday, March 19th after a special 9:00 a.m. Mass for the feast of St. Joseph).
One reason in our times that we experience so great a weight of sadness and depression, of sin, death and hell is that we have lost touch with Jesus Christ as the Resurrection and the life. Our hope in Christ has been limited to this world. But in order to conquer our fears and anxieties, we must face the greatest fear of all – death. Only then will we truly encounter Christ as the Resurrection and the life.
In fact, one reason the average North American Mass is nearly totally deprived of joy is due to our collective denial of death. Our culture deals with death by choosing not to think about it. Yet this denial of death is a denial of reality and a refusal to cry out to Christ to save us from death. There can be no joy apart from Jesus risen from the dead. There can be no inner peace, no freedom from worry, no salvation from sin, apart from faith in Christ the Resurrection and the life. I hope this makes sense. If we only believe in Jesus for what He can do for us in this life, then He will never be able to free us from our fears and anxieties. Jesus demands that trust in Him is also trust in the Resurrection.
OK. So we have covered three ways so far by which we can, with God’s grace, conquer our fears and anxieties: 1) pray for a childlike heart and trust in God the Father, 2) greater devotion to the Eucharistic kingdom of Jesus Christ, 3) faith in Christ as the Resurrection and the life.
And 4) is something we all learned in Grade 1 and it is so essential, that even if we work at the first three ways of being free from anxiety, and neglect this fourth one, the others will be useless. And what is it? We must share. Did we not all learn this in Grade 1? Share your toys, etc… We must
share what we have been given.
For those of you who struggle with worry, anxiety, insomnia, do you not know that there are other people who suffer more than you, who could use your help? For those of you who struggle with sadness or depression, do you not know that there are other people who suffer more than you, who could use your help? For those of you who struggle with marital difficulties or challenges with your parents or children, do you not know that there are people who suffer more than you, who could use your help? It is like that with everything in life.
You may think that your faith in Jesus is weak, and you are barely coping with life, and you have no time or energy to help others. That is not true. You are here, aren’t you? Think of all the other people who are not here in Church right now, and who will not be going to any Mass at all this weekend. They also have issues with worry, sadness, and challenges in their marriages and families.
But they don’t have Jesus to help them in the way you do. They are not hearing the Gospel proclaimed to them today in which Jesus speaks to our hearts, saying, “do not worry about your life. You are worth more and loved more than you can imagine by God our Father. He will take care of you.” These people are not here right now to receive some guidance on how to conquer anxiety. There are not here right now to confess their sins before Mass or receive the risen Christ in Holy Communion. You are here. You may think your faith in Jesus is weak, but in comparison with so many unbelievers and so many non-practicing Catholics, you have been given a great treasure. Even your little bit of faith is a treasure, a gift that you must share with others.
One terrible temptation of our culture is isolation, and our self-imprisonment in hidden sufferings that we do not share with others. We try to cope and overcome totally on our own. This can happen even in marriages. We must break out of this “cone of silence” that has descended upon us, and not be afraid to speak of our sufferings, and to risk ourselves in reaching out to others who suffer more than us.
And don’t forget that one of the greatest sufferings in life is not knowing Jesus Christ, in not knowing how much God loves us. Our parish theme this year is to encounter Christ and share Him with others. Sometimes we even use that word “evangelize.” If you are willing to reach out to others in their sufferings, and to look for opportunities to speak to others about Jesus Christ, then you will discover something amazing: when you come to the assistance of others, Christ will come to your assistance; He will rise up against your spiritual enemies and conquer them, and give peace to your heart. When you risk yourself to help others, Christ will pour out upon you blessings a hundredfold that you could never have obtained on your own. Try it out.
So what are four ways that we can conquer anxiety in our life with God’s help? 1) ask for a childlike heart, trust in God 2) seek the kingdom of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus 3) believe in Christ the Resurrection and the life 4) share with others. “Do this, and you will live” (Lk 10:2827
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February 20, 2011
Posted in Homilies
at 9:00 am
Seventh Sunday, Year A, February 20th, 2011 – By Deacon Thomas Stephenson
Today, Jesus is asking us to do a couple of things that we may think are good ideas in theory, but impossible in practise. He tells us that we are to love our enemies, and we are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Can any of us honestly say that we are easily able to love our enemies, or to become perfect? Are either of these things even possible for us to accomplish? If we try using only our own human efforts, these things are pretty much impossible. But, acting in conjunction with God’s help, with His grace, this becomes possible; then, we can move forward in holiness and perfection, and in loving not just our neighbours, but also those we may consider our enemies.
The term “enemies” in this context means more than just those who might immediately come to mind. It is not limited to people who are actively seeking to harm us. It includes those people we may dislike, or those who we feel have wronged us in some way. It may even include someone we have been holding a grudge against, perhaps for many years. And we may also consider as enemies people in our world who promote lies, who have made evil appear to be good, and good to be evil. How are we supposed to love these people? The answer is both difficult and simple – by loving them as God loves us. Imitating God, loving as He loves, striving to be perfect as He is perfect, is the way that we will begin to develop the ability to love our enemies.
Let’s be clear that the love we are talking about is not the same as the love we may have for our spouse, or our children, or our friends. It is the kind of love that recognizes that all people are made in the image of God. It is a love that is genuinely concerned for the other person’s welfare, both physical and spiritual. Right after Jesus tells us to love our enemies, what does he say? Pray for your persecutors. PRAY for them. Don’t curse them; ask God to bless them. We all are aware that there are factions in our world today motivated by hatred. It is up to us as Catholics to respond with love and forgiveness. No one is beyond hope until they are confirmed in their evil when they die unrepentant of their sins. If the situation warrants it, pray for their conversion. Pray for our own ability to understand and forgive them, not just in our minds but in our hearts as well. The origin of our love, for friend and enemy alike, must be in the Lord, and that must be rooted in prayer. And this needs to be constantly renewed and strengthened. It’s not a one time thing that we do and then check it off the list. Yep, love my enemies, got it, on to the next thing. Our efforts in this area never end; we will be constantly faced with new situations that challenge our commitment to loving and forgiving our enemies.
The Psalm we heard today gives us an indication of God’s love and holiness. He forgives our iniquities, He heals our diseases, He redeems us from the pit, He is merciful and gracious. God’s grace working within us is necessary for us to love, and to grow in holiness. Although He would be justified in treating us harshly for our transgressions, instead He offers us forgiveness. He has provided us with the Sacrament of Reconciliation in order for us to experience this forgiveness. His mercy is available to us when we approach Him with a contrite spirit and a desire to grow in holiness, in our relationship with Him.
As we say in the Our Father “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”. We, therefore, need to imitate the love and forgiveness that the Lord shows us.
We are unlikely to progress in holiness if we don’t love our enemies, and it will be impossible to love and forgive our enemies if we don’t grow in holiness. The two go hand in hand. And, this goes beyond ourselves, because as our personal holiness increases, so will the holiness of the community around us. Our holiness leads us to actions in service to Christ, which affect the lives of others, and in turn support our relationship with God.
It is up to us to really work at maturing in our faith. The more we do this, the more we will come to understand that, while our own efforts are important, they will only bear fruit if they coincide with an openness to God’s grace working within us. Then, what may at first seem impossible becomes possible, and we will continue to grow in love and forgiveness, holiness and perfection.
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February 16, 2011
Posted in Homilies
at 9:03 pm
Sixth Sunday, February 13th, 2011 – By Father Tim McCauley
I would like to begin by thanking all of you married couples, who are married in the Catholic Church and practice your faith. You bring God’s love and joy into the world! You are, as it were, walking Sacraments of the union of Christ the Bridegroom with His Bride, the Church. Your every act and word of love, of forgiveness and reconciliation, your every effort to live the commandments in all the details of your marriage and family – all this bears supernatural fruit in the world.
Do you know that there are times when you think you are simply struggling to survive – to be tender with your spouse when it’s not so easy, to be patient with your children when they are driving you crazy. But when others see you, non-practicing Catholics or non-believers, they envy your marital and family happiness! Not because you are faking it for the neighbours, as if to say, “look, kids, wave to the neighbours, smile! OK, they’re going back in the house now (reach over and pretend to strangle a person . . . ). No! You are not faking it!
There is a very real and very great difference between those married in the Catholic Church and who practice their faith, and those who simply live together, or are not married in the Church, and do not practice their faith. You faithful Catholics are the light of the world (as we heard last week) and witnesses to the world that keeping the commandments of God and the Church, as they relate to marriage, is not a burden but a joy!
The readings on this World Marriage Sunday happen to speak to us of keeping the commandments. Jesus refers to the fifth and sixth commandments in today’s Gospel “you shall not kill” and “you shall not commit adultery.” Under this heading of the sixth commandment, the Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about the vocation to chastity, offenses against chastity, the fidelity of husband and wife, the fruitfulness of marriage, the gift of children and so on. Today I will say a few words about the fruitfulness of marriage and natural family planning.
But first, a few words on the fifth commandment, “thou shalt not kill.” I really don’t know how to apply this commandment to marriage. It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it . . . thou shalt not kill . . . But Jesus always leads us much deeper and teaches us about anger and reconciliation: “first be reconciled to your brother or sister (husband or wife) and then come and offer your gift” (Mt 5:24). I think every married person here can testify to the need of constant forgiveness and reconciliation, over hurts real or imagined, small or great. “Never go to bed angry,” is a successful motto that many couples live by. This teaching of Jesus on anger and reconciliation is of course closely linked to his teaching on the necessity of forgiving one another as God has forgiven us.
Many people find it difficult to forgive. Remember first of all that when we forgive someone, it does not mean that he or she deserves to be forgiven. None of us deserve to be forgiven. But Jesus Christ has died for us to take away our sins. We are forgiven because of God’s infinite mercy. And we must extend that mercy to others, especially in marriage and family.
Imagine if a friend of yours was deeply hurt by something done by his/her spouse, and told you, “I just can’t forgive. It’s too difficult.” What would you say? “You’re right, some commandments, like that of forgiveness, are just impossible to keep.” No! “If you choose you can keep the commandments” (Sirach 15:15). That is what we are told in the very first line of the first reading: “If you choose, you can (with God’s help) keep the commandments.” The commandment to forgive is difficult but not impossible. In fact, a refusal to forgive, with the resulting anger and hardness of heart, can destroy a person. The choice to forgive, relying on the grace of God and remembering Christ’s own mercy to us, actually frees us, and releases spiritual energy into our lives. All the energy we were wasting in choosing to remain angry can now be released back into living life.
All the commandments release spiritual energy into our lives, including those relating to the sixth commandment (not to commit adultery) such as the teaching on natural family planning. For those who don’t know what natural family planning means, it means saying “yes” to living married love the way God intended, and it means saying “no” to contraception and sterilization. And for those who have never heard of this, there are extremely effective ways to practice natural family planning, which are both natural and scientific, by following the natural rhythms of the woman’s body. We even have someone in our parish, Lisa Detillieux, who can teach this!
She will be doing a presentation soon and her contact info is in the bulletin.
Now for Catholics who have never heard of natural family planning or how easy it is to learn, don’t be embarrassed. If you have never heard of this before, OK, you have never heard of it before. We all need to repent, bishops and priests for not teaching this commandment in the past, and lay people who have heard about it, but have not even tried to keep this commandment. But there’s no time like the present to begin!
Imagine if someone from Ontario Hydro comes to your door and says that you have been selected for a study in this area for solar panels. Ontario Hydro will install them free of charge and then buy the electricity they produce from you at 3 times the normal rate. And you say, “Well, what I we have to do?” “Just say ‘yes’ and you’ll get free energy!” “I don’t know . . . I really don’t like change . . . what are you going to do to my roof?” “We’ll just put the solar panels on top; they won’t damage anything . . . “ ”But I don’t like change . . . I really like them shingles the way they are.” This person is saying no to free energy because he doesn’t like change.
To keep the commandments, yes, sometimes we have to change, and it requires an initial investment of energy, so that we can receive, as it were “free energy” (from the Son of God!) and a supernatural joy – what you get out of it is much more than what you put in. We all know that the commandment to forgive and be reconciled is difficult, but it’s worth it! It’s the same with the sixth commandment and all that it entails, including natural family planning.
I don’t have time to go into detail. I am just the messenger of the good news. I am passing on to you what thousands of Catholic couples have reported who have practiced natural family planning. Yes, there is an element of effort and sacrifice, during the periodic times of continence, of temporarily abstaining from sexual relations, but the benefits are enormous! For instance, these couples often report a re-discovery of intimacy based on one of the lost arts of our busy times . . . what do you call it when a married couple communicate verbally? . . . oh, yeah “talking!” Many couples report a re-discovery of building intimacy through talking, sharing, about what really matters in their lives.
Natural family planning. Who would possibly say no to free energy? And I want to emphasize that it is important for Catholics of every age to know this teaching and make it better known, loved and practiced, because it is an essential part of a fully Catholic, joy-filled and life-giving marriage. And those who are in their child-bearing years right now, what excuse would you have for not trying out this teaching and living this commandment? Someone from our own parish is a certified teacher. All you have to do is take home a bulletin and call her. She is short like me and not at all intimidating.
Would you be against any form of change in your life and marriage that you would miss out on the ecstasy of joy that God wants to give you? As we heard in the second reading: “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). And who are those who love God? As Jesus repeated many times, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” ( John 14:15) “And my joy will be in you, and your joy will be complete” (John 15:11).
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Posted in pastor
at 8:35 pm
I would like to invite all parishioners to discover again and again the tremendous gift of Jesus in the Eucharist through a time of personal ADORATION during our monthly 24 hours of adoration. This coming week, from Friday 4:00 p.m. to Saturday at 4:00 p.m. we invite you to either sign up for an hour, or simply come for as long as you can for a time of personal prayer with Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. In our noisy and busy culture, we all have a need for peace and quiet, to hear the voice of God, to enjoy His peace and be filled with His love.
We also have CHILDREN’S ADORATION almost every Wednesday, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The prayers and songs are designed for children to enter into adoration, to come to know and love Jesus more and more.
Only by praying do we learn how to pray. Come to adoration and see the miracles that God can work in your life! And please continue to pray for our parish and the whole Church, for the new Pentecost and the New Evangelization! In Christ, Fr. Tim
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February 11, 2011
Posted in pastor
at 7:25 am
Which Questions Would You Ask the Pope? How did you feel when you were elected Pope? Can the Pope really speak for Jesus Christ? What caused the clergy abuse crisis? How should we understand Vatican II? In the book Light of the World, “Pope Benedict candidly and directly answers these and other questions from veteran journalist Peter Seewald . . . Never has a pope, in a book-length interview, dealt so directly with such wide-ranging and controversial issues” (from the back cover).
For anyone interested in reading this book, we will be having a group discussion on Saturday, March 19th at 9:30 a.m., following a special Mass for the feast of St. Joseph at 9:00 a.m. As I mentioned in my homily, I also highly recommend it!
In Christ, Fr. Tim
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February 8, 2011
Posted in Homilies
at 9:58 pm
Fifth Sunday, February 6th, 2011 – By Father Tim McCauley
After Peter Seewald interviewed Pope Benedict for his new book, Light of the World, people asked him, “What is it like suddenly to sit very close, right across from him?” He writes, “. . . if you are listening to him and sitting beside him, then you not only sense the precision of his thinking and the hope that comes from faith, but then also in a special way a radiance from the light of the world becomes visible, from the face of Jesus Christ, who wants to encounter each of us and excludes no one” (Light of the World, xx).
Peter Seewald testified that he saw a glimpse of Jesus Christ, the true light of the world, in the face of Pope Benedict. As Jesus makes clear in today’s Gospel, every single baptized Christian is called to radiate this light, to be the salt of the earth and light of the world.
(By the way, if you have never read a book by or about the Pope this is the book for you. It is a real page-turner. It’s as if you are sitting down having a conversation with the Pope yourself! I propose we have a group discussion on this book sometime in March, so why not buy a copy and read it? (copies available at St. Pat’s or amazon.ca and perhaps Chapters)).
All Christians are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, in our own particular vocation, either to marriage, priesthood, religious life or as a consecrated single person. February is actually a month in which to remember both the vocation to marriage and consecrated life, marriage on the Sunday before Valentine’s Day (World Marriage Sunday) and consecrated life on February 2nd, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The very day that Jesus was consecrated to the Father in the temple is the day we honour and pray for all consecrated people in the Church – both men and women who have taken vows or promises of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Today I would like to specifically address the vocation I do not mention as much as I should, even though I am vocations director of the diocese – vocations to the priesthood. Thank you for all your prayers for vocations. It is in part thanks to prayer that we currently have 9 seminarians for Ottawa, the most in over 20 years. So let us continue to pray, as the bishop has asked us to do, the prayer for vocations at each Mass.
The Church needs more priests, and holy priests, so that you the lay people can properly carry out your mission in the world. You need Jesus Christ in the Sacraments so that you can be strengthened and sanctified, to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Since Pope Benedict was named Pope, the Holy Spirit has inspired him to announce two special years: the Year of St. Paul and the Year for Priests. What was the Holy Spirit trying to tell us through these two years? St. Paul is the Church’s greatest evangelist, and this year reminded us that for the Church to be reinvigorated, we need the New Evangelization, and this is the theme of our parish this year – (evangelization) encounter Christ and share Him with others. The Year for Priests reminded us that for the Church to be revitalized, we also need the renewal of the priesthood and more vocations to the priesthood, again, to better serve the lay people in your mission in the world. And lay people have a key role in the renewal of the priesthood, through your prayers and support of priests, and in actively promoting vocations to the priesthood in your own families.
Let’s talk a little bit more about the universal call of the baptized to be salt of the earth and light of the world. “Salt of the earth.” What does that mean? Jesus knew that in the Book of Leviticus it was laid down that every sacrifice, specifically grain-offerings, had to include salt (Lev 2:13). As salt makes food more pleasing to the taste, it symbolically makes a sacrifice more pleasing to God. One could say that salt is a symbol of the spirit of sacrifice and of prayer.
To be the salt of the earth is a call for Christians to make a pleasing sacrifice of our lives and all creation to God our Father. God in his love has given us the gift of our lives and this earth. Love calls for love in return, to make of our lives a gift to God. Christians are like the soul and the prayer of the world. When the world and its people exist only for themselves, they lose their savour, their meaning. Christians awaken the world to God, to season our daily lives with the salt of sacrifice, of self-giving, to lift up our hearts and minds to God in the Mass and in daily life.
Christians can only fulfill this ministry of being the salt and the prayer of the earth through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the Cross, made present in the Mass through the ministry of the priests. Priests are essential to the laity to carry out your mission in the world.
“Light of the world.” Imagine coming into Church one day and seeing the sanctuary lamp extinguished (that’s the candle beside the tabernacle) and seeing the tabernacle door open and the inside empty. And you hear that the bishop called Fr. Tim to work downtown and he hasn’t found a replacement priest yet. He’s hoping that a retired priest in Ottawa might help out for Mass on weekends. Imagine having no sanctuary lamp and no real Presence of Jesus among us in the Eucharist because there are no priests available. For the lay people to be the light of the world, you need to come in constant contact with the living Jesus through the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Confession, available only through the ministry of priests.
Now I would like to say a few words to the young men in our parish who are called to the priesthood. My guess is that about 5-6 young men in our parish are called to be priests, but perhaps they don’t realize that yet. To all the young men in our parish (and boys) I ask you to consider: where do you think vocations to the priesthood for Ottawa come from? Do you think there is a magical parish in Ottawa where the young men don’t like girls, where they don’t like sports or video games, and have no real talents or interests except to pray all the time? And from this magical parish, God will provide for all the needs for priests in Ottawa?
I have news for you: God is calling people from normal parishes like ours; He is calling young men to the priesthood who are just like you – those who are listening to me right now; in fact, He might be calling you personally.
Here is the vocations poster of our diocese for this year, and you can see the faces of the 9 seminarians. I wonder when will our parish have the face of one of our young men on this poster? Let us pray for that day to come soon.
To the young men who might be called, I say “do not be afraid!” You should be honoured that Christ sees your gifts and potential even better than you do. I know that fear is a factor. There is a young man in the diocese who will probably be attending the seminary in the fall. He had been attending our monthly “Quo Vadis” meetings for men discerning the priesthood. But then one day he emailed me and said that he had spoken with his spiritual director and he realized that the priesthood was not for him. I wrote back and said that we respected his decision, wished him well and would keep him in our prayers. (Remember God and the Church always respect our freedom to say yes or no!). A few months later he wrote back and said, “Well, Father, I realize that I am called to the priesthood, but I was giving in to fear. I would like to apply for the seminary this fall.”
Yes, fear is a factor. Fear of loneliness, overwork, scandal, etc . . . But to the young men listening to me right now, who may be called to the priesthood, I say – the same courage that you need to face your fears in discerning and responding to a call to the priesthood is the same courage that you will need to be successful in life or in your future career. Imagine you are working for some company and the boss calls you in to give you a promotion in management, but you say, “Oh, no, I couldn’t do that. What if someone was hostile to me or I had to confront someone? I couldn’t do that. I don’t like conflict. Please just send me back to the mail room.” How will you be successful in your career if you do not learn to face your fears? So begin by facing your fears right now in honestly considering that God might be calling you to the priesthood. It is an honour. There is nothing to fear.
How many times have I told you of my own fears and weaknesses? They are real, but I don’t let them stop me. I remember my very first week at the Seminary, one day during Mass. I saw a seminarian named John get up to proclaim the first reading. A moment of fear seized my heart. I thought, “I could never do that – stand up and read in front of the whole seminary!” Well, God’s love and grace are greater than our fears and weakness. Do not be afraid!
To the young men here called to be priests, Christ knows you and loves you! He knows your weaknesses, but He also knows your tremendous potential for greatness. He might be calling you to stand up from the anonymity of the congregation where your light is hidden under a bushel basket, to come forward and stand at the pulpit or the altar, to let your light shine! Do not be afraid! Let your light shine so that Christ’s light can shine on the people who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Let your light shine so that Christ in the Eucharist, Christ in confession and all the sacraments, will continue to be close to the hearts of His people, to bathe them in His love, to send them out on their mission to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world!
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February 5, 2011
Posted in pastor
at 1:51 pm
PASTOR’S CORNER
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I would like to give you an update on our parish sponsorship of children in HONDURAS. Last week I transferred $2060.96 to Honduras: $1000 from our raffle and a $1060.96, a donation from St. Thomas Aquinas High School, from the proceeds of a “dress-down” day. This exceptional donation from the school and the students, along with the raffle, are helping to sponsor the 6 children who “lost” their sponsors and were waiting for someone else to “adopt” them. These children, and the God of the poor, thank you!
Our mission trip has been delayed. Mark Lalonde and I are now planning to visit Padre Patricio and his schools during the third week of May. Please pray for us in our planning, and for our poor brothers and sisters throughout the world. In Christ, Fr. Tim
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