We need the Holy Spirit to help us follow his inspirations and to recognize and avoid the distractions of the enemy of mankind. - Wednesday in the 8th Week of Ordinary Time, May 26th, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

   Gospel & Homily MP3 version                     Homily PDF version        

  Memorial of Saint Philip Neri

Sign of the + Cross  

        Hello. I’m Fr. Gilles Surprenant, priest of Montreal and Madonna House Associate. We revel these days in the radiance of Pentecost and the out pouring of the Holy Spirit who gave birth to the Church. Our Creator God has long desired to pour out his Holy Spirit on all mankind through Jesus, and we are his witnesses. During this Live Daily Mass, we offer to the Father all of our personal intentions and those of our Church. (Intention) Thank you.

Penitential Rite         Brothers and sisters let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.  (Formula 1)

HOMILY

Why did they do it? Why did James and John ask Jesus for places of honor in Jesus’ glory? No doubt they felt that they loved Jesus and wanted to be sure to remain close to Him when he would establish his kingdom. The problem was that they weren’t really listening to Jesus, who had just told them that He was going to Jerusalem and his glory would be to be killed there.

Why do any of us do the foolish, carless, insensitive, or reckless things that we do? We are all still infected with the original sin virus which infected the first human beings. The antidote has been brought into the world for all of humanity by Jesus: the antidote is putting our faith and trust in Jesus rather than in ourselves, and the vaccine for mankind is the Holy Spirit.

In addition to the infection of the original sin, there is also the enemy of humanity, the devil and his rebel angels; who together sow greed and envy, discord and division, and we see how the bad spirit caused trouble among the Apostles. Jesus corrected the Apostles, and He would do it again before the end. We also often need to be corrected by Jesus. The grandfather who wrote the book of Sirach was writing under the good inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which is why he prayed to God to reveal Himself to his people and to all of humanity; so that everyone might know that He is God and that He is good. When a human being welcomes the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, he or she forgets himself or herself and gives witness to God.

St. Philip Neri, like all the saints, accepted to be taught by Jesus and formed by the Holy Spirit. He was blessed with a wonderful sense of humor and helped others to recognize signs that the Holy Spirit is at work and to tell those results apart from the trouble caused by Satan and his demons. The devil accentuates our selfishness and fears, and as a result we hurt others and cause trouble and division around us. The Holy Spirit brings peace, love, charity, and joy.

Like St. Philip Neri, who was a much sought-after confessor and spiritual guide, St. Ignatius of Loyola taught that when we are tempted and discouraged by our faults, the best defense is a good offense and we should go in the opposite direction. If I don’t feel like praying, then I spend a little more time at prayer than usual. If I don’t feel like giving alms to the poor, then I will be even more generous. If I feel irritated by someone, then I will compliment them or offer to help.

If you’d like more help in discerning the difference between the guidance of the good spirit and the distraction of the bad spirit, search for Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OVM’s online talks on the “discernment of spirits” by St. Ignatius. If you send me an email, I’ll send you some links. My email address is fathergilles@gmail.com . Jesus continues to set the captives free today.

O God, come and dwell in us: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Prayer after Communion                                    Announcement

We thank you for supporting this Live Daily Mass through your daily prayers, Mass intentions, and donations to the Cathedral and to Salt + Light Media. There was no offering or requested Mass intention for this Mass today. You could gather together family and friends and make a group donation to accompany an intention for a Salt + Light TV Mass. Contact Salt + Light Media. 

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.              Blessing and Dismissal

 

https://frgilleshomilies.blogspot.com

 

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

There is only one God. We worship Him in Jesus and use all our faculties to discern the TRUTH - Wednesday in the 6th Week of Easter, May 12th, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

  Gospel & Homily MP3 version                     Homily PDF version        

Sign of the + Cross - Christ is risen! Alleluia! (traditional response is) He is truly risen! Alleluia!            Hello. I’m Fr. Gilles Surprenant, priest of Montreal and Madonna House Associate. In this 6^th week of Easter, God gives us a summary of the history of salvation. Only the Holy Spirit reminds us of Jesus’ words and guides us into all the truth. Without the Spirit of God, we are lost. During this Live Daily Mass, the Lord calls us to receive his words and to keep them; so that we may live. (Intention) Thank you.

Penitential Rite         Brothers and sisters let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.  (Formula 1)

 Announcement - N.B. There was an incident at Holy Communion today... one of the sacristans had warned me before Mass that lately a strange woman had been coming into the church a few minutes before Holy Communion and coming forward to receive but was clearly not a Roman Catholic, not even a Christian. In our tradition, the Holy Eucharist is a sacrament of initiation; so no one should receive who is not yet baptized or has no intention of becoming a Roman Catholic Christian. So, when she presented herself, I politely asked her "Who is Jesus Christ." She then indicated she was not Christian but liked to come and receive. I briefly (we must finish this televised Mass under 30 minutes) explained she cannot receive without being initiated and suggested she speak to a priest later. After Mass the security officer at the doors, who also acts as an usher, told me she had gone, but that he also explained this to her, and told her she was always welcome to enter and pray.

There was no offering today to support this televised Mass and therefore no intention to be publicized for this Mass. 

We thank you for supporting this Live Daily Mass through your daily prayers, Mass intentions, and donations to the Cathedral and to Salt + Light Media. 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.  Blessing and Dismissal

 

HOMILY

There is only one who is truly God, the Creator of the Universe and of all that is in it. God is complete in Himself – Jesus has revealed God to be a Holy Trinity of Divine Persons joined in perfect unity and communion: his Eternal Father, Himself, the Eternal Word, only-begotten Son of the Father, who took to Himself a human life in Jesus of Nazareth, and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. God, the Three who live and act as One, is complete and needs nothing from us; “since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.”

God “allotted the times... and places” for human beings to live “so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him”. All over the Earth in many religions, human beings for millennia have groped for God and perhaps found him. Catholic Christians worship only the Blessed Sacrament as God Himself, the Body and Blood of Jesus Risen from the dead. We venerate images, icons, frescoes, statues – artistic representations of the three Divine Persons – but we do not worship them. These religious artifacts help us picture or represent to ourselves the Divine Persons, but we direct our worship, adoration, and prayer to God alone.

We make use of artistic representations of saints to bring the actual saints to mind; as we call on them to join us in our prayer and worship of the Lord. This is how we honor Mary, the Mother of Jesus – and the Mother of God since Jesus is the Son of God – we honor her and join her in prayer to God because we know that Jesus Himself honors his Blessed Mother.

In every generation there are many discordant voices clamoring for our attention, and they all claim to speak the truth, but there is only one truth. Jesus declared: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. God our Creator gave us brains, a heart, a body, and a soul. As we try to discern what is the truth in any situation, we need to pay attention to all these gifts from our Father.

Sometimes our body will give us a “gut feeling” to warn us to avoid lies and evil. Our brain helps us to read and understand the inspired Word of God in the Bible as well as authoritative teaching from our Church. Our heart is capable of perceiving the love and Divine Mercy of God given to us in Jesus. Our spirit, our soul, can be attuned to the Holy Spirit and recognize how different the Holy Spirit is from the spirit of the prince of this world, the father of lies.

Every time we turn to God, open the Bible and read, listen to holy teachers and preachers, love our neighbor and forgive our enemy, do good to those who do harm, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, care for or visit the sick or prisoners, or worship the Lord in Church or at home, we renew our faith in God and give Him our trust to bring his rule and his kingdom into our lives, marriages, families, homes, and work.

O God, help us to really trust in You: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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https://frgilleshomilies.blogspot.com

 

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