God graces us to cultivate the quality of the soil in our spirit; to help us select the attitudes with which we take in and respond to the events and storms of our lives. - Wednesday in the 16th Week in Ordinary Time, July 21st, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

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Sign of the + Cross       St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Doctor of the Church

(Good Morning. Today this Holy Mass is being offered for:                         by:              )

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…. Brothers and Sisters, what a wonderful thing it is to be together here and via S+L Media to celebrate the Holy Eucharist in this wonderful cathedral. We stand expectantly before God, asking his healing grace for the world afflicted by Covid-19.

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

 Prayer after Communion                                    Announcement 

We beg you to please support 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

In more rural or remote places in Canada and in other countries, people live their lives in greater harmony with their environment. It would not be unusual to hear middle aged and the elderly say: “It’s a good life… a little hunting, a little fishing, and time for family and friends.”

Even in the country, at times people find their lives difficult. That is often the case in cities, where the pace of life, work, school, and home tends to be much faster. Today, the Lord gives us a very loving opportunity to stop for a moment, take a step back, and have a good look at how we are living our lives.

For the Israelites, according to what the Word of the Lord reports in the Book of Exodus, they seemed to be permanently miserable and complaining against God and the leaders God sent them. In Egypt they were fed up with their slavery and drudgery under harsh conditions at the brutal hands of Pharaoh’s officers. As God inflicted plagues on Egypt because of Pharaoh’s obstinate refusal to let God’s people go, the Hebrews complained against Moses that their lives were being made even harsher by Pharaoh and his officers.

When finally, Pharaoh let them go, they were at first delighted, but they soon woke up to the harsh reality of life on the road and in the wilderness; so, once again they complained long and loud to God and against Moses and Aaron.

In Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed, Jesus uses what was a very familiar image for the people to help them understand how important it is to pay attention to the quality of the soil so that it can be well prepared to receive the seed. How we feel about the circumstances of our lives and how we choose to react and to relate to God, our spouse, our family, and others has a lot to do with the quality of our soil, of our soul, mind, heart, and body.

We cultivate our life by our labor, especially at the service of others, and manual work is very healthy. We care for the body by nourishing it properly and preparing it well for sleep. We relax the body by refreshing it in a bath or shower and with relaxing music. We revive our body as well as our soul by taking contemplative walks even barefoot in the beauty of nature, and feel that we are also God’s creatures. Natural beauty lifts our spirits and expands our horizons.

We allow our Creator God to refresh our soul by turning to the Father with expectation, by becoming receptive to the inspiration, promptings, and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who draws our attention to Jesus, the Beloved of our souls. Prayer is not a duty or task, but an act of love.

O my Jesus, I trust in You. Mother Mary, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us.

We give praise to You, O God, 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

We can be arrogant and contemptuous towards God when we don't understand. God asks us to trust in his plans for us. - Wednesday in the 14th Week in Ordinary Time, July 7th, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

 Gospel & Homily MP3 version                     Homily PDF version 

☝ This Wednesday's homily is here now 👆

Sign of the + Cross                

Like the disciples walking on the road to Emmaus on the first Easter Sunday, we often also don't understand what God is doing. At such times we can question God, even show Him contempt.

(Good Morning. There is no sponsor today for this Mass. We know that televised Masses are expensive, but it is for a good cause. So, we invite all good Catholic families to discuss it and consider sponsoring a televised Mass. Simply contact Salt + Light Media. Thank you.)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…. Brothers and Sisters, it’s always a privilege and a pleasure for us to celebrate the Holy Eucharist with you in this wonderful cathedral. We give thanks to God for the world’s progress in our collective battle against Covid-19.

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

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. 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.              Blessing and Dismissal

HOMILY

Jesus instructed his 12 apostles to “go nowhere among the Gentiles” or Samaritans, but only “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Now, we might wonder why Jesus imposed this limitation, or why He excluded people who weren’t Jews. This is a good example of the many ways in which we question God and complain to the Lord when we don’t understand what God is doing in our lives, in our families, in the Church, or in the world.

The simple reason for Jesus’ instructions was that God is faithful to his people and He keeps his promises. For millennia God had promised his people that He would send a Saviour and Jesus was the Father’s fulfillment of his promises. You see, even God has a list of priorities. With God, all good things will come to pass, but each good thing comes in its proper time. We don’t like that. In our human weakness, we want everything NOW. “God give me patience, and I want You to give it to me NOW!”

It doesn’t take too much intelligence to see how defective and deficient we are in our ways of relating to Almighty God. We can be quite impatient, arrogant, proud, and contemptuous towards God, our Creator, the One from whom we receive life and all good things here on Earth but also in eternity. The Lord shows us today one way in which his plans bring about the best outcome; even though from our human point of view we see only trouble and disaster. It’s the story of how Joseph, son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers.

God gave Jacob the name Israel because he was strong with the Lord and also with people. At the time of this drama, he had eleven sons and the youngest, Joseph, was his favorite. His ten brothers became jealous; so, one day they decided to kill him. Reuben persuaded his brothers not to harm him. They put Joseph in a well and later, when a caravan came by, Judah got the bright idea to sell Joseph into slavery. They lied and told their father that Joseph was killed by a wild beast. They regretted their foul deed when they saw their father’s profound grief.

Joseph became a prisoner in Egypt, but God enabled him to interpret dreams. He was the only one able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream; so, he appointed Joseph manager of Egypt. Joseph advised Pharaoh to store grain in the years of plenty. When years of famine came, Egypt sold grain to the people of the Mediterranean world suffering from famine. Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain and in time the brothers were reconciled and their clan moved to Egypt.

We often don’t understand what God is doing, but we don’t need to understand. God only asks us to put our trust in Him and to live in patient anticipation of the unfolding of his plans.

O my Jesus, I trust in You. Oratory statue: “Go to Joseph.” Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Glory be to God, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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

 

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