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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.
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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)
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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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© 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
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I'm ever eager to learn from others, correct myself, and be converted to the Good News, the "ways of the Lord". Thank you for your comments, observations, or suggestions. God bless you and your family. Fr. Gilles