Wednesday, October 27, 2021

God is a blazing fire of love seeking to purify our hearts to love more generously, more perfectly. - Wednesday in the 30th Week in Ordinary Time, October 27th, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

 Gospel & Homily MP3 version             Homily PDF version



HOMILY

Every word we hear from the Lord our God is a piece of a living puzzle which we are trying to put together. Most adult puzzles have 500 or 1,000 pieces, but the puzzle of our life contains at least 30,000 pieces – one piece for every day of our lives. Our Creator God is revealing to us many things about life, about God, about others, and about ourselves.

What is God? God is a divine being. We use words to speak of God, to try to understand something of God, but words conceal as much as they reveal. We don’t really know what a divine being is. We know that God existed before the Universe came into being, before God began bringing into existence his Creation. So, God is outside or separate from his Creation, outside the Universe. At the same time, God is present everywhere within his Creation. The Son of God tangibly came into his Creation when He took flesh by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb.

Who is God? God is a mystery of three divine Persons living in perfect communion of love since all eternity. We come to understand something about our Creator whenever we observe and contemplate his creatures: mountains and valleys, rivers and oceans, animals and birds, fish and insects, plants and trees, flowers and fruits. The abundance and complexity, the colours and shapes, the heights and the depths, the beauty and the goodness of Creation reflect the beauty, goodness, and truth of God, but God is beyond them all.

 The Most Holy Trinity is a burning furnace of love, the very essence of love, and a divine fire more intense than the hottest of stars. We cannot yet endure the full intensity of the burning love of God; so, God leads us into love gradually by inviting us to take steps of love: loving our family, friends, neighbors, strangers, and even enemies.

We love others in truth and reality by giving of ourselves, our time, our attentive listening, our compassionate feeling with them in whatever they are going through, our prayer, and our help. Authentic love is willing to endure the suffering caused by illness, wounds, persecution, torture, mockery, injustice, and death. Sharing in the sufferings of others brings them relief and gives life.

The more we pour ourselves out in life-giving love for others, the more the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are able to pour themselves into us. It is deep within our soul that the three Divine Persons come to dwell with us. Outside of God, all is cold, lifeless, and dark. All who refuse to endure the pains of love dwell in that outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. “All my hope, O Lord, is in your loving kindness. Teach me to love as You love, O Lord! 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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(Today there is no sponsor for this Holy Mass.)

Sign of the + Cross                

Good Morning. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…. Brothers and Sisters, today, as we celebrate the Holy Eucharist in this cathedral dedicated to Mary Queen of the World, the Lord Jesus calls us to trust Him and allow Him to purify our hearts and form our spirits.

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 

Please support this Live Daily Mass through your daily prayers, Mass intentions, and donations to the Cathedral and to Salt + Light Media. We are especially in need of generous sponsors. 

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

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Dedication of the Cathedral - Jesus asks us not to judge but affirm the good in others. - Wednesday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time, October 13th, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

Gospel & Homily MP3 version             Homily PDF version

Good Morning. There is no sponsor today for this Holy Mass; so I offer it for your intentions and for Maureen Marolly, her husband Clayton, and their family; as well as for all those who rely on my prayers.

Sign of the + Cross                

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…. Brothers and Sisters, today, as we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we give thanks to God for the dedication of this cathedral dedicated to Mary Queen of the World.  

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


LIVE HOMILY

        I have prepared a homily but I believe the Lord would like me to share something a little different. The Lord today is quite forceful in his word to us, and it's about judging. Like it or not, even myself I realize that, without intending to do so, we can easily judge others by the way we look at them, by our tone of voice, and sometimes by what we actually say and do.

        The problem is that we are incompetent to judge. We do not have the competence to judge anyone. That is because we cannot see clearly through the filter of our own personality, our own preferences, inclinations, our opinions, and our faults and sins. Only God is competent to judge anyone. Only God can judge truly, justly, fully, and mercifully. So, what are we to do?

        Two things quite simply. First, we must never be tired of noticing our own faults and coming to the Lord humbly to admit our faults, confess them, confess our sins, ask the Lord for his forgiveness, every day, until the end of our days on this Earth. That's the first thing.

        The second things is to not tire looking for the good in other people. Sometimes it takes an effort to find the good in others, and then not only to find it or notice it but then to affirm them, to build them up. We have no idea how a simple kind word can lift someone up out of a terrible darkness. We are responsible to do this for one another.

        So, firstly, never to tire confessing our own sins, seeking the Lord's forgiveness, and secondly, to look for good in one another and to build one another up. These two practices will safeguard us from judging others and allow us to continue to walk in the mercy of the Lord. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.


PREPARED HOMILY

Brothers and sisters, do you realize that we have two sets of eyes? Our physical eyes look out into the world and see many things, while also missing many things. Our interior eyes, the eyes of our mind, heart, and spirit, look inside us and there they see many things, while also missing many things. As our interior eyes look inward into ourselves, it is according to what they see, that our mind, heart, and spirit interpret what our physical eyes see of the world.

Today, both Saint Paul in writing to the Romans and Jesus in addressing the pharisees and lawyers, also address us. The Lord calls on us to stop and we aware of what our interior eyes see of all that we are inside, and all that we carry within ourselves.

It is so important for us to be aware of what we are and what we carry within ourselves, because if we do not see inside ourselves, or if seeing, we refuse to admit what it is that we see in ourselves; then we are blind and the most unfortunate among men. Those who do not see themselves on the inside are blind that can only see outside of themselves; as a result, they tend to judge others by focusing only on their faults and overlooking any good that is in others.

The Son of God came down to Earth from Heaven to give sight to the blind and to forgive sinners. Jesus offers to restore our humanity, but we must first admit that we need Him. 

It is hard for me to admit this to you, both to you who know me and to you who don’t, but I must confess that in the Autumn of my life I am beginning to realize, by the grace of God, that I too am like the Pharisees and the lawyers Jesus convicted of blindness and hardness of heart.

In my own family as well as with others, I have been inclined to think better of those who go to church and show signs of following Jesus with a faith that is more obviously Christian and Catholic. In my mind and in my speech, I have openly declared that God loves everyone without prejudice or condition, whether or not people have faith or go to church. In my heart, though, I’ve been secretly on the lookout for people to go to church and manifest a Catholic Christian faith. While I’m busy doing that, I’m not giving thanks to God for the good in people.

The bottom line is that we will all be judged not on religious practice, but whether or not we showed compassion and gave assistance to people in their need. The quality of our life relates directly to the quality of our practical compassion. So, at my next Confession in front of the priest, I will confess this to Jesus, face to face. Some of you may want to do the same.

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.

Prayer after Communion                                    Announcement 

Please support this Live Daily Mass through your daily prayers, Mass intentions, and donations to the Cathedral and to Salt + Light Media. We are especially in need of generous sponsors. 

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

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