Better to trust in Jesus than in our own opinions or feelings - Wednesday in the 4th Week of Easter, April 28th, 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 4^th week of Easter, the Lord cautions us to be wary of clinging to our opinions. Our thoughts and opinions are powerless but Jesus’ words are the will of the Father and they will endure forever. 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)

HOMILY

During his short life on Earth and his even shorter public mission, Jesus was acutely aware that people did not believe in Him. Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, gave hearing and speech to the deaf and mute, cast out demons, healed lepers, and even raised a girl, a young man, and his friend Lazarus from death. Still, people did not believe in Him. Why is that? What was wrong with those people? What is wrong with all of us?

They say that at Mary’s Shrine in Lourdes in France there are incredible healings. People afflicted by lupus have, instead of a face, a gaping cavity with no more nose or lips or cheeks. When they are healed, suddenly their face grows back. Some without limbs suddenly find limbs where there were no limbs before. Apparently, many eye witnesses, who see these astounding miracles with their own eyes, simply cannot believe their eyes. Later, they tell themselves and others too that what they saw is simply impossible; so, they must have imagined it.

So, you see, it is never enough to see with our own eyes and to hear with our own ears or to touch with our own hands. In the presence of the mystery of God and of his wonderful works, it is only faith that can enable us to embrace the truth as real, and to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. In every generation, God the Father is offering everyone a personal relationship with Him in his Son Jesus. We are offered the grace, the divine power to trust and to believe, no matter how we may feel. All we have to do is to embrace God in his mystery and accept Him as real, as true, and as loving.

Today we remember and give thanks and praise to God for Saint Peter Chanel, a Marist missionary in the Pacific Islands near Fiji, who was so successful in bringing people to faith in God that a frightened chief had him assassinated in 1841. He was 38 and is now a martyr.

We also remember Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort who was a priest for only 16 years when he died at the age of 43 in 1716 in France. During his work in hospitals and giving missions, he was so successful in bringing people to faith in God that jealous people resented him and forced him to leave. The Pope made him a “missionary apostolic”; so, no one could block his mission any more. In a very short time, he founded the Brothers of Saint Gabriel, the Daughters of Wisdom, and the Montfort Missionaries, who all put their faith in Jesus as God’s Divine Wisdom. Jesus is more trustworthy than our human wisdom, which is foolishness. 

When we put all our trust and faith in God through Jesus, we give God permission to do all that He wants to do. We just decide not to be shaken by fears, not to prefer our own thoughts, feelings, plans, and opinions, but instead, we look to Jesus, cling to his words as true, and put our trust and faith in Him. We do this in every practical situation of our lives. We still live our life actively; while we leave all the results up to God and accept whatever comes as his will.

Added thoughts:     No matter our thoughts or how we may feel, or even though we may feel nothing at all... God's relationship with us and our relationship with God - Father, Jesus his Son, and the Holy Spirit - remains mysterious, because God is mysterious, and in many ways; so are we mysterious even to ourselves. Our relationship with God the Most Holy Trinity is unlike our relationships with fellow human beings alive and walking around like us on this Earth. We don't usually get immediate replies from God as we generally do from people around us. 

However, our "relating" to God takes place in the context of faith; as we "look to" God, "turn to" Him, "wait on" Him, and "live in vibrant and hopeful expectation" that, in his good time and in his own way, God "sees me", "hears me", "knows me", "loves me", "cares for me", "instills his divine life of the Trinity in me", "forms and shapes me into his own likeness", and "draws me ever more deeply" into the life and love of the Most Holy Trinity, which is Heaven and eternal life. 

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

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

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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Living in the Light of God, untroubled by the darkness - Wednesday in the 2nd Week of Easter, April 14th, 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 2^nd week of Easter, the Lord invites us to consider how much more respectful He is of us than the big shots of this world. Once we decide to trust in the Lord; we can walk fully in the light. During this Live Daily Mass, the Lord once again affirms his love, strengthens our faith, and revives our hope. (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

The Jewish “high priest and all who were with him” were “filled with jealousy” at the way the Apostles were drawing large crowds and because the beggar who had been lame from birth was healed at their words. It was the trouble that Jesus had all over again. These religious leaders in Jerusalem arranged to have Jesus executed, and now they were after his Apostles.

Have you ever been harassed or persecuted by people or organizations that just wouldn’t stop coming after you? Perhaps in your case it was what you called a long string of bad luck. Maybe it was your employer or a nasty client or relative. Whatever it was, the trouble just wouldn’t stop, and you may have become exasperated, if not outright angry or discouraged.

It’s pretty clear that there are many situations in life that escape our control. There isn’t anything we can do to stop the trouble or fix it, and it wears down our spirit. Perhaps what really bothers us is the trouble itself… we keep trying to fix or solve it and we just can’t seem to find the right formula. This is especially true in the case of chronic physical or mental illness.

The trouble or the trouble makers seem to come out of an evil darkness, like the religious leaders in Jerusalem. They couldn’t stand the light radiating from Jesus; so, they did all they could to try to put out that bright light that made their guilty consciences so uncomfortable.

Despite all our trouble and suffering, as long as we are trying to love God and obey Him and to love our neighbor, even forgiving all those who harm or trouble us in any way; then we are actually living in the light, just like the Apostles and all the saints did. However, although we may be living in the light of God’s kingdom, we might still at times be “in the dark”.

If we can’t distinguish between the darkness and the light, between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God; then when trouble hits, we are at risk to be thrown off balance and discouraged. Jesus is the light of God, and all who believe in Him and make efforts to love God and their neighbor as themselves, all those who do this are also living in the light of God.

Those who don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God or who put all their desires and hopes on the things of this world, well, they are living in darkness; whether they know it or not. Those who live in darkness don’t like those who live in the light and may even persecute them. They hate or are afraid of the light when their deeds or desires are evil. Once we realize that this is the situation; then when trouble comes, we are not so surprised. We remember to trust in God.

We may never actually see our guardian angel, but our angels watch and protect our faith in God. Divine peace enters our soul when we thank the Father for his priceless gifts. “Father in Heaven, forgive us our sins. We thank and praise You for Jesus’ life-giving sacrifice and for our guardian angel; for You are God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Announcement

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

Saint Joseph, pray for us.                  Blessing and Dismissal

 

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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

How are we "treating Jesus" these days? - Wednesday in Holy Week, March 31st, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

  Gospel & Homily MP3 version                                 Homily PDF version        

   Sign of the +      Greeting      I’m Fr. Gilles Surprenant, priest of Montreal and Madonna House Associate. Here we are at last in Holy Week. On Palm Sunday as we listened once again to the proclamation of the Passion of Our Lord, we may have wondered how we are treating Jesus today. How am I treating Jesus today in my neighbour? During this Live Daily Mass, the Lord Jesus invites us with great love to walk with Him this Holy Week.             (Intention)            Thank you.

Penitential Rite         Brothers and sisters let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries. “I confess to Almighty God….”  

HOMILY

When I was young, I thought Judas Iscariot must have been a terrible man. After all, what he did was terrible, betraying Jesus was bad enough, but also getting money for it is shocking. Jesus was right to say it would have been better for him if he had not been born.

Still, as I grow older, I have come to realize that God allowed Judas to fall into darkness for a kind purpose, for all of us that is. It’s because the darkness that swallowed Judas is the very same darkness that oppresses all of us human beings during our time on this Planet Earth.

The darkness is that we no longer believe that God loves us. We think we believe it in our heads, but in our hearts, not so much. If I really believed that God loves me, I would go about my life differently, I think. Material things and all sorts of fears would have less of a hold on me, and my heart would be much more sensitive to what is happening to other people.

We want to believe God loves us… that is why we go to church when the churches are open and, when they’re closed, it is why we attend Mass on TV or on the Internet. We really want to know in our bones that God loves us, with no shadow of doubt. We want to put all our trust in God for our lives, but like Peter walking on the water, as soon as we feel the wind of trouble, we take our eyes off Jesus and focus on ourselves… and we begin to sink….

 God our Creator and Father knows; so, He had pity on us and sent his only begotten Son to Earth to become one of us by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, the Immaculate Conception. The Eternal Son knew He was in for it when He became human. He knew we let our fears dominate us, and that the risk was very high we would kill Him; as in the end we actually did.

I can’t imagine that I might betray Jesus as Judas did or deny Him as Peter did. However, when I think of how easily I let myself be upset with people close to me or how easily I forget to be kind or to show concern for others with real acts of caring and forgiveness; then I begin to understand how I do or fail to do these things to Jesus when I do or fail to do them to others.

God our Father doesn’t want us to become paralyzed with guilt – that’s the favorite trick of Satan the Accuser, the Devil, God’s Adversary. Jesus saves us by showing us God’s love in his passion; He did this for us so that we can truly believe that God loves us. The Holy Spirit offers to help us to love others as Jesus loves us, with everything we are and have, our whole self.

Jesus saves us every time we confess our sins to Him. “Father in Heaven, help us to humbly confess our sins and that You are God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Announcement

We thank you for your daily prayers and donations to the Cathedral and Salt + Light Media in support for this Live Daily Mass. Blessed Holy Triduum to you and your families.

Blessing and Dismissal

 

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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 find it difficult to trust in God's tender love due to the "dark things" within us - we need to confess - Wednesday, 4th Week of Lent & St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

 Gospel & Homily MP3 version                                 Homily PDF version        

Saint Patrick, Bishop

Sign of the +                   Greeting 

Hello. I’m Fr. Gilles Surprenant, priest of Montreal and Madonna House Associate. In this 4^th week of Lent and we are past the mid-point to Easter. St. Patrick is the apostle who brought Jesus to Ireland. Like St. Joseph whom we honor this year, St. Patrick knew Jesus personally; as did all the saints. During this Live Daily Mass, the Lord once again invites each of us to trust in Him and open ourselves completely to be renewed by Him. (Intention) Thank you.

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

 Announcement 

We thank you for your daily prayers and donations to the Cathedral and Salt + Light Media in support for this Live Daily Mass.

Blessing and Dismissal

HAPPY SAINT  PATRICK'S DAY !!!

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HOMILY

The words we just heard from the Lord through the prophet Isaiah are an unforgettable expression of tenderness. There are many such proofs of God’s tender love for us, his children, throughout the Sacred Scriptures. When we consider Jesus, how He lived his life, his mission and then how He surrendered Himself into our hands, the hands of his persecutors; we should not be astonished at God’s declarations of tender love for us.

Perhaps what is truly astonishing is how difficult it is to understand why we find it so hard, so difficult to believe in God’s tender love for us. We have a hard time actually believing that God loves us; that He loves me. Why is that, do you think?

In John’s Gospel we see what great efforts Jesus made to give understanding to the Jewish leaders about who He was and about what He was doing. Could it be that these Jewish leaders were resisting Jesus for the same reasons we do?

Jesus did not fit into the ways they understood their religion and their God. I believe that we have a similar problem. We all have ideas about who God is and about what we expect of Him. It is just as shocking to us as it was to those Jewish leaders that God does not fit into our ideas.

God has his own ideas, because his understanding of Himself and of all that He has created is far higher, broader, and deeper than any understanding we could ever have.

God understands Himself to be a community, a Holy Trinity of divine Persons – the Eternal Father, the only-begotten Son who became human in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life. God the Holy Trinity is the most wonderful love story in the universe, and we have been created to participate in this awesome love story, this divine Family.

What is holding us back from plunging with delight into this wondrous community of love which is in God? I suppose that for each of us there could be many things holding us back. If I have been hurt, I may be unwilling to forgive the one who hurt me; I may even desire revenge.

Lent is a gift from God: a time to stop and let the Holy Spirit illumine my conscience, my mind, my heart, and my soul to see the dark things that keep me from accepting God’s love and from loving everyone – even those I don’t like. It is time to surrender my darkness to the Lord.

It is hard at any time, even more so during this Pandemic, to confess our sins to a priest. We don’t like to admit we messed up; yet this is how Jesus wants us to reconcile with God, because Confession makes it real. “Father in Heaven, help us put away our pride and humbly declare by confessing our sins that You are God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

https://frgilleshomilies.blogspot.com

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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

Is God real for me? Am I attentive to God or am I living in denial like the Apostles were? - Wednesday, 2nd Week of Lent, March 3rd, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

  The Gospel and Homily MP3 file                    The Homily PDF file   

                       Sign of the +                            Greeting                        

Hello. I’m Father Gilles Surprenant, priest of Montreal and Madonna House Associate. Here we are already in the second week of Lent. How is your Lenten observance coming along? During this Live Daily Mass the Lord continues to encourage us to come closer to Him; so we can apply our Lenten disciplines towards this goal. (Intention) Thank you.

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

HOMILY

How real is God for me? How real is God for you? God was obviously real for Jeremiah the prophet, because in his prayer Jeremiah was addressing his complaint to someone real and capable of granting his request. His enemies didn’t like Jeremiah’s declarations in the Name of the Lord; so they plotted to get rid of the prophet. For these people, it’s obvious that God was not real; they had no fear of repercussions from God, because they didn’t believe God is real.

With the Apostles, the situation is not quite the same. They all believe that God is real, and by this time, they believe – more or less – that Jesus is the Son of God. So why do they fail to feel anything as Jesus tells them about what is soon going to happen to Him in Jerusalem? Why do they fail to have any sympathy for Him? Why are they not supportive of Him? Well, it’s not too difficult to understand, I think. They are in denial. The coming passion and death of Jesus is so horrible that they can’t face it, they can’t admit it to themselves; they can’t deal with it.

We are probably all familiar with this kind of reaction in the face of terrible realities. This may be the greatest cause of trouble for married couples. When something awful happens or is about to happen, we may fail to show each other sympathy and instead retreat into denial, a mechanism that conveniently makes the intense emotion go away temporarily. Relationships can endure denial briefly, but it is necessary to recover soon and be there for the other.

It is beautiful to see how Jesus reacts to the denial of his Apostles. At first, they are silent, and then the mother of James and John tries to assure that her sons will have a future when Jesus is gone. Jesus does not reproach her in her maternal concerns, nor her sons in their denial. On the contrary, Jesus softens the harsh reality of the persecution to come by using a pleasant image: the sharing and drinking of a cup. He knows they really love Him and want to be with Him; so He puts it this way. Jesus knows that they are not quite ready now to face his passion and death, but later they will be ready to face their own persecution.

Then Jesus gives them Himself as their example to follow. They are to serve one another and not look for positions or honors. What about us? What about me? What about you? There are no doubt many life situations that we don’t want to face, that we don’t feel we are able to face, but we must sooner or later face them. Today the Lord Jesus assures us once again that we are not alone. With Him, in the Father’s love, and with the Holy Spirit, we can do all things.

It is hard for us to go to a priest and confess our sins. We don’t like to admit we messed up. Yet this is how Jesus wants us to reconcile with God, because Confession humbles us and makes us real. “Father in Heaven, help us put away our pride and humbly declare by confessing our sins that You are God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Announcement 

This Live Daily Mass costs more for Salt + Light Media and Mary Queen of the World Cathedral than the amount set for you to air your Mass intentions. As we continue to develop this Live Daily Mass under Pandemic conditions; we count on your daily prayers and support. You may send your donations and Mass intentions for the Cathedral to Salt + Light Media. Thank you. To contact me simply send an email to fathergilles@gmail.com

Blessing and Dismissal

 

https://frgilleshomilies.blogspot.com

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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

With trust in God we can, like Jesus, embrace our suffering and let God expand our ability to love - Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

👇 See below LINKS to past Ash Wednesday Liturgy homilies, blessings of ashes, & exhortations 👇

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Ash Wednesday                           Sign of the +                            Greeting                        

Hello. I’m Father Gilles Surprenant, priest of Montreal and Madonna House Associate. Today is Ash Wednesday and for most of us it is a virtual Liturgy. Living in this Pandemic is one of our Lenten penances and sacrifices. (Intention) Thank you for your support.

GOSPEL, HOMILY, & BLESSING OF ASHES

MP3 version                                                                PDF version

It is wonderful to see how much Jesus cares for us. He accompanies us in life and watches over us like an anxious father, like a nurturing mother. Today, on Ash Wednesday, we enter into the Season of Lent. Jesus cautions us to avoid attitudes of hypocrisy. It would be a tragic loss if we were to glue our attention to what other people think of us or how they feel about us.

Jesus, the Father, and Holy Spirit want to expand our ability to enjoy the wedding banquet of Heaven. Eternal life begins here, where we are today, in whatever circumstances, situations, or conditions we find ourselves. Eternal life is knowing we are loved by Jesus and the Father in the Holy Spirit and loving them back as well as we can in our neighbor.

Sadly, whenever we are preoccupied with ourselves, our pleasures, avoiding suffering, or getting more of everything; then God speaks to us the words of Joel. If we disregard the true meaning and purpose of our lives; we find God’s will difficult to accept. What happens to us in life may then feel like punishment, because parents that truly love their children give them proper discipline until the day they become mature enough to give discipline to themselves. 

Discipline is the steering wheel that looks to our true destiny. As we try to love God back by loving our neighbor; like St. Paul we live as missionary disciples of Jesus and ambassadors of Christ. Jesus lets us love people who don’t know the love of God; then the Holy Spirit uses us to show others that God loves them and, in this way, teaches them to love their neighbor as well.

Why is it so difficult to love others? Why does God allow us to suffer? The paradox is that God created us with an incredible desire and capacity for pleasure. God made creation good for us to enjoy it and know that we are also good; our life is a gift from God. However, pleasure alone is insufficient. If I try to live only in the palace of pleasure and try to avoid suffering; then it is impossible to love others because I only want to love myself.

During Lent God our Father calls us to contemplate his Son, Jesus, and with Mary ponder how Jesus lived his life not for himself, but for others. Jesus enjoyed life as we do, but He didn’t accept suffering grudgingly; He embraced it and chose it as what the Father wanted Him to do. Jesus teaches us that suffering expands our mind and soul; it purifies our body and our heart. Our joy is locked in to our loving, and our loving is expanded by embracing our suffering.

O my Jesus, I trust in You; as You trusted in the Father. Open my eyes and heart to love my neighbor and even enemies by simply accepting to suffer them, endure them, and lovingly put up with them. Let this be my Lenten discipline in You: Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Blessing and Distribution of Ashes  

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MP3 audio files of Fr. Gilles' Homilies from past Ash Wednesday Liturgies

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Ash Wednesday at Saint Luke Parish / Paroisse Saint-Luc 

- 2007 Homily - 2008 Homily - 2009 Homily - Blessing of Ashes - 2010 Homily -

- 2011 Homily - 2012 Homily - 2013 Homily - Blessing of Ashes - 

Ash Wednesday at Saint Gabriel Parish 

- 2017 Homily - Final Exhortation - 2018 Homily - 

Ash Wednesday at Saint Anne Hospital  

- 2019 Homily - Blessing of Ashes - 

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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 

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God our Father is a true and perfect parent, disciplining us to safeguard us to our eternal destiny - Wed. Feb. 3, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

St. Blaise                            Sign of the +                            Greeting                                  

Hello. I’m Father Gilles Surprenant, priest of Montreal and Madonna House Associate. Today we remember St. Blaise, Armenian bishop and martyr of the 4^th century. This Live Daily Mass in English is in its 5^thmonth. Television time is very expensive to produce and air; so, we Salt + Light Media & Mary Queen of the World Cathedral in downtown Montreal appreciate your support by way of your prayers and donations. (No Intention) Thank you.

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

 Announcement 

Salt + Light Media and Mary Queen of the World Cathedral together produce and air this Live Daily Mass. It would take over $1,000.00 to cover their costs fully for each Live Daily Mass; so, the amount currently set to air your Mass intentions is actually a discount. As we continue to develop this Live Daily Mass under Pandemic conditions; we are glad to receive your daily prayers and support. You may send your donations and Mass intentions for the Cathedral to Salt + Light Media. Thank you. To contact me simply send an email to fathergilles@gmail.com

Blessing and Dismissal

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HOMILY

 The live Homily MP3 version  

So, Brothers and Sisters, today the Lord addresses us a word that we are not too eager to receive; it is not easy to receive it: namely, that the Lord disciplines us as a good parent disciplines their children. We know that good parents do not enjoy giving discipline and boundaries to their children, but parents who do not do so are considered guilty of abuse, of neglecting their children. That's why it is that God disciplines us. Why? To keep us on the path that leads to eternal life.

And what is eternal life? In his Gospel chapter 17, John the Beloved Disciple, Apostle and Evangelist in verse 3 quotes Jesus as having said: "And this is eternal life: to know You, the one true God, the Father, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." So that means, then, brothers and sisters, that we already taste the eternal life of heaven here on Earth to the degree that we know God the Father, personally, and his Son Jesus, personally. And we know them personally through the presence and action of the Holy Spirit but it's not self-evident. We see that from the Gospel.

When Jesus came to his hometown in Nazareth, well, some of them were glad to listen to Him and others were not. What is it about our human nature that makes it so difficult for us to be glad when someone else is happy, to be glad to participate in their success? It's the original sin. We have been damaged and wounded, we are afraid and insecure, and so we have all of these negative and drastic reactions. We put up walls, we judge other people; we look at them harshly, and on and on it goes.

But it is not without hope. Yes, we could say, especially during this time of worldwide pandemic that the world is a mess. If we consider some of our personal lives and family situations, in our town, in our province, in our country, we could say that sometimes things are a mess. And yet, God's creation continues to be awesomely beautiful and inspiring. The truth, the goodness, the beauty of God are reflected in his handiwork throughout creation, and that includes us. So there is God's truth, God's goodness, and God's beauty invested in each and every one of us, and it is that infinite value that our heavenly Father wants to jealously protect, even from ourselves and from our lesser or more evil inclinations.

So, it comes down to this: "Lord, am I willing to trust You? Lord Jesus, do I believe in You?" As Father Francis McKee preached on Saturday: "Am I willing to lay my whole life in your hands: all that I am, all that I have, all that I have done, and all that I will do?"

So, on this memorial day of Saint Blaise, the Armenian bishop and martyr of the 4th century, where it is traditional to ask his intercession with God to bless our throats and protect us from ailments of the throat particularly in winter. So, if there are two or more of you at home, I invite you to touch one another's throat as I invoke God's blessing. If you're alone, then you could touch your own throat and we'll invoke God's blessing. 

So, through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may Almighty God protect you from ailments of the throat and grant you healing in illness, in the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

The prepared written Homily PDF file    

 Today the Lord speaks to us a word we don’t like to hear, educated, sophisticated, and modern as we are. Our Heavenly Father behaves toward us as a truly good parent does. He disciplines us in order to guide us on the right path toward the eternal life He desires to share with us. What is eternal life? John the Beloved Disciple, Apostle, and Evangelist recalled Jesus declaring, in chapter 17 verse 3: “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” That means we already begin to taste how good is eternal life here and now on Earth as the Holy Spirit gives us to know the Father and the Son He sent to Earth as Jesus Christ.

How does our Father discipline us? The author of the Letter to the Hebrews explains that it is through the ordinary movements, currents, trials, troubles, temptations, challenges, and tribulations of ordinary life that we are tested and the intentions of our heart are purified. We can see how that works from what happened to Jesus on his return to Nazareth his home town.

The people familiar with Jesus thought they knew everything there was to know about Him; so “they took offence at him”. Their pride was hurt. Some may have been jealous. Others may have been put off by his knowledge and wisdom, or by his reputation and deeds of power. Still others may have rejected the will of God as Jesus presented his Father and obeyed Him.

Why is it that we find it so difficult at times to be glad with those who rejoice or to take pleasure in other people’s success? Why are we so inclined to look upon others harshly, to judge them, dismiss them, exclude them, or look down upon them? It is because of the original sin… we are all of us infected, wounded, damaged, and it is too often out of fear and insecurity that we speak, act, and behave. We cause much of our own troubles and we cause each other to suffer as well. Ah, but it is not without hope.

Yes, we can certainly say that our world is a mess, especially during the ongoing worldwide Pandemic. Humanity is a mess in so many places: at home, at work, in our towns, provinces, and nations. However, God’s Creation continues to be awesomely beautiful, and it reflects all the truth, goodness, and beauty of our Creator. God’s truth, goodness, and beauty are also in each and every one of us, and God jealously guards his divine reflection within us, to protect it and to make it grow. God offers to instill his own divine life within us, if only we will accept.

On this memorial of St. Blaise, Armenian bishop and martyr, it is traditional to invoke the saint’s intercession for ailments of the throat. If you are two or more at home now, I invite you to touch each other’s throat while I pray. If you are alone, then I invite you to touch your own throat. “Father in Heaven, through the intercession of St. Blaise, we ask that You protect us and cure us from ailments of the throat: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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