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.”

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

(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

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

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels. God continues to send his angels to watch over and guide us and defend us from the demons who seek our destruction. - Wednesday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time, Sept 29th, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

  Gospel & Homily MP3 version                     Homily PDF version

There is no sponsor today for this Holy Mass.

Sign of the + Cross                 Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

Good Morning. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…. Brothers and Sisters, today we venerate the 3 Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael who were sent by God to help us, as we celebrate the Holy Eucharist in 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)  

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 

The Archangels by Marco d'Oggiono (Public Domain) via Wikipedia Commons 
View at Divine Office: https://divineoffice.org/?date=20210929&unique=1632922982.81

HOMILY

The heart of our human drama is what we suffer because of the impression that we are far away from God. This is actually an illusion caused by the damage done to our mind, heart, and spirit at the dawn of humanity when Satan the Accuser, the Devil and Adversary of God lied to our first human mother Eve and her companion and husband Adam, and they believed the lie.

This tragic and dramatic deception originated in Heaven, in the eternal Presence of the Most Holy Trinity; when Lucifer, the most luminous and beautiful angel, rebelled against God. He refused to be among those who would bow down and worship a human being not yet born. This man was destined by the Father to be the human life to be taken on by the Son of God later in time when the Virgin would conceive by the Holy Spirit. She was to call her son Jesus, a Hebrew name which means “God saves”. Other angels also rebelled and became demons.

The moment we human beings stopped trusting in God, we cut ourselves off, and the first effect was our feeling isolated and far from God. It is an illusion because it is impossible to run or hide from God. God existed before the Universe came into being; so, there is no place that can exist separately from God. However, to respect our freedom, God has made it possible for us, if we choose, to join with the demons and exist separately from God, in complete darkness and cold away from the light and warmth of his love and mercy. This is called hell. 

God does not desire the destruction of any of his creatures, which is why demons continue to exist. They are fallen angels who refuse to cooperate with the Creator God’s plan to give life and salvation to all of his creatures. They refuse to obey or to serve. Nevertheless, in spite of the demons’ rebellion, God’s power is so great that the Most Holy Trinity actually arranges for the trouble making activity of the demons to serve God’s greater purpose anyway. God also continues to send his angels to watch over and guide us. Let us be attentive and follow them.

At every moment that demons tempt or confuse us or lead us astray, the Holy Spirit makes these dark moments into opportunities for us to break the rebellion and, instead of turning away from God, to go in the opposite direction and turn directly towards God. In other words, God is making the demons’ trouble making activity into reminders for us to put all of our trust in God.

That is actually why we can rejoice and be glad in every trial and tribulation, in every temptation and even in sin, because all these experiences remind us how weak we are and in need of God’s mercy, forgiveness, and love. So, go to Confession and meet Jesus face to face.

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

        Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, pray for us. 

We give praise to You, O God, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

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

Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, is our Mother; like Jesus, she cares for each of us and all that we experience. - Wednesday in the 24th Week in Ordinary Time, Sept 15th, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

  Gospel & Homily MP3 version                     Homily PDF version

Our Lady of Sorrows 

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 we venerate Mary who, in sharing Jesus’ Passion became Our Lady of Sorrows, as we celebrate the Holy Eucharist in this cathedral dedicated to Mary as 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)  

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. 

Tonight we have a wonderful opportunity to be in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters who will begin to celebrate "Yom Kippur", the "Day of Atonement", through prayer, fasting, and penance, calling upon the Lord for forgiveness for their sins. 

The original Day of Atonement came when the people of Israel repented of having built and worshipped a golden calf and Moses pleaded to the Lord to forgive them. Then Moses instructed them to build the "Tabernacle", the "Ark of the Covenant", the visible witness to God's covenant with his people and in which were deposited the stone tablets of "The Torah", "The Law". 

Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, is a Jewess, a daughter of Israel, and her sorrow is the same as that of God and his people over our sinfulness, and Mary intercedes for us with God for his mercy and forgiveness, and she calls upon all of us to repent of our sins, to fast and do penance, to pray to God, to offer sacrifices for sinners, and to adore the Lord our God.  

Saint Joseph, pray for us. Blessing and Dismissal 

HOMILY

We who are members of the living mystical Body of Christ have been made his members by the Lord Jesus through Baptism, and by believing in Him, He has made us children of God our Father. In his unlimited generosity, the Lord Jesus has also given his Mother Mary to us as our own heavenly Mother. This bequest or inheritance was one of Jesus’ final acts on this Earth as He agonized on the Cross and shed every drop of his precious life’s Blood.

Mary is the first human being, after Jesus, to be so completely taken into the intimate life, love, and communion of the Most Holy Trinity. She has been loved from all eternity by the Father as his own special daughter. She was chosen by the Father to be the Mother of his only begotten Son and she was instructed by the Archangel Gabriel to name God’s Son "Yeshua", Jesus, “God saves”. The moment Mary said “Yes!” to God when she replied to Gabriel, “Let it be done to me as you say.”, she became the chosen Spouse of the Holy Spirit, who overshadowed her in a mysterious way and brought about the Incarnation of the Son of God within her womb.

Mary is our own Mother because she is the Mother of Jesus who became our brother when the Son of God became man. Mary is our own Mother a second time because Jesus entrusted her to his Apostle John and John to her as her son. In declaring this as part of his last will and testament, Jesus intended Mary to become the Mother of us all, and for all of us to love her, care for her, honor her, and listen to her as our very own heavenly Mother.

Mary is our very own Mother a third time because we who believe in Jesus and have been baptized in the Most Holy Trinity are living members of the mystical Body of Christ that is the communion of saints. At this very moment, Mary weeps over our sins and sufferings as she did over the Passion of her divine Son Jesus. Mary, like Jesus, takes to heart everything that happens to us, and to every human being.

In every generation humanity gets into a great deal of trouble because of its separation from the love of God: rebellion, sin. With great compassion for us, God the Most Holy Trinity has repeatedly sent Mary to Earth to bring the message and call to repent, turn away from sin, trust in God, pray, fast, do penance, offer sacrifices for sinners, and care for the poor. Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fatima.... Mary even makes her statues weep human tears and tears of blood to get the attention of humanity. Our time is short. 

We human beings, for the most part, have turned away from God. Like ungrateful people in Jesus’ parable, we turn down the invitation to the wedding banquet. The wedding banquet is real… it is the eternal life in heaven happening right now… and the wedding is the marriage of God with humanity in the Person of Jesus, who is both God and man. Every day God eagerly waits for us to accept his marriage proposal, his invitation to love Him and our neighbour as ourselves. 

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

We give praise to You, O God, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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

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

  Gospel & Homily MP3 version                     Homily PDF version 

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.

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

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.

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

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

Like John the Baptist, God is with us to prepare the way for Jesus to touch other people's lives through us. - Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, June 24th, 2021 - S + L Mass at MQW Cathedral downtown Montreal

 Gospel & Homily MP3 version                     Homily PDF version        

Sign of the + Cross            The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

(no sponsor today Good Morning. Today this Holy Mass is being offered for:       by: )

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 in this wonderful church, and especially today, when we celebrate the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist; who is truly an image for all of us of our own vocation to prepare the way for the Lord.

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

 

HOMILY

 

Brothers and sisters, this solemn feast is important for those of us who live in Québec. It is a patronal feast, and for a long time the people of Québec saw John the Baptist as an icon or image or symbol of our own vocation. This continues to be true for all Christians. In a sense we are all blessed by God – God is with us from the moment of our conception – all through our growing up years God is attending to us, caring for us, loving us, and yet leaving us free.

This is part of the great gift God has given to us, not only that we are a unique individual, blessed with life, but in addition; that we have free will. This means that we often feel transparent, naked, alone, abandoned…. It is not a curse; it is the great dignity of the gift given to us of our individual life. Not only is John the Baptist a recollection or remembrance of who we are called to be, to walk this Earth preparing the way of the Lord, to touch other lives, but in addition, Jesus Himself is an icon of the great gift given to us.

Through our Baptism we are all sons and daughters of God. That means that God Himself in his great power is ever ready to work through us, within us and through us, to bless other people; even to make miracles. If only we take the focus of our attention off of ourselves, and cease being obsessed with ourselves and overly self-conscious, and walk as Mary, Joseph, and all the saints did: our eyes totally focused towards the Lord and giving Him all our trust and faith.

O my Jesus, I trust in You.

 Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

 In the Name of the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.  

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Prayer after Communion                                    Announcement

 

I originally wanted to be ordained on this day, but of course it’s too busy a day for the Archbishop; so, I was ordained a week later 38 years ago (on July 2^nd).

 

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