Sunday Reflections

Harry had been an usher at the parish for a long time. Gert had been coming to this parish for many years and every Sunday Harry would greet her with a welcoming hug.  One day Gert gave Harry some bad news.  She had been diagnosed with cancer and the prognosis was not good. “Be there for me” she asked Harry.  Harry continued to greet her with the same hospitality he had all through the years. When Gert passed away she was welcomed with the same hospitality into her new home.

           The Charism Statement of the Congregation of the Resurrection proclaims: “We believe that God’s love for us is merciful and unfailing.” This echoes the Constitutions of the Resurrectionists, which begins with the sentence: “God loves each of us with a personal, unconditional love” (art. 1).

I remember visiting Agricultural Museums and seeing many yokes, of leather and wood, used on farms in rural Ontario.  Usually they are a 'double' yoke, for two - for two beasts of burden.  This brings new hope when Jesus tells us that his "yoke is easy, and my burden light" because He is in the yoke at our side.  We are not alone!  We are not only responding to God under our own power!  Jesus shares the yoke with us.   We can and will do the work of the Lord, because he accompanies us constantly.  Thanks be to God! 

Today’s Gospel highlights for us the importance of hospitality in the Christian life. To welcome another in Jesus’ name is to extend hospitality to Jesus himself. We have many opportunities in our daily life to reach out to others, to be a welcoming presence and a sign of God’s love.

I write this reflection in Rome in the midst of the 33^rd General Chapter of the Congregation of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a grace-filled time to be gathered at this Chapter with delegates representing Resurrectionists from all over the world: Canada, U.S.A., Poland, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Australia, Tanzania, Germany, Austria, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Israel, Slovenia, and Italy. It is a time to celebrate the ways that we see the presence of God in our community and the hand of God in our ministry.

For Catholics, the Feast of Corpus Christi is an important one.  We celebrate with joy the great gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, given to us at the Last Supper.  This bread and wine, elements used in the Jewish Passover meal, were now transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Just as we need to eat well in our homes in order to have strength; the ability to concentrate and work; and to live well, so too we need to eat in the House of the Lord to have spiritual strength; the ability to learn and understand the ways of the Lord, and work for the building up of

As we live in new awareness of God in all God’s expressions as Father, Son, and Spirit, Trinity Sunday calls me to the life of active love: love for my neighbour and community, love for my nation and for the world. There is no other path shown us by Jesus than this if we are to embody God's Trinitarian life in the world. So contemplation and action belong together, as indivisible as loving God and loving my neighbour. Our spiritual lives will deepen, our vision of God’s kingdom will expand, and the work that God has chosen for us will take on a new vitality and urgency.

We celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven as if we were those first disciples, left staring into heaven as the Lord Jesus is taken up into the heavens.  We are those disciples of today, and the witnesses of the Good News today.  Jesus bestowed upon them, and us, the power and grace to not only share in His life, but to share it with others.   This mandate is a great responsibility, but we do not do it alone.  Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to work within us and to produce the gifts and charisms that will build up His Church.  So, now ...

What with newspapers, CNN, Twitter and “fake news” it is not hard to recognize that negativity is what attracts our attention.  Let’s face it “good news” does not sell newspapers or hold our attention! How often is the front page covered with good news? Unfortunately the good news is delegated to a few pages in, if there is any to be found! Have you ever seen a picture of a couple celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary on the front page or the healthy birth of a long awaited child after numerous miscarriages? No! What part of the newspaper are you?