Humanity is a mess... What exactly has God our Creator been doing about it all these past 14 billion years?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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A thumbnail sketch of what God is doing in our universe, from the clues He has given us in the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, called the New Testament. 

From the beginning....

Before the universe existed, from all eternity (which we mortals cannot imagine or understand) God alone existed and lived - the Most Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - in perfect union and harmony of love; complete in themselves. 

At some point beyond our knowing, God created angelic beings, pure spirits, out of his love and generosity; granting them to participate in his work of creation which He was about to do. When He revealed to the angels his plan of Creation, that He would create mortal human beings capable of friendship with Him; some angels rebelled out of pride, not wanting these mortals to rise higher with God than them.

Between 13 and 14 billion years ago, God created the universe. Only this past century, astronomers have discovered that it all began in a powerful point of light called "the big bang" or explosion; from which developed stars, galaxies, planets, and all the other phenomena now obervable in the universe. In the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Torah, God testifies that God said: "Let there be light!" His all-powerful word brought the universe into being as his Creation.

In time, some 4.543 billion years ago, according to astronomers, our Planet Earth came into existence: with land, oceans, and living things on the earth, in the seas, and in the air. When the time was right, God created human beings with spirits and freedom capable of entering into God's friendship; which was his freely given gift. As we all come to know on approaching adulthood, our freedom needs to be put to the test; so that it may not remain automatic but become truly chosen and authentic.

What exactly happened to the first human beings?

God our Creator therefore allowed the human beings recently created to be put to the test, and He allowed the rebel angel leader to bring the test; which took the form of a temptation. This having happened before recorded history, we don't know exactly what form the test took. 

However, again in the Book of Genesis, God revealed to humanity through the inspired authors that our first ancestors were blessed by God with all things good. God told the man, whom He created first, that he could enjoy all the fruits of the garden except the fruit of a single tree: the tree of the "knowledge of good and evil". In biblical language, knowledge means the full and complete experience of a thing; such as a husband "knowing" his wife, as a result of which she becomes pregnant with a new life. Simply put, God told the man that if he insisted on having experience of anything evil, he would die. Fine; no problem. 

Then, Genesis relates, God created woman because the man felt lonely with no other creature like himself. He was dazzled when God presented the woman to him, and they were happy with each other's company and friendship, and in God's friendship; which was expressed by Genesis in them walking with God in the garden everyday. Then came the test. The rebel angel leader took a deceptive form as a serpent. As a clever generail on the field of battle, he approached this first human couple and brought to bear his attack on their weakest point.

The tempter did not consider the woman the weakest point because she was woman; we all know that women have strength that men don't have. No, she was the weakest point because the man had heard directly from God the warning not to experience anything evil; that is, not to eat the fruit of the tree of the "knowledge of good and evil"; or they would die. The man told the woman about this; so, she knew, but only indirectly from the man, not from God Himself. 

First round - the tempter: “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”We don't know what "evil thing" the tempter proposed to the woman, but we do know she put up a valiant defense: "God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” Round one goes to the woman. Second round: “You will not die; 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,[a] knowing good and evil.” Thinking it a good thing to become wise, she went for it and experienced that evil thing; whatever it was. Round two went to the devil who overcame the woman.

Round three: Wanting to share her discovery with the man, the woman brought to him this "evil experience or knowledge"; whatever it was. This was the man's test. Did he act to protect and defend her and remind her of what God had said? No, he did not; he simply went along with that evil experience; whatever it was. Round three went to the devil who overcame the man. Round four: As a result of their first experience of something evil; the man and woman suddenly found themselves ashamed of their nakedness. This had never been a problem for them before. When it was time for their daily walk in the garden with God; they hid themselves. They could have gone running to God and confessed their error and asked his forgiveness, but they did not; they tried to hide it instead. Round four went to the devil as they both failed.

Round five: Of course, God noticed their concealment and questioned them, beginning with the man, then the woman, and finally, the devil in the form of the serpent. Sadly, the man didn't stand and take responsibility for his behaviour - for going along with the temptation and for failing to defend and protect the woman - instead, he merely passed the buck and blamed her. In her turn, being "thrown under the truck by the man", she too passed the buck and blamed the devil / serpent. We can imagine the devil being quite pleased with his performance and showing no regret or remorse; fallen angels seem to be incapable or unwilling to regret or repent, which puts them well beyond the possibility of being saved.

There are always consequences....

There stood the man and the woman, unrepentant, before God our Creator. There was norhing for it but for God to explain what consequences would result for them; which they would not be able to avoid. Since they had broken trust with God, in effect believing the lie of the tempter that God could not be trusted; the man and woman were out of sync not only with the Creator, but also with his Creation, and with each other. We all suffer these consequences throughout our lives, but in Genesis God told the consequences in a symbolic form for each.

The man, being particularly robust and equipped to cultivate the earth, with a propensity to make plans for the cultivation of the garden entrusted to him by God our Creator; now found himself out of sync with the creation, with nature. This natural world would resist his efforts to cultivate it. He would earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, and instead of producing lovely fruit, the earth would put forth thorns and thistles. The man would ever be frustrated in his work and be insecure with respect to the world, work, and his ambitious plans.

The woman, being more alert and designed to cultivate relationships, to give and nurture life; now found herself out of sync with her partner, with the other being like herself. As a result, she would have doubts about herself and about her relations, and in her insecurity, she would grasp or cling to the man; but being insecure himself, he would react badly and quell her outreach or even dominate her. The woman would be ever insecure within herself, with respect to her relationships, and her ability to give and nurture life.

God's problem and challenge....

As a result of the test put to human freedom, God our Creator had lost the humans' trust, and they / we had lost their / our willingness to trust in God. How could God our Creator possibly win back the humans' trust? All of human history, and God's sacred history with his People as shown in the Jewish Scriptures, makes it clear that the only strategy that actually works is: "one person at a time". No grand schemes to win back our trust have ever worked.

1st Covenant - the Garden: with a human couple - Adam and Eve - that didn't go well... their son Cain murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy because he seemed closer to God.

2nd Covenant - the Rainbow: with a family - Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives. It went well enough with this first generation, but the successive generations did not know God personally, or were not interested; so this didn't go very far either. Their descendants built the Tower of Babel in their proud ambition to reach heaven without God and instead rival God, compete with God, by their own efforts. This turned out badly.  

3rd Covenant - Circumcision: with a tribe - Abraham and Sarah, their son, grandsons, and great grandsons and all their wives and children. God always keeps his promises: from Ishmael came the Arabic peoples, and from Isaac came the Hebrew people of the Covenant. This Covenant went pretty well until after a few centuries in Egypt; when their prosperity turned into slavery at the hands of the Egyptians, who became afraid of the Hebrews. 

4th Covenant - the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments: with a nation: Israel. By now, Abraham's tribe through his son Isaac had become a nation, and it was time for God to make a new covenant with this nation, which had in prosperity lost its way, lost its relationship with God. They had even lost a sense of right and wrong in their struggle for survival under the bitter yoke of slavery. For more than a millennium after Moses, the people of Israel went on a roller coaster ride - from generation to generation - with one generation knowing God personally and loving Him and walking in his ways, but the next generation not knowing God personally and getting lost amid the other nations and cultures in the world around them. 

During this millennium - from sometime between the 15th and 13th century BCE until the coming of Jesus of Nazareth - the People of Israel experienced different stages: (1) Period of the Judges: The people followed the leader chosen by God: Moses and then Joshua, and a series of Judges; (2) Period of the monarchy - The First Temple: This was when the people demanded a king like the other nations around them; (3) A kingdom divided: God warned the people that demanding a king was a rejection of God, a refusal to trust and obey Him. As a result, bad kings caused the kingdom to divide in two: Judah in the south and Israel / Samaria in the north. (4) Period of the prophets: God sent his people prophets to guide them, but the people resisted, the kings refused to follow the prophets' advice. The two kingdoms were conquered by nations from what is now Syria, Iraq, and Turkey, and the upper class were taken into exile as slaves. (5) Period of the Exile and the return - The Second Temple: God raised up a pagan king / emperor who released the Hebrews, the People of Judah and Israel, from their slavery and allowed them to return to their land and rebuild their Temple. (6) The Greek and Roman Empires - a period producing more wisdom literature and the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek: The Jewish People now had two cultural centers: Hebrew in Palestine and Greek in Egypt. (7) Persecution and messianic hopes arising, beginning with the Macchabees: A nunber of devotional movements arose, all looking forward to the coming of the Messiah to be sent by God to save his people. 

God's long-term plan....

At this point, it's good to remember that from the beginning, all that God our Creator ever wanted, was to extend to human beings his friendship; having created us capable of friendship with Him and endowed with the authentic freedom which, alone, renders true friendship possible. As God went through the various Covenants: a couple, a family, a tribe, and a nation, God's aim was always to reach all of humanity. He wanted his Chosen People to be a Light to the Nations. Here is a passage from the Prophet Isaiah 42:5-9.

5 "Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: 6 I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people,[a] a light to the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other,

    nor my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them."

In some ways, they were and are a light to the nations - like the unique gift of the Ten Commandments, but in other ways, not so much. After all, we are only human and mortal. 

Then came Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth....

5th Covenant - the Cross and Jesus the Risen Lord: with all of humanity: Matthew in his Gospel records the following words of Jesus of Nazareth: Mt 5:17 

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." At the age of 30, Jesus launched into preaching in public, and by the grace of God, accompanying his preaching with signs and wonders, miracles of healing and even raising the dead. In short, Jesus claimed to be God's own Son. At C.S. Lewis, the English author put it: Jesus was either crazy, or a liar, or he was exactly who he claimed to be." Those are the only logical possibilities of interpretation of his claims. So, God is still wanting those who know and love Him to bring his divine light to the nations, to all of humanity.

It is possible for all human beings to be attentive to the Spirit of the living God whispering within their own spirit and guiding them, and to obey this guidance and live as authentic human beings: caring for the Garden of Nature, our common home, being kind and generous to others, caring for the poor, the sick, the injured, and the exploited. Some people, who claim to be atheists or agnostics, do in fact rise to this level of philanthropy. 

The reason we baptized even infants is in obedience to Jesus' call to make disciples for Him who will come to know God personally, love and serve Him, and become beacons of God's divine Light to the nations. We join their parents, godparents, and their whole blended family in praying to God for the new disciples; that they may grow in the knowledge and love of God as they grow and develop in humanity and become a fully human person in all that they will say and do. 

Matthew 28:18-20    18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

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My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2025 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2025 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Anxiety over the faith or lack of faith in people we love or know

In my life as a Catholic Christian and ministry as a R.C. priest, I have had many conversations with any number of people of all ages, and not surprisingly, the practice of the faith or variations on that theme comes up the most frequently. This prompts me to reflect on many things.

Over the years, I have found the greatest anxiety seems to be felt by parents and grandparents, and about what they perceive to be the state of the faith, or lack of it, in their own children and grandchildren. This also comes up in the course of ministering to people, even when I meet them at the Tribunal, would you believe, but also in the confessional. I believe it is the Lord, the Holy Spirit, who has consistently inspired me with a particular response, which I'd like to share with you, and which I hope you will share widely among your family and friends.

One teaching of our Church which received considerable treatment while I was in seminary was what sounds something like this: "Outside of the Church, there is no salvation." It has prompted many to draw the conclusion: "You have to keep the commandments, go to church on Sunday, and pray every day, or you will go to hell." This teaching has also prompted people to think that unless one is baptized in the Catholic Church, or at least baptized somewhere, they too will go to hell.

Here are the thoughts that I believe the Holy Spirit has prompted me to share with those suffering from the above mentioned anxiety.

First, Jesus gave us a very clear instruction about how the judgement will go when we leave our body behind and find ourselves in the radiant and awesome Presence of the Most Holy Trinity. You know it well. It is Jesus' parable about what it will be like when the Son of Man comes on the clouds and gathers the nations together, separating people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. It's in Matthew chapter 25.

We could translate this into plain English this way: we are on Earth to become fully human, and the ultimate test of this is how we treat others. That's it. There will be no grueling test on our church attendance or our prayers, or our fasting and penances. God our Creator loves all his creatures, especially human beings, and He hopes that we will come to love them in the same way, and as much as He does himself. "Love one another as I have loved you." Jesus means what He said. Saint John put it this way: we have no love of God whom we cannot see if we don't love the people we can see. That's in 1 John 4:20. 

On that score, attending church and saying prayers won't make any difference; remember how Jesus criticized the Pharisees, Sadducees, Priests, and Scribes. He called them hypocrites; they were extremely religious, but still hypocrites, because they had no authentic love, compassion, or caring for their fellow man. Their faith and religious practice did them no good; moreover, it even caused them to try to prevent people from coming to Jesus. Sadly, today we can be just like them and also prevent people from freely coming to Jesus.

This prompts another question. Well, in that case, what difference does being baptized, going to church, doing penances, and praying make?

It makes a big difference, the same difference between loving someone and being devoted to them. We can love our parents by calling and visiting them, but we can do more; we can be devoted to them and assist them in their need, especially when they are sick or elderly, and "give until it hurts" as Saint Mother Teresa used to say. We can go beyond loving and being devoted to family and do that for strangers and even enemies.

As I shared with someone today, God our Creator loves all his human children. Our Church taught at the Second Vatican Council that all human beings can be saved by passing the same test we will all face, based on the quality of our love for others, which includes enemies. The difference that baptism first makes is the divine adoption: God the Most Holy Trinity incorporates us into the communion which the Father and the Son have in the Holy Spirit. We are drawn into the circle of the divine life and love.

The "rub" is that this adoption requires our participation and wholehearted development. If we do learn to know God personally and love Him, in addition to loving our neighbour and even our enemies, then we actually participate in the divine work of salvation in the world. This work of the Holy Trinity in the depths of human souls is very mysterious, and only God can see into human souls. We have no idea what is really going on in other souls; even our own soul remains mysterious to us, and we cannot even judge ourselves, as Saint Paul wrote in his letters.

So, what we need to look for, first in ourselves, and then in others, is this: am I getting to really know God personally? Do I have a relationship with Jesus as my Lord, Master, and Friend? Has Jesus begun to bring me to the Father and reveal Him to me? Have I begun to allow myself to become aware of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit within me? Am I bearing the fruit of the presence and action of God within me? In other words, am I doing the works which Jesus did? When I am at prayer and someone needs me, do I quickly arise to eagerly and gladly attend to them? When I come back from church, am I so radiant with the love of God that others come to be warmed from the warm glow of God's love radiating from me?

The faith can never be transmitted by coercion, but only by divine infection. Even then, how and when others come to discover that God is real, and that He loves them, it all remains so very mysterious because of the extreme degree to which God respects human freedom and gives us as much time as possible to come freely to know and love Him. Whenever we employ other methods to try to drag people to God, not only does it not work, but it often achieves the opposite effect. We only succeed in portraying a false or distorted image or representation of God, which turn others off and pushes them farther away from God or the Church or both, and into the peripheries; as Pope Francis called the shadows.

If we really want to help others come to know and love God, we need to pay the price, which is expensive: much persevering prayer, fasting, and personal sacrifices joyfully offered. We cannot show people we do this, unless they ask about it. The gift must be hidden, freely given, and not become and exaction, pressure, or coercion. Our devotion to the Father, to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit, and to our Blessed Mother Mary and the saints must pass the test of our authentic love of neighbour, especially those we find most difficult to love, and loving them "until it hurts". If I truly love Jesus for the passion He endured for me and all of humanity; then this love will bring me to love others as He does, even to the point of eagerly accepting sufferings for the sake of love, as the saints did and do. 

There will be many "degrees" of intensity of joy and happiness in Heaven. At the lower end, we would find those who gave a little, in the middle, those who gave a lot, and at the upper end, we will find those who gave everything. 250622 I received a very insightful and precise question on this very statement. The reader doesn't think that God has "levels" of love, which would be very disturbing, and that my statement as it is does not show full communion. I appreciate the observation and question and try to answer it below in green. I hope that this will make this post and reflection better and more useful to the reader.

Dear Reader, you can feel quite free to reject this as a personal opinion on my part. Truthfully, it is the result of all my years of life, faith, learning, ministry, searching, and God's mercy. Call it an intuition. You are quite right to say that God hasn't levels of love... the Most Holy Trinity are perfect and infinite in their divine persons and in their giving of Self to us. There are, nonetheless, limitations, or levels, or degrees, as you may prefer, but they are entirely in us. 

Consider how different have been the saints, and how varied in the degrees or "intensity" of "intimacy" or "communion" they experienced with God; which also had to do with how far they gave of themselves, without any thought for themselves, in service to and love of others. Loving care and forgiveness and mercy to enemies does expand the soul. Saint Augustine taught that it is by exercising holy desire that our "capacity to receive from God" grows, which is why, he taught, that God allows us to wait for good things and blessings. While we wait and hope and trust, we "exercise our desire", and God stretches the limits of our soul, our "container"; until there is enough room to take in and receive what it is that God wants to give us.

Jesus did say to the Apostles that there are many rooms or mansions in the Father's house. There is diversity in Heaven, rather than uniformity. Souls are unique. It makes perfect sense that God would completely fill souls with divine presence, communion, and love in eternity. It also makes sense that the "volume" of our containers, our souls, varies. We can see that plainly in everyday life, in our relations with others. This is not a judgement or unfair; it is plainly the truth. We see in creation limitless variety of substance, size, colour, texture, fragrance, and so on; even in the very same variety of a thing. It is not a curse or injustice, but rather all to the glory of God. In Heaven, no one will be disappointed or discontented, because they will all experience fullness of life, communion, and joy together and in God, entirely filling their "container", their dynamic and living soul.

I hope this helps. I cannot think of a specific source for this perspective... it is a cumulative intuition after 76 years of living and faith.... Thank you, Reader, for your astute question and for responding, rather than remaining passive. May others be inspired to do the same. 

There's a saying: "Give a little, it costs a lot. Give a lot, it costs a little. Give everything, it costs nothing at all." — Archbishop Raya, Madonna House Apostolate (RIP 2005). Pope Saint John Paul II referred to Jesus' command to love as "the law of the gift"... God loves us by giving his own Self in what can be called a "divine transfusion" in his own Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament, bestowing upon us a participation in the divine life; which is why to love as God loves, we must also give of ourself. 

Blessed days in the glow of the Most Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament, and on Friday, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests, and on Saturday, the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Blessings to you and your families. 

Will the People of God raise up a cause for the R.C. Church to recognize the holiness of Maureen Rodrigues Marolly, who died in the fragrance of holiness on May 31st, 2022?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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Maureen Rodrigues Marolly 1944-2022 

Hello. You may have come across this post by accident, or you may have been conducting an Internet search. I am a retired R.C. priest of Montreal QC Canada reflecting on the above question. It was no doubt Divine Providence that brought me to the home of Maureen and her husband Clayton. Parishioners at St. Thomas à Becket had been telling me about the phenomenon of statues exuding fragrant oily liquid in the presence of people praying in a private home in D.D.O. So, trying to be a good pastor, I went to see.

Maureen and her husband, when they witnessed my interest through repeated visits, asked me their advice about managing the flow of "pilgrims" and "supernatural sign seekers". I agreed to accompany them and encouraged them to feel free to "put order" in the manner in which they opened their home in hospitality to all who phoned, knocked, or intruded on their family life. In time, they asked me for spiritual accopaniment, which I was glad to offer them. There is nothing confidential revealed in this.

During the years between 1994, when "the phenomenon" began until 2022 when Maureen died, many gave witness to the holiness of Maureen's life, her dedication to serve all who came, and her devoted life of prayer, penance, and adoration. To all appearances, her husband accompanied her in this way of life, and they were both exemplary parents and grand parents. At the time of Maureen's death, there seemed a consensus that she was now with God; that she had lived a holy and virtuous life. Some asked me about the process by which the R.C. Church recognizes the holiness of someone's life. It's like this.

First, there needs to be some evidence that the person did indeed live a holy life. Second, there needs to be a "ground swell" of prayer and support for this process to get under way. Third, there needs to be a person dedicated to put in place all that needs to happen in order for the process to begin and continue. 

From the beginning, given that I was a priest who had accompanied this couple for 28 years or so; it made sense for me to offer to receive any testimonies people would want to send me. That summer, I only received a few such testimonies by email. I myself wrote a few reports over the years. I also have some pictures the couple shared with me; including the trips to India and other places where they were called upon or requested in advance to give their testimony of faith and a report on the phenomenon. 

I received a few more testimonies in jpf and in pdf, some scans of the notebook logs kept by this couple in their home. Visitors were invited to write in notebooks their experiences of grace received through the prayers of Maureen and through their prayerful use of the mysterious fragrant oily liquid. Close to the beginning of the phenomenon, Clayton devised a large metal pan upon which all the statues were placed from which exuded the oil. The pan had a spout from which he would drain some liquid into small bottles for people to take away; always with the instruction to pray and use the oil with faith.

For this cause to go forward, it needs a promoter of the cause: someone with time and energy and also devotion to apply to the tasks at hand. I regret that this task has been beyond my ability to undertake. 

I have uploaded the folder containing all these files to One Drive and it may be opened from this link: 

Cause Maureen Rodrigues Marolly 

Funeral Mass – Maureen Rodrigues Marolly – 220603

St. Thomas à Becket Parish, Pierrefonds QC Canada

Presider and Homilist: Fr. Gilles

Welcome at the doors and sprinkling: Fr. Peter, Pastor

Adrian: Words of thanksgiving to God – called forward by Fr. Gilles

Brittany: Reading 1: A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles   p. 17 (10:34-43)

Lynn, Kathy, Adamo, & Cedric: Psalm 63

Fiona: Reading 2: A Reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans p. 21 (8:14-23)

Gospel: (to be selected by Fr. Gilles) Fr. Peter          Homily: Fr. Gilles

Brittany: Final words and announcement

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles             (10:34-43)                  

 Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ - he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.  

We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

(PAUSE A MOMENT)                        The Word of the Lord

Psalm 63

Reader:            For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God.                      (Response.)

O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Response.)

 So, I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. (Response.)

So, I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name. My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips. (Response.)

You have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings, I sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. (Response.)

 

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans             (8:14-23)

 

All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

(PAUSE A MOMENT)                                    The Word of the Lord

Alleluia. Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom. Alleluia.

 

A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew                             (11:25-30)

 At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." The Gospel of the Lord.

Intentions:

Anthony: We pray for our Nana who always showered us with love and attention. May her soul rest in eternal peace. We pray to the Lord.

Jessica: We pray for the deceased members of the Rodrigues family; her beloved parents Bento & Annie, her sister Jeanette, her brother-in-law Anthony and her brother Diego. We pray to the Lord

Noah: We pray for the deceased members of the Marolly family; her in-laws Desmond & Alice, her brother-in-law David & her sister-in-law Carol. We pray to the Lord.

Maya: We pray for the differently abled that they live, grow and thrive with the confidence that they are welcomed, protected and encouraged. We pray to the Lord.

Matthew: We pray for those who suffer that they may find the people capable of hearing them, caring for them and loving them. We pray to the Lord.

Angelina: We pray for families going through hard times with sickness, unemployment or death, may they keep the flame of hope burning in their hearts and may your love and the love that unites them give them the strength to push forward. We pray to the Lord.

Mika: We thank you Jesus for the gift of faith that he bestowed upon our Nana, which she shared with all of us. She also shared her faith with all those who requested prayers and those who came to pray as well. We pray to the Lord.

Live homily recording and text 

Homily Prepared Notes         (published here but not used at the funeral Mass)

 We are here today to celebrate Maureen’s passing from this life into eternity because Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and Son of God, died and rose again from the dead. Otherwise, we probably would have gathered in a Hindu temple or in some other sacred place of worship and prayer.

Maureen has brought us here and gathered us together in this place of prayer and worship to the living God, the Holy Trinity. So, we are here for Maureen, to pray for her soul, to support her in this awesome step through the thin veil separating our mortal human life from eternity, the realm of the Most Holy Trinity, and the House of the Father. Jesus declared that He has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us there.

We are also here for ourselves and for each other. Where Maureen has gone, we will also one day go. It is essential that we realize how important it is for us to pay close attention to the way in which we are moving towards that final moment of our last breath on Earth.

We live in a society and culture that has abandoned God. People who live without God are floating in a bubble of illusion that they have unlimited power over all things. Those who believe in God understand that God alone has unlimited power over all things. When we reject God or ignore God, then inescapably we are sucked into the vacuum left by the absence of God, and even without realizing it, we step into God’s shoes and believe the illusion that we have unlimited power over all things.

That is why in our time governments have passed laws authorizing “medical aid in dying”, clinical terms for the act of euthanasia, the giving of death to oneself or to another. The illusion is that to do this thing can be an act of mercy, and people believe this because they misunderstand the nature and meaning of suffering. Our society and our culture have become allergic to any and all forms of suffering, which is unfortunate because suffering is an integral part of the human condition, and fully integrated with our capacity to live.

Women who give birth to their children understand the purpose of their labour pains and are glad to give them meaning and purpose in their desire to bring a human being into this world. Their child is bone of their bones and flesh of their flesh; as Adam declared when he first looked upon Eve, the woman given to him by God our Creator as his companion in life. Mothers retain a visceral bond to the children of their womb. Mothers are able to understand more intimately the love God our Creator has for all of his children.

Only a cruel god would allow human beings to endure suffering that has no value or purpose. Anything we suffer in this life is merely an opportunity for us to discover, unfold, and develop our hidden capacity for love, beauty, goodness, truth, and endurance. All manner of suffering is an opportunity for us to freely decide to invest this suffering with the meaning and purpose we choose to give to our life our whole life long.

On October 7^th, 1994 Maureen chose to rescue a little statue of Our Lady of Lourdes from the garbage when a neighbour offered it to her, declaring they no longer believed in this nonsense; having become what is called a born-again Christian. All those who believe in Jesus Christ as the only Son of God and our only Saviour are born again. The Holy Spirit witnesses to the truth of Jesus and empowers us to become children of God and live as children of God in this world. They are truly children of God who actually follow Jesus in their life.

Maureen and her devoted husband Clayton were indeed born-again Christians in the Roman Catholic tradition and in the culture of Catholic Goa. Daily in deep faith in God they prayed the Holy Rosary with their family. On that day of their 22^nd wedding anniversary, October 7^th, 1994, in the presence of the little rescued statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, as they prayed their family Rosary, the statue began to ooze a fragrant oily liquid. Clayton put a bowl underneath it, and in a short time, people were drawn from all over to come witness this unusual phenomenon. In their faith in God, and docility to the mysterious actions of the Holy Spirit, Maureen and Clayton opened their home to all those who came knocking, people searching for meaning in their lives, looking for God, looking for relief from all manner of suffering.

The Christian faith to which Maureen and Clayton have given witness is the faith Jesus asks of all those who would follow Him: “Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.’” Matthew 16:24-25 

Of course, as one might expect, there have been those who came looking for signs and wonders. Maureen and Clayton systematically called on these people too to put aside their curiosity and pay attention to the living God who loves every human being. They relentlessly called on people to get serious and pray.

Jesus warned his disciples, as He also warns us, that those who follow Him can expect to be treated no better than He himself was. In other words, we can expect to be rejected, ridiculed, and even persecuted. Both Maureen and Clayton have had the privilege of suffering in these ways for their love of God, for their love of family and people, and for the glory of God.

Now that the Lord has received Maureen’s soul into his divine presence, we don’t know what will become of the phenomenon now in its 28^th year. It may continue or it may come to an end. Time will tell.

The real question before all of us today is this: “Where is my life going?” Maureen always knew and believed, from the time she was a little girl, that she was on a life-long journey to God, to the eternal life with God that began at her Baptism. She recognized the intimate relationship of love being offered to her by God the Father in Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and she was determined to say “Yes!” every day as Mary said to the Archangel Gabriel, and as Joseph also said in reply to the dreams God gave to guide him.

God our Father loves each and every one of us; we are all his children. At every moment of every day, in every situation, in every relationship, in our studies and in our work, in our quiet time and in our play, outside and in our homes, everywhere and at all times God the Most Holy Trinity is present to us. All that remains, at every moment, is for us to decide to welcome God into the secret places of our minds, hearts, and souls.

Praying is visiting with God. True prayer is simply a decision to visit with God, to open the doors of our mind, heart, and soul to God who is always present. Faith is simply accepting God for who He is and making room for Him in our lives.

Maureen did her best, as Clayton continues to do, to give vibrant witness to the unfathomable love of God for us, and to encourage us to waste no more time in life, but to throw wide open the doors of our lives to the living God, the Creator from whom we have come into existence, and the eternal Father to whom we are day by day returning. The Lord Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life”, and the Holy Spirit is the Consoler, the Advocate, the Defender, the Lord and Giver of life, who fills us with the vitality and love which is in God.

In spiritual communion with Maureen and with all the saints now in the presence of God in eternity, with the intercession and help of our Blessed Mother Mary and her Beloved Spouse Saint Joseph, I invite all those who would like to do so to pray in your hearts with me as I offer these words of prayer.

“Father in Heaven, You who pour into us moment by moment life and vitality, You whose very breath gives breath to our bodies as we breathe in and out, You who like to play “hide and seek” with us – remaining invisible and leaving us free to decide to seek You – we thank you today for the life of Maureen, our wife, our mother, our Nana, our sister, our neighbour and friend. We thank You for the countless ways in which You have blessed us through Maureen, through her humanity, and through her faith in You and in Jesus, your Son, our Lord. Her journey through life is now accomplished, as Jesus’ life was also accomplished as He hung upon the cross for us. Father, grant us to remain in spiritual communion with Maureen, now that she is in your House, and grant us the grace to do as she did: to welcome your presence and your love into our lives, to open ourselves to You every day and often during the day in prayer. Grant us the resolve to worship You with all our brothers and sisters in Jesus every Sunday, the Lord’s Day. Fill us anew with your Holy Spirit, that we may be aware of our sinful failures to love. We confess to You now, Father, the many times we have refused to be loved by You and have failed to love You in our family, in our neighbour, and in our enemies. We decide here and now to renew our faith in You, Father, and in Jesus your Son, our Lord. Fill us anew with your Holy Spirit, that we may no longer struggle through life alone, but may live in the joy of your peace and love, in Jesus your Son, our Lord. Amen.” 

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My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2025 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2025 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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