Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Why are apparently good men leaving their wives and children - when it's not women leaving their husbands and children?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------


What follows has been prompted by yet one more wonderful lady and her children being dropped by her apparently good husband and father, but the truth wasn't fully known until he revealed himself to the light of day and what was hidden in him finally came out, but it is sadly also applicable to some wonderful men who have been abandoned with their children by their apparently good wife and their mother. So what gives? 

What a joy it is for me as a pastor to occasionally hear from someone I once served and who moved away as they just decide to contact me or as I send - which I don't like to and rarely do - one of those email warnings about something or other. What a shock it is for me to hear yet one more time that she has been abandoned by her man. Every time it happens everything in me wants to scream. "Do you realize what you're doing to them and to yourself? Don't you know that you are bailing out at the very moment and threshold of dramatic growth for you as a person, if only you face what it is that's going on and go through it, but no, you turn back and leave. What a waste. 

The loss is almost entirely yours, because the one who gets left behind will almost certainly grow, even if at first it's only for the sake of the children." I really don't get what's happening to men in our society and culture... It's like they're not growing up.... What I really find strange is that all too often, at least where I have been, the woman is very beautiful, talented, smart, skillful, and just plain good and kind and generous, and the list goes on. It seems that no family is spared and everyone knows someone who is going through this, someone close, and I am no exception. 

What's interesting is that some of them have been telling me that they've discovered - the Lord is giving them - a new freedom and realization of how much they had been carrying their man, who really in varying degrees hadn't been fully a husband nor a father in too many ways to tell; nor for that matter, fully a man either. It would be harder to the extent that he seemed in any way a good husband and/or father.... or if the shoe is on the other foot and the one who left seemed to be a good wife and mother. 

Then the trap is to begin wondering what you did wrong, what was the cause that forced your spouse to leave you, but it's only a trap. The cause is not in yourself but in him or her who left you and your children. Of course, you're not perfect, who is? The point is that life is like that, and we are here on Earth precisely to experience the "sandpaper effect" of rubbing up against each other in irritating ways, so that our rougher edges may be smoothed and we might actually become more beautiful, kind, understanding, loving, ready to defend the good and the truth, and be generous. The point of life is to become more deliberate and intentional in giving meaning and purpose to our lives by loving others.

Then there's the other trap at the other end, where the one who left was such a dead weight that you now may feel guilty about feeling so relieved of the burden of his dead weight that you actually feel glad, joyful, elated.... Don't feel guilty... that's just another trap. The fact is that a woman gladly carries the weight of her man during his struggles and uncertainties, and her constant love and support supplies him with time and an environment that actually incubates him and allows him to grow and put in his efforts and make of himself a better man. 

Our Father Creator designed woman with the capacity to do that and to do it gladly; that's how she nurtures life, and it is one of her greatest sources of satisfaction. The Creator designed man to awaken to her goodness and to gladly, freely, and generously cherish her. Then the circle is complete and her love and efforts come back to her. 

Conversely, the Creator made man to notice woman, to value her and take her under his wing. He leads her from her parents' home to a home of her own, even in cases where she is so talented and able that she actually leads in many of the decisions they make. We're not talking about who wears the pants here, but rather about the topography of the human soul. Woman has been designed by the Creator to desire and expect to have her own value noticed, wanted, appreciated, and affirmed in the eyes of another who looks upon her with love. She has been designed to be cherished. 

So when a man does that and after a shorter or longer time she leaves him and even her own children behind, he can fall into the same trap of wondering what he did wrong, but it's just a trap. It's not about him or the children, who also wonder what they did to cause Mommy not to love them anymore and leave, but it's mostly about her and the decisions she has made. This man needs to remember that he is good and lovely and precious in the eyes of his true Father in Heaven, and that he has not lost his ability to love and be loved. At first he must carry on for the sake of the children, but in time, he will discover that he did not squander his love on her who left him, but rather that he has grown through it all and has become a better man. 

You know, I've had lots of time to think about such hurts that really should never happen, wondering what is happening to the countless millions of people suffering such injustices and neglect and worse.... and where is our loving Father in all of that... I remember that He only ever has one answer to all our situations and questions: his own Beloved Son, the Word, whom He sent and who accepted to be sent to come among us, and whom we celebrate with such joy - and good reason - every Christmas... Jesus, the Beloved of our soul and the True Bridegroom of his Bride, the Church, us. 

He will ever remain faithful to us, having already poured out his life for us and for all of humanity who simply accept to receive the gift of his life by accepting to be called by it to move up a little higher and become a little better..... Woman, or man, you who have been abandoned by one not willing to rise to the dizzying heights of true and profound love, love that is faithful and true and learns to leave self behind, this is an opportunity for you to rediscover in a deeper way the simple goodness of you, of your life, which is a precious gift from God to you. 

You are ever so precious a daughter or son in the Father's eyes, and He has so much trust in you to know that and to breathe deep and drink deeply from the springs of Living Water He has given to erupt in you - the Holy Spirit - from the moment of your Baptism and strengthened at your Confirmation and fanned into flame with every incident on the road of life as you allow it to prompt you to open wider with ever deeper trust the windows and doors of your soul.... 

Please give my regards to your children... Tell them that they are very special... They have a very good Mom or Dad who has chosen freely to remain faithful and true to them and won't leave them ever - until their body gives out and their soul moves on to be with God - and what has happened is not their fault, nor is it the fault of their Mom or Dad who has remained behind. It's mostly about their Dad or Mom who left and the choices they are making. It's also because of our culture and times.... 

It isn't a good time for good, strong, just men to sprout up from the Earth... It's also becoming a very bad time for good, strong, nurturing women to sprout up from the Earth.... There was a time when many men tended to get caught up in macho activities to prove themselves and left the women to do the important and foundational work of rearing children and forging character in their children, and so women grew and became powerful and wise. Those times are quickly fading. 

Too successful is the great lie being propagated by interests that want to manipulate and control destinies and/or want to hinder or even abolish the great and wonderful design of the Creator for our happiness. So more and more girls and women are trying to define themselves by being better men than males, proving they can do anything men can do or even better, proving to themselves they can enjoy the same sexual irresponsibility that for so long has been the "reserve" of men who don't have to carry newly created human beings in pregnancy and don't see how they destroy themselves and others. 

The tragedy is that by the time woman discovers what God already knew and intended, that she can do what man does at least as well and often better, it may be too late for her to realize that wasn't the point. God designed men to compete against themselves, to become ever better verions of their own self, not to become better than others, but mostly, the Creator designed men to develop a life, a self, so that then they might freely and gladly lay that self aside in order to apply all their energy and devotion to cherish the woman who has accepted to share and enhance their existence. 

God designed women to be content to observe the man competing against himself and by her freely and gladly given companionship be as a catalyst that enhances his ability to more quickly develop a life which he can then gladly and freely devote to her and cherish first her and then also their children. He designed her to find her inner satisfaction rather in fully developing her own potentialities for giving and nurturing life all around her, like a fruitful vine, but if she allows the great lie to distract her gaze from her own inner goodness and accepts to look outside herself for a measure of her own worth; then she will reject her own fertility and fruitfulness and become an arid and sterile wasteland that in the end remains alone and empty. 

The tragedy of our times is that our culture has developed especially in the past fifty years around the momentum of reacting against elders and former ways of living in an insatiable search for novelty and the futile attempt to satisfy the appetites of the flesh. These appetites have been incorporated into our nature to help us survive and to add color to life, but they have no lasting substance. Our true human substance is something that grows root, stem, leaf, and fruit from within our spirit and has to do with our design to give and nurture life, one way or another, in our own children or in other ways of adding life to others by our presence and services. 

This new orientation is actually not new at all. It was introduced at the very dawn of humanity and we have an account of it in Genesis in the drama staged with a first primordial couple, Adam (man) and Eve (wo-man = from man). The great lie is to believe we can do better than follow the design inscribed within our very nature, but the proof is in the origin of the message we choose to believe. Our Creator loves us and designed us to be happy in a lasting and even eternal way, whereas the stranger who wants our attention and discredits our design wants nothing else than our total and utter destruction. 

The choice of orientation is ours. Will we have the wisdom to recognize the innate genius, beauty, and wonder of our own inner design, or will we prefer the attractive but artificial, sterile, and empty appearance? That is the test of our humanity. Too many of us are not passing the test... We are being sifted like wheat by the events of an ever more frantic culture, abundance, and prosperity.... to discover what is really inside of us. No one can escape being tested. 

It's only when we discover what is inside of us that we know the truth, and knowing the truth about ourselves, we can act accordingly. Jesus' response to our situations was: "Repent and believe the Good News!" What good news? That He has come no to leave us orphans but to restore us to our true Father. 

God bless you dear sister, dear brother, who have been abandoned but are not orphans, because you still have your true Father above, and the One who came among us to at last make Him known and loved. May this loving and Blessed Trinity of divine persons continue to pour out the Holy Spirit and have mercy on all the delinquent and lost spouses and parents who have left their treasures behind, blinded to their value and enamoured of the lie that they must cultivate their own life alone or with someone else; for sooner or later they will have to face the truth they are trying to escape. That day of awakening will be terrible if their back is still turned to God the Creator of us all. 

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

About what goes on in the human soul - take care not to try to meddle in the souls of others.

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------- 


Dear Soul, 

As Jesus revealed to us while He prayed to his Father the night before He died and while He was in the company of his apostles, Jesus was not of this world, nor were his apostles, nor are we. Yet we are in the world, and having as it were one foot on Earth and the other in Heaven often causes us to feel off balance and we seek reassurance. It is not so very healthy to become preoccupied with the progress of our soul or lack of it. 

Yes we are to desire God with all our being and respond to God with all our faculties and energy to the point of loving our neighbor and even our enemies. However, we are not to fall into the temptation of wondering or trying to catch a glimpse into the souls of others or even our own. We are the work of the Blessed Trinity and we are a work of love. It is enough for us to put all our trust in them and allow them to use all the events - even unpleasant - of our life and world around us for our good and benefit and that of others. 

We are, as Jesus showed us, to accept to live fully and go through everything that is ours to live, do, and experience. We are to allow God to draw us away from our ordinary way of looking at life situations and understanding things and into a divine way of looking and understanding everything. Many spiritual writers have used different words to try to give expression to this. 

"The Cloud of Unknowing" is a book written by an unknown author in the 15th century or so, at what is considered the beginning of the so called piety movement, during which time ordinary Christians began to have more personal experiences of the presence of God and to write about that experience, simple people who were not bishops, priests, religious, or extraordinary witnesses as in the early Church, but just ordinary people. 

The Cloud's author writes about how, once we are more conscious of the presence of God and respond, the Blessed Trinity give us to see everything with the eyes of faith, but in a way that often outstrips the ability of our reason to keep up. It's a new kind of knowing, which is actually opposite to the normal way of knowing with our intellect, senses, and reason. It is a knowing that happens in what is for the reason darkness but for faith light. Most of the spiritual writers like John of the Cross spoke of this in similar terms. 

Be careful dear Soul of thinking you are making great progress in God or judging whether or not other people are experiencing intimacy with God based on your own inner view or impressions of them. What is new to you may be very familiar to others, whether or not it is given to you to know anything about it or about them. It seems to please God that what goes on in the human soul be hidden from the eyes of others, and often even hidden from the soul itself. 

For my part, I do not share with anyone what is going on between the Blessed Trinity and my soul. That is for Jesus' eyes alone. You may at times have been somehow motivated to have others change, or experience something that you are experiencing, or to manifest external signs that are in accord with your view of what it means to be in love with God or vitally connected to God, or whatever. 

If you indeed have, then I am glad that you are feeling blessed by the love of the Blessed Trinity, and remember that the "Blessed Three in One" are looking after you as Jesus revealed in Himself as the Good Shepherd. He is doing the same with me and with all the other souls alive on the planet at this moment. So, take care to resist any urge to change others. In the course of our lives we all go through many things, and God alone knows how He intends to use all these experiences - especially the trials, temptations, failures, sins, illness, pain, and suffering to prepare us for eternal life. 

The progress, regression, stumbling, hurting and healing, sin and repentance and forgiveness and conversion of each soul is in God's hands, and our part is to keep a reverent silence in the face of the mystery of each soul and its relationship hidden in God. Only at the end of time will what is now hidden be revealed. 

Try to be content with the knowledge that you are indeed God's work of love, and allow yourself to be motivated only by gratitude to the Blessed Trinity, gratitude for everything at every moment of every day, and by eagerness to live in the desire and motivation to spend yourself with trust and generosity in one lifelong effort to respond to the Blessed Trinity and their love for you and for us all. 

In the footsteps of Jesus, offer at every waking moment what is happening and what you are living and doing and loving and enduring in union with Jesus for the good of all living souls on the Earth - especially those most troubled, lost, suffering, sinful, and violent - and for the glory of God. 

God bless you and your family.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

What to make of supernatural happenings and private revelations?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------


I think the first time I began to notice strange possibly supernatural happenings going on around us was as a newly ordained priest in the Fall of 1983. Someone offered me a little wooden icon (a copy of course) of "Our Lady of Tenderness" from a photo of the original in a Verdun church, where the original icon was sweating a fragrant smelling oily liquid. It smelled of roses only better, more heavenly somehow, and all who smelled them were mysteriously touched in a deeply spiritual way with sheer love from God and a desire or return of love to God and Our Lady. 

Since then, I have noticed any number of such happenings, not to mention a plethora of so called personal revelations and inspired writings. You can see for yourself a few things our pastors have to say about these things in the Catechism of the Catholic Church among other sources. Why, I was myself quite taken up with some of these phenomena from 1992-3 at a time when I had been stirred up by an international priests' retreat in Rome (5,500 priests in September 1990) and was marvelling at all that was happening in the Church and the world and wondering what the Lord was expecting of me. The service developed in the early 1980's in New York by the Paulist Fathers for Evangelization 2000 put on 3 international priests' retreats in Rome in 1984, 1990, and 1999 or 2000. That service has been updated to the year 2033, the second millennial anniversary of our redemption

Why all these amazing and often questionable phenomena of private revelations, visions, and messages and why now? What are we to do about them - what is the Father's will for us in the face of these and everything else that is going on in the world and in our lives? My purpose in reflecting on this with you, dear reader, is that chances are you have asked or are asking yourself questions like these or know someone who is. 

Pope Benedict's presence, witness, and pastoral care for us directs us to Jesus, and especially, as the Father's eternal response to us in our need, Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist (choose your language version of Pope Benedict's Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church's Life and Mission (February 22, 2007). We have been designed and created by the Father for love, to receive and live in his love and that of his Son Jesus, in the communion of the Holy Spirit. All other things must be judged and ordered in light of this most important of all truths and realities. 

What to think about all the strange happenings? First of all, we must be careful not to jump to the conclusion that they are from God. Paul warned us that even the devil can appear to us as an angel of light in order to deceive us and lure us away from the will and love of our Father. It also happens that strange things can happen due to human deception or illness that can cause or exaggerate unexplainable human behaviour. 

That is why our Church authorities have always taken great care in judging these things. It took some 20 years of investigation before the Pope and bishops felt the Church say definitively that what happened at Lourdes or Fatima was worthy of human belief, that is, that people can reasonably believe that what happened in these places was of supernatural origin, that is, from God. 

 Why are so many of these phenomena happening in our times? Perhaps because the devil has been for many years recruiting agents, witting or not, in such areas as the arts, media, politics, and culture in general, to break down any remaining barriers of morality, decency, respect, and consideration of others in human society, the Blessed Trinity are endeavoring to strike a balance in what is getting the attention of people, especially the innocent, the poor, the fragile, the old, and the young. 

Since many have lost their way and may not even know about what really goes on in church on Sundays and so don't have any occasion to benefit from the pastoral ministry and care of the shepherds Jesus continues to send us, it seems as though the Good Shepherd is using once again some of the arts of Simon Peter the fisherman and casting all over the world a very wide net to catch all those that can be caught in order for the three divine Persons to get their undivided attention, if only for a few moments, hours, or days. 

Each of these supernatural happenings, books of private revelations, and signs in the sun and in the sky, and so on are so many strands in this new fishing net from Heaven combing the seas of human society to catch all the good and often suffering souls who, though lost, are somehow seeking or desiring the good intended for them by our Father and Creator of us all. 

Now, if the Father, Jesus his Son, and the Holy Spirit already have your attention, and you are walking in the company of our Blessed Mother Mary, Mother of all disciples and of the Church, and are allowing yourself to be drawn each Sunday to the Divine Liturgy at the faith Assembly where Jesus continues to nourish and form us to live and proclaim the Good News in the world all week with our lives; then you really don't need all these unusual things. 

If for a time they may help you better understand the Gospel and other Scriptures and the ways of the Lord and increase your enthusiasm for prayer, for reading Scripture, for living all day long in the presence and company of the Blessed Trinity, and for serving your neighbor - even to forgiving enemies and praying for the good of evildoers before the Lord - then perhaps the Lord intends for you to use them, for a while. 

However, beware of the trap of getting hooked on these "goodies" and letting yourself become closed in on your own personal and private experience of God but diverted from actually living your life, having your own relations with the three divine Persons in God, generously carrying out your duties, and going out into the world. If these things anaesthetize you to what is your real life and pull you into something of a fantasy and a distaste for the company of others or for real life, then you would only be regressing. 

You would be like the person who throws away a precious gift in order to play with the wrapper in which it came. It's fine for little children to enjoy playing with boxes, but it's no longer healthy for adolescents or adults to do that all the time. Once in a while, OK, but be careful. God gives us graces, kind of like spiritual "candy" that makes us feel loved and sense spiritual pleasure, but only sparingly, so that we will not become obsessed with getting more candy but rather fall in love with the Giver of the gifts, and want to become like Him and go out and do as He did and say as He said.....

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Saturday, February 03, 2007

How quickly the days go by... as shoulder to shoulder we work with the Lord Jesus to build the Kingdom of God in human spirits and lives.

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------- 


Good morning to you, or whatever time of day it is as you read me. The last 17 days have been so full.... Life in my family seems like a roller coaster ride some days.... It is a consolation for all of us to have one another, all the more so because we are relatively few. 

It is a fact of life that I have not been close to any of my cousins, perhaps because our lives were so different, and for a time I had a lot of difficulty enduring cigarette smoke and most of them were smokers.... I'd be open to renewing their acquaintance again... perhaps when I retire.... 

It was Saturday, December 9th that I had my first big breakthrough with my website when I enjoyed dinner with Marcus Arts, his dear wife and son, and then he introduced me to the art of webmastering. He helped me with the software and tutored me on its use. While there I searched the web and found a good web host and service provider and signed up. From then on, I found my way, continued doing what Marcus had shown me, and made new web pages, designed them and loaded all kinds of files. 

It was as if a huge backlog of pressure built up over the past several years was finally allowed to rush forth! I had long accumulated reflections and documents that have various uses in the course of ministry that I wanted to make available both to share with other priests and with the people I serve and work with. It's all about the kingdom of God and not personal glory. 

So these past few weeks have been particularly intense with creativity and the preparation and loading of homilies as MP3 files and miscellaneous Word documents and web pages from a few good Christian web publishers. My web site has been a real construction zone!!!! My intuition in reviving this English blog and in beginning another en français was that when the dust settles I will be able to slip into either one and log theological reflections on my days and experiences in the vineyard of the Lord; so that He might get the glory and souls might be helped, and that we who labor together might become more transparent to one another. 

For these reasons I must heartily disagree with the professor who was quoted by the Gazette as saying that bloggers are primarily lonely and isolated individuals, for whom blogging is a kind of substitute for relating directly with real people. Get a life, please! Loneliness is part of the human condition for everyone, and it hits particularly hard at the turning of 40 - somewhere between 36 and 44 - according to Dr. Jeannine Guidon, who founded the Institut de Formation Humaine Intégrale de Montréal

People like Francis of Assisi and Benedict of Nursia before him who went and spent years alone in a cave were not lonely, isolated people who couldn't face the rigors of relationships! No, they were people who could no longer ignore the profound and very intense desire in their soul to know and experience God directly, and it was the Spirit of the Living God who attracted them into solitude. The Holy Spirit even today attracts receptive souls into various forms of solitude - temporary, permanent, or periodic - in order to more easily perceive and actively communicate with the Three Divine Persons and then emerge purified for more transparent relations with other people. Whoever faces the rigors of relating in the dark night of faith with divine persons can certainly face the uncertainties and demands of relating to other human beings in the flesh!      Fr. Gilles

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

I'm a priest - why all this web activity? Who's going to read or listen to it? We're building the Kingdom of God together.

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------- 


Yes indeed, that is an interesting question. Why should a priest, who has so many things to do and people to see, bother with a blog like this or a web site or an additional blog en français? This question was put to me by a dear friend today, and I'm so grateful that he did, because it sent me into the depths, where the meaning and purpose of our lives is to be found. 

As Dr. Jeannine Guindon was fond of saying, as a guiding principle and as an integral part of the formation program she pioneered since the 1950's through the 1970's, it's about the meaning and purpose we choose to give to our lives through the decisions we make and what we then say and do that makes us the persons we are becoming. 

As my friend's question burrowed down into my soul, I began to notice again the depths of gratitude that I have been enjoying these past several months.... two years ever since my sabbatical experience in Chicago, really.... I'm grateful for the great grace and privilege of having been chosen and loved by the Blessed Trinity from infancy... I still remember my Christian Initiation: first Penance, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion.... there was Someone there! Indeed there was a Triple Someone there! 

For decades from youth into adulthood there was painful confusion and inner conflicts, and it wasn't until a good and holy elder priest who loved young people shared with us the great grace of silence, reflection, and prayer, that I had a real opportunity - for the first time in my 27 years of life - to look back on my "sacred history" with God. Once those flood gates opened, I couldn't get enough of silence and retreats and prayer and then getting to know the three Divine Persons and how They were present and speaking / guiding deep in my mind, heart, and soul.... 

Then came another great struggle and wonderful call: to follow Jesus and serve Him as a priest.... After 23 years and counting, I am filled with gratitude to overflowing for the privilege of seeing Jesus speak, heal, enlighten, teach, warn, reproach, caution, instruct, form, lead, love, and nourish through me, and that is only the beginning of it.... It goes on! It's so clear to me how great God is for bringing about such wonderful blessings and life in others through the poverty and weakness that I am! 

There are countless blessings going on all the time in my parents, who despite - no perhaps because of - their growing weakness and increasing illness, are aging and entering into the Fall and Winter seasons of their lives so graciously.... 

My sister and I are only two, and it has been and continues to be at times such a burden, and yet, we are being changed, purified, stretched and blessed as well as our parents by the opportunity and challenge of attending lovingly to our aging parents.... 

The transition I have been living from Becket to St. Luke and to the Lakeshore General has been and continues to be quite exciting and exhausting, but I have a deep sense that it is all good and for the glory of God. In fact, that is why I am bothering with this blog and began one in French and finally have succeeded in activating a web site. It is to put on display all the gifts the Lord is pouring out for you his people through me, such as I am. 

So we are posting the homilies on the website*  and occasional reflections here. Beloved sisters and brothers in Christ, and other guests, feel free to share this site with your friends and family, with fellow students and work colleagues. Our Creator and God is doing a wonderful thing in people in our time, despite the dreariness and violence that the media are constantly feeding us in the form of a daily dose of poison. It's about time we give ourselves another diet than this poison. 

*(Note: In the Fall of 2020 in full Covid-19 Pandemic I migrated recent homilies (older homilies will remain at the old website until Spring 2022) and other pages from this 2007 website and launched a new website hosted by Blogger at: https://gillessurprenant.blogspot.com)

We know there is evil out there, all around us, and yes, even within us, but that is why it is such Good News that God has sent us a Saviour in Jesus Christ! Jesus is God the Father's antidote to the poison unleashed as a dragon's vomit by the father of lies and chief rebel, the primordial serpent.... Jesus is Lord and has crushed the serpent, overcome the dragon, and robbed him of his treasure hoard. He has made us children of God so that we might enjoy the freedom of his children. 
"Glory be to God our Father in his only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, victorious over sin, suffering, and death, and in the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of life! now and always and forever and ever! Amen!"                  Fr. Gilles
----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Let's pray together now - the Lord wants us to do it.

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------


You may never have seen it or not even know about it, but the Lakeshore General Hospital has an interfaith chapel that was inaugurated this past year 2006. Its benches hold 20 to 30 people and there is an altar. At the back there is a section for praying without shoes made especially for Muslims or for anyone wanting to pray without shoes

Next week all over the world Christians will begin observing the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, while in Canada and other countries Christians will observe the week with two weekends bookending January 25, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

The Pastoral Services Team of the Lakeshore General Hospital has just sent out today to dozens of Religious leaders in the West Island and beyond an invitation to offer a prayer and worship service on one of the days from January 18 to 25 inclusive. Councils of churches worldwide have prepared the materials for prayer and worship gathering together Christians of all denominations throughout the week. Non-Christians are also welcome to attend these services, as it is in their interest that Christians become more united; as this will enhance peace among people and nations. 

We've also invited these religious leaders to offer a prayer and worship service on one of the days during the week leading up to the World Day of the Sick on February 11, which would be on any of the days from February 3 to the 11. The purpose of this day - and we thought that a week would allow more people to participate and benefit the hospital population - is to affirm and raise the dignity of those who are sick, to commend those who care for and attend them, and to encourage their family and friends. Read Pope Benedict's message (another version) on the occasion of this 15th World Day of the Sick. 

Naturally, people of all faiths and spiritual values are welcome to participate in these manifestations of solidarity, support, and prayer. As religious leaders respond to this invitation and offer to lead prayer and worship services on particular days and at specific times, we will draw up a calendar and begin to publicize it as soon as we can. You will find it on this blog as soon as it is ready. 

With time we hope to better prepare such weeks and events, but since Fr. Michael Tauro and I are only part-time, we prefer to spend most of our time visiting patients. Exceptionally, I have spent two days setting up an email list of religious leaders and sending out our invitation to them. If you go to this link you will see that full time chaplains who have been at work for some time have prepared wonderful resources (more resources) to enhance our care for the sick and their care givers. 

Feel free to let other people know about these events and to make use of this blog entry to help you pass on this information. "He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak" (Mark 7: 31-37) is the theme of the 2007 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. An annual event, the Week of Prayer is a significant time during which churches around the world express their longing for and commitment to Christian unity. You will find this and other texts at the World Council of Churches website

If it's been a while since you gathered with Christians of other denominations to pray, chat, share or collaborate on a common project, why not talk it up with friends and consider coming together to participate in a little prayer and worship service during one or both of these two weeks, for the benefit of the patients and their families at the hospital, as well as the medical and support staff and administration, not to mention all those who come in for ambulatory care. 

Prayer for others is a powerful instrument for good because it is motivated by love and taps into the very heart of the Blessed Trinity, source of all life and being. Contact your pastor and ask whether they intend to participate or even offer to lead a prayer and worship service and maybe you can offer to help or assist them. Whatever you are able and choose to do, may the blessing of Almighty God fill you and rest upon you and your families, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Friday, January 12, 2007

What is the difference between denial and shock?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------- 


This question arises from conversations I have recently had with folk both in the parish and at the hospital. I have had my own experience of both shock and denial, and you may be surprised by what you will read me write about them. Denial - especially the kind related to illness and death, but other kinds too - is often, if not usually, spoken of as something negative that just cannot be avoided and that we should get out of as quickly as possible so we can get on to the good part, the healing, and move on. 

The fact is that in nature many things are as they are for a good or several good reasons. Denial is somewhat related to shock, and it will be helpful to have a better appreciation of what denial is all about if we look at shock first. The shock I want to examine here is that physical state we go into that shuts down our feelings when there is trauma and the feelings are too overwhelming and could actually kill us. Shock allows us to go on for a while right after a trauma, and as we go along in the process of the aftermath following our traumatic experience, we try as well as we can to carry on with life. 

As we do so and begin to want to relate to others again, we slowly begin looking at our trauma, just fleeting glances at first. Then, as we are able, our organism senses this and thaws out the tangle of emotions connected to the shock but only a little bit at a time, and so this emotional flood comes over us in waves, just to give us a taste or glimpse at first; then shuts down again. Something triggers these waves of emotions, we taste them more intensely and deeply each time, and they shut down again so we don't get damaged by the sheer power of them. 

This process accelerates and intensifies as our organism senses we're up to it. Faith in God, hope in his grace, and love lubricate this process incredibly. Denial is like shock but different. Whereas shock shuts down our affectivity, denial shuts down our will, our willingness to look at, think about, admit, imagine, remember, visualize, feel or even acknowledge the source of our pain, the traumatic event itself. The purpose is similar - our own protection and self preservation - and it enables us to go on functioning until we have enough energy, stamina, and vitality to begin looking at the awful truth. 

When we consider then that both denial and shock, and other mechanisms like them, are really gifts from God, woven into the fabric of our being, to help us cope with the powerful events of life; then we can look at them and approach them with more reverence and appreciation for what they are designed to give us and allow us to do. Everything that is written or said about both of these by way of warnings applies to the danger of remaining in these states longer than we need to, as a kind of unhealthy appetite for the anesthetic effect, much in the same way one can develop a dependence or appetite for excessive alcohol or drugs. 

There is great wisdom in the Jewish Scriptures that is applicable here: 
"There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) 3:1-8.

“Were not our hearts burning within us as He talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32

«Notre cœur n’était-il pas tout brûlant au-dedans de nous, quant Il nous parlait en chemin, quand Il nous ouvrait les Écritures?» Luc 24 :32

l’abbé / Fr. Gilles A. Surprenant

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Monday, January 08, 2007

15th Day of Christmas - the Baptism of the Lord

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------


What's that? Christmas is over, you say? All the lights are being put out, the decorations are for the most part gone, and other "commercial seasons" are beginning to clamour for our attention? Well, let them go fly a kite! They're not getting my attention, which I am carefully and jealously guarding for what and who really matters.... 

Since the time of the first Christians, they needed and loved to extend the festivals that grew around his passion, death, and resurrection, and subsequent ascension into heaven and sending of the Holy Spirit.... 50 days in fact! Even that wasn't enough, and they gave themselves another 40 days to prepare for that holiest of weeks between Passion/Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. 

They did the same thing to properly remember, ponder, and celebrate the Lord's incarnation and birth, taking 30 to 40 days before Christmas - if we mark the time from the 33rd Sunday and the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Christ the King, which focus our attention of the "final things" and second coming of Christ in glory as judge of the nations - to get off the merrygoround of the world to give proper attention to the significance of the presence of God among us in the human flesh of Jesus of Nazareth. 

The Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" marked the high season of Christmas from the Day of the Nativity through New Year's Day marking the maternity of Mary, Mother of God (since Jesus although fully human was truly God, the divine Son of the Father, existing from all eternity with the Father) to the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the manifestation or the revelation of Jesus as Son of God and Saviour of humanity to the nations in the persons of the three Magi from the East. 

The pressure from society at large and the secular culture to get on with the business of profit and pleasure is so great that only the devout and determined manage to maintain the ancient tradition of keeping festival of the Lord's birth not just for 12 but for 40 days, til February 2nd, the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas, when candles are used in procession to gather around the manger to acclaim, worship, and praise Jesus as the Light of the Nations. Merry Christmas Season! Happy, Healthy, and Holy New Year 2007!!!!                  Fr. Gilles

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Sunday, December 17, 2006

The Nativity Story film - refreshing our view of the mystery of Jesus' birth to a real human couple.

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------


This film is a remarkable attempt to portray in a fresh way the great mystery of the Son of God coming to Earth as the infant of a virgin betrothed to a young man before they had come to live together. The sheer human drama of it has been found in every generation to be a gripping story that inspires the simplest and most sophisticated people alike. 

At Christmas we seem to catch a glimpse of what humanity could be all the time if we only came to accept one another as children of the same God and as brothers and sisters to each other. When you first see the film, you may find some of your sensitivities shocked or surprised, because we become familiar with certain tellings of the Nativity Story and certain renderings of the details. It is like that with any element of our faith when in each generation it is reformulated so that it can be put in words more likely to convey to a new generation, for whom the usage of the language has changed, the full truth and wonder of the original events and divine revelation. 

Check out the Catechism of the Catholic Church and what it says about the birth of Jesus. I seem to recall that our Church teaches that Mary remained a virgin before, during and after the birth of Jesus, but that does not necessarily mean she was spared birth pains altogether. She who shared in Jesus' passion would most appropriately share in what women have inherited from Eve, so that as Jesus took on himself our sins; so his Blessed Mother took on herself what is proper to women, but in a way that restored, by the grace of God, what the Creator originally intended for women to be and experience in cooperating with Him for the creation and transmission of life. 

In reviewing this film and discussing anything related to our faith with people of our day, I think we would want to avoid approaching people with wholesale rejections of anything in the culture that is not a faithful and exact expression, interpretation, or quotation of our Church's teachings. It takes nothing away from our faith for us to appreciate the value of such a film on its own merits and to see how it can be helpful in our ongoing quest to understand the mysteries of divine revelation and of our salvation. I was attentive to the teachings of our faith while viewing the film and found nothing that manipulated or contradicted the Gospels. 

The film is the best rendering I've ever seen of what it would have been like for Mary and Joseph to go about their business in Nazareth once word got out that she was pregnant, and word must certainly have gotten out once she returned from Elizabeth's after four months or so. In fact, I found the film quite edifying in showing Mary and Joseph as quite human, though she is without sin. She is never portrayed as sinning, even though she is shown as experiencing a wide range of emotional states as she lives through the amazing events within her and around her. I don't think it is an insult to our faith and Catholic dogma to say that Mary would have experienced some childbirth pains. 

In the Book of Genesis, the Lord told Eve that her pains in giving birth would be intensified; so even the way God created the sinless first man and woman, there would have been some birth pains, which is only logical in considering that a baby must pass through the birth canal. Original sin intensified those pangs. Mary's sinlessness would have spared her the intensification and acknowledging the possibility that she may have endured some pangs makes it possible for her to be presented to people today as a real person and not as one who wasn't really or entirely human but almost angelic. 

John tells us that Jesus was human like us in all things but sin, so why should his blessed Mother be any different from Him, the sinless One? Devout or inspired renderings of the nativity such as by Maria Val Torta or some saints suggest that Mary was taken up in a sort of ecstasy at the time she gave birth to Jesus, which is not an insult to human nature or science either. Ths film goes along those lines, where Mary has some pains, not particularly intense, and then there's a hint of ecstasy as she looks up to the light shining down from the star. Very plausible and very reverently rendered, I thought. 

If we want to evangelize the culture, I believe we must not descend upon it like a SWAT team to pounce on every potential deviation from Catholic dogma, and rather approach it critically, appreciating anything that can contribute to our understanding of these mysteries (we have no direct reports about what Mary's experience of childbirth was like), and graciously pointing out anything that is ambivalent with regards to our faith and anything that is inaccurate, explaining why we believe differently and pointing out how the sciences, theology, Church teaching, and art can work together to present as ever fresh the truths revealed to us by God for the salvation of humanity. Otherwise, the people we try to reach will only see us as the fanatics we would be and would dismiss us as irrelevant. We would not be honoring the Lord or serving his Gospel very well then.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Monday, December 11, 2006

How to love enemies and deal with offensive people.

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------


             It is a difficult thing to deal with people who are offensive, manipulative, or simply disagreeable.  Everything inside us wants to escape, run away from them, and just get on with our day.  The longer we have to endure them unwillingly, the more likely we are to explode at them in anger, or if we can't bear to be angry with them, we may very well dump all our anger on the next most likely recipient, who usually turns out to be a person we love or are very close to.  Then they are shocked and wonder why we are treating them like that.  Where is the Lord when we need Him most?  What does the Lord expect us to do?            
             Believe it or not, when we are harrassed by such life situations, and they happen far more frequently than we want to admit, the Lord is actually providing us with a wonderful opportunity to make progress in all the areas of our life touched by all of this.  A lot of people struggle with similar issues but find it more difficult to make progress because the troublesome person has died and is no longer around for them to respond to in a different way, as they would like to have done earlier but were unable because they were too young or didn't know how.  Now that they are older, they see how they could approach it differently.
             Here is my suggestion.  While it seems to be so annoying or troubling for us to deal with an offensive person, the main part of our burden is that we allow ourselves to be drawn into the other person's agenda.  What I mean is that we respond to whatever initiatives he makes or words she says.  We are responding on their terms.  Instead, we can try the following.
             We can choose how we want to respond to the other person.  This is a way of practicing what Jesus said about loving our enemies and doing good to those who persecute us.  Here is how the Lord has taught me to do it.  When such a person is coming "at me" I retreat inside myself to that place where the Lord is with me and I ask Him, "So, Lord, here he is again.  What would You suggest I do with him?  Here is how he makes me feel.....  I don't want to go there, Lord, but instead I want to remain peaceful in You.  Please show me how You see him and love him."  and so on.... 
             While you're doing this, you are removing your very sensitive self at least "one layer" away from the offensive person and choosing to walk around in that place where you can be with the Lord and notice your own thoughts and feelings. This is very important, because it is there that the best solutions will become apparent as the Holy Spirit sheds light on the situation and on your own thoughts and feelings and allows you to see the Father's will, just as He did it for Jesus when He walked this Earth.
             At some point, the offensive person will notice that you are not listening to him and will say something.  That will be the first time that he will actually be looking at you and listening to you.  That's when you can share with him something of what you have seen inside yourself of God's will and love for you.  What I usually choose to say to an offensive or disturbing person is something like "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but right now I happen to be late for an appointment (if this is the case.  Remember that it is important not to lie, not even little white lies, but always to remain in the truth.  Jesus said that only the truth will set us free.) and so cannot continue this conversation.  Don't call me, I'll call you.  If you don't hear from me a month from now, please do call and we'll talk about it then."  OR  (In the case of an offensive father.)
            "Dad, have I ever told you that I'm grateful for the gift of life God has given me through you and Mom?  Thank you.  I am content with what I'm doing to help myself right now.  I appreciate your concern, but it's all right.  I can handle this fine.  It's my life and I have to do this myself.  I have a husband now, and he is the one I look to for the help I need.  What I need from you, Dad, is.... (For example, "just pray for me", or just be supportive, and so on.)
             I would suggest other family members do the same thing.  It may sound stupid for me to say that we don't have to let people upset us, since we have no choice about the involuntary feelings that come over us just as an immediate response of our organism to what stimulates it.  It is true that our immediate gut reaction is involuntary and that we have no choice but to endure it.  This is something we all must endure and part of what Jesus means when He asks us to carry our cross.  Much of our cross is our own organism and all its inner workings which can be a burden for us each day. 
             What I'm suggesting above relates to another part or level in us deeper than the gut reactions of our organism.  It's the soul, which includes the faculties of intelligence to make sense out of what we observe with our senses and feel with our emotions.  It also includes our memory and imagination, our heart and soul, where the Blessed Trinity stay within us.  When we go into our soul consciously, then we go into a place where the possibilities are literally endless, because we are allowing the Blessed Trinity to partner with us, and we are being attentive to them.  We can begin to learn how to better notice the suggestions and inclinations they are giving us as guidance and as alternatives to the gut reactions we are making efforts to resist.  We want to resist our gut reactions so that they don't dominate our entire self.
             When we try to do this, this is what it looks or feels like.  You continue to be aware of your gut reactions to the other, but you begin to see that these are on the surface, like the storm on the surface of a lake.  You begin to feel less threatened or dominated by this storm of feelings and thoughts, as you discover the hidden depths within yourself, where there is a lot of room for refuge, and where you can find a few seconds to think other thoughts than the ones the offensive person wants you to have.  Then you begin to taste how good that freedom, however small, can be, and this strengthens you to stand more solidly on your own feet, and you can begin to think independent thoughts about even this offensive person, and feel pity for him, and gratitude for the fact that he cares, however inappropriate the means he takes to show it.
             The key is simply to do something to assert your independence and to practice relying on the Lord in each situation by pulling your attention away from the person trying to manipulate or control or persuade you and giving your precious atention to the One who will make better use of it, Jesus.  May you continue to walk in the Lord and make good use of this opportunity the Lord is giving you to allow that youthful part of us, what some call the "inner child" to pass through the threshold of the next generation, passing through the gate of youth into adulthood.  This is what adults do.  We stand on our own two feet, take responsibility for our own self, and face any and all comers, with the Lord's help, of course.
             Let us pray that we may all continue to find ways to enjoy the Lord's help and come to the satisfaction of finding our way through the thickets of obstacles in our life.  There is nothing sweeter than the satisfaction of doing something like this ourselves.  May we continue to have a meaningful Advent and peaceful, loving Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Were not our hearts burning within us as He talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us

“Were not our hearts burning within us as He talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”  Luke 24:32

«Notre cœur n’était-il pas tout brûlant au-dedans de nous, quant Il nous parlait en chemin, quand Il nous ouvrait les Écritures?»  Luc 24 :32

l’abbé / Fr. Gilles A. Surprenant

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +  

Monday, November 27, 2006

Where is God when we just can't find work?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------- 

In recent months, a number of parishioners first at Becket and now at St. Luke have shared with me the distress of being out of work for a prolonged period. During this time naturally they had recourse to God so that they might quickly find a new job and continue to be able to provide for their families. As the weeks

lengthened into months and the months into, yes, even years, the searching, failing, and waiting takes a toll on the person we are and can actually shake us to the very depths of our identity and loosen the grip we thought we had on life, on our faith, on God, on ourselves, on our spouses, and on our families. The very heart and soul within us cries out to the heavens in words and groanings like these: "Lord, where are You? Do you not care that we are without work? When, O Lord, will you answer?" 

Such heart wrenching prayers are truly inspired by the Holy Spirit himself, and we can find their pattern in the Gospel when the apostles were in the boat on the lake during the storm that threatened to sink and drown them, and in the Psalms, which are filled with such cries that come from the depths of the heart and soul in us. I know from experience that the Lord wants most of all and actually does support each of us in our persons, in who we are within our situations. 

That means that the Lord does not always seem overly eager to provide the answer which may seem to us to be so obvious. It also means that, ironically, such hardships actually become occasions to find ourselves closer to God, as we discover that He isn't just a valet who does our bidding or a Daddy who in our child's memory gives us what we need almost as soon as we need it or even before we realize that we need it. That is what makes great parents wonderful, the sollicitude with which they brood over their children's welfare and push away harm and envelop them in good. 

Still, even perfect human parents cannot push away all harm or provide absolutely all goods, or they would in effect end up living their children's lives for them. Something needs to remain for the children to do for themselves. That is the gray zone in which children begin to doubt their parents and parents suffer over their children, and why when we go through hard times God suffers with us and in us through Jesus, who though in glory remains quite human too and is exquisitely sensitive and compassionate toward us. 

Over the years as people have shared their struggles and stories with me, I have discovered that when it seems most difficult to find new work, what is going on is that the familiar categories within which we were used to function are straining against a lack of opportunity, and as the strain increases, what often happens is that it is the categories that burst open to reveal new ways of doing, or new kinds of work, or hidden gifts and talents never discovered or long unused, and so on, but also opportunities to resist feeling sorry for ourselves, resist the temptation to worry over our welfare, and go in the very opposite direction and with determination continue to trust in the Lord and his guidance and do something completely out of keeping with the situation such as volunteer our time and attention to someone in greater need than ourselves or to a neglected family relation. 

Such a time of difficulty can be transformed by God's almighty power into a wonderful encounter of love and service, or restoration of broken relationships and reconcilations, which is the stuff that Christmas stories are often made of. May I join you, Reader, and your family members in praying that the Blessed Trinity may glorify themselves in you and bring out of your distress in your seasons of difficulty this very kind of good news and make you a blessing in yourself, for your family, your church, and your neighbor! 

It does not immediately recommend itself to us to share with others our distress, since there's quite enough bad news in the world without adding our own to it. Surprisingly, the very opposite is true. It is precisely when all is not well that the Lord Jesus wants us to tell others the good news that He came to bring to pull the world up out of the misery of relying only on itself. He told us to ever be ready to speak up for ourselves and for Him when we are pushed or persecuted or challenged in our faith. 

He told us not to worry about what to say because the Holy Spirit would give us the words to say in that moment. The most unlikely moment to tell others about the good God is doing is precisely when He doesn't seem to be doing it yet and we are still waiting. That really gets other people's attention, because it is counterintuitive to be full of hope when there are no hopeful signs, but that is precisely what hope is, to believe in the good that is coming before there are any signs of its coming at all. 

Once we see it coming it becomes evident and past the time for needing hope, which is replaced by certainty and jubilation. May you and yours have an amazing season of hope-filled waiting for the Advent of the Lord and approach with the fresh joy of childlike hearts the celebration of his coming to us as a blessing for the whole Earth during the festive days of Christmas and its extension in the long winter nights that will bring us to "Candlemas" 40 days later at the Presentation of the Lord on February 2nd! 

  “Were not our hearts burning within us as He talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32

«Notre cœur n’était-il pas tout brûlant au-dedans de nous, quant Il nous parlait en chemin, quand Il nous ouvrait les Écritures?» Luc 24 :32

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------

© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

+ + + + + + + + + + + +