Dans ce JOURNAL je partage de temps en temps un aperçu de ma vie de chrétien catholique et de prêtre pour rejoindre d'autres qui désirent contribuer au bien commun et pour faire avancer l'ouverture personnelle à Dieu qui fait vivre toute l'humanité et veille sur nous. G.S.
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A Reflection by a priest addressed to his brother priests
Monday, October - Monday, 29th Week in Ordinary Time - even years
Submitted by an as yet unidentified priest of Montreal in October 2014
Ephesians 2:1-10
You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
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First, a little contemporary parable taken from "Stories and Parables for Preachers and Teachers" by Paul Wharton. Paulist Press, 1986, pages 70-71.
Making the End Glorious
A wise old woman happened to be a pianist who had taught many students over the years. Invariably, when she prepared her pupils for recitals, she would have them practice the conclusions over and over again. Invariably the students would begin to grumble because of the constant repetition of the last few measures of music. When one would voice their complaints, the wise teacher would always answer, "You can make a mistake in the beginning or you can make a mistake in the middle. The people will forget it if you make the ending glorious."
REFLECTION
- Dear Bishop Tom, Dear Brother Priests, Each year we come to this retreat 1 year older, and hopefully somewhat wiser as well, recognizing, realizing that truly it is by grace that we have been saved.
- Many of us are now in the last 1/3 of our human lives.
- And one thing that I'm more aware of that I'm giving a lot more thought to is the question of LEGACY.
- Just last week, the headline in the sports section of the Gazette was this: "Grey Cups capped Cavillo's LEGACY."
- In the news, the legacy issue also surfaces regularly. In the political arena, commentators on CNN often speculate about the nature of Obama's LEGACY after 2 terms in office as U.S. Pesident; what will he be remembered for? Will it be a positive or negative legacy?
- What will I be remembered for after almost 25 years as a priest? What will we priests be remembered for?
- What will be our LEGACY to the Church, to the People of God?
- This short story (above) is a kind of parable that contains a message, it's possibly even a principle that can apply to all of us.
- The story title is: Making the End Glorious.
- Read the story (again) - "Making the End Glorious" - (as applicable) for a piano recital, for a football player, a politician, for the last 1/3 of our lives as priests.
- Making our last years of preaching glorious, with renewed insights, ardor, energy, purpose; because the Holy Spirit follows our Preaching, entering the hearts of those who hear us after we've preached.
- Making our last years of teaching glorious, with insights into life and living that give meaning and direction to those around us who have none.
- Making our last years of dedicating ourselves glorious by loving and serving the People of God around us, especially those who are troublesome, who suffer, and those in need.
- Making our last years of praying glorious by striving to become more open to the surprising ways the Holy Spirit may want to speak to us - through Sacred Scripture, through the creation around us, through the actions and words of God's People around us, through our public and private prayer.
- Making our last years of holiness glorious by recongnizing that everything we do, and say, all actions, words, even our everyday demeanor, are influencing, shaping, the People of God, and their perception of Him.
Making the end glorious will, as the Gospel suggests, make us "rich toward God". Amen.
PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
- For the Church, the People of God, and it's leaders, that all of us may proclaim Jesus as Lord by all we say and do.
- For those who lead us at the level of government, that they might build up the common good, and provide help and the basics of life to the poor and those most in need.
- For those now suffering from ebola and all who died from it, for those working in West Africa to arrest this epidemic.
- For those now suffering from Covid-19 and all who died from it, for those working all over the world - especially in those still mostly deprived of vaccines - to arrest this epidemic and to treat those affected by it: that they may accept the help given them by God the Creator of us all.
- For our families and friends, our parish communities, we pray....
- For our own personal needs and prayers....
Dans ce JOURNAL je partage de temps en temps un aperçu de ma vie de chrétien catholique et de prêtre pour rejoindre d'autres qui désirent contribuer au bien commun et pour faire avancer l'ouverture personnelle à Dieu qui fait vivre toute l'humanité et veille sur nous. G.S.
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© 2004-2022 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2004-2022 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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