Material things don't satisfy our deeper human needs

A rich young person came to Jesus and asked  “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

You or I with all of our material wealth living in a country like Canada could ask What do I have to do to make the most of my life? Or, What do I have to do to know and become more aware of a life now in God?

Jesus' initial response to the young person is to ask if he's kept the commandments. But that by itself is not enough to inherit the fullness of life. The Commandments are a great place to start, but we have to go deeper than the commandments as we mature in faith and life.

The next thing that Jesus did was to look at the young person and love them, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”

Yet this rich young person missed this Divine gaze of love. He was too consumed with his "things" and other distractions that he was unable to see and know God's love for him. 

Yet this is where it is at! Becoming more aware of the Lord’s love for us is where true and lasting treasure is to be found.

Material things are fleeting and they do not satisfy our deepest needs. Maturing spiritually is to learn to detach from material things. Maturing spiritually is to learn to detach from all which is not in this present moment (including things, thoughts, memories, distractions).

As we mature in faith, as we learn to detach from material things and inner distractions, and to desire more and more the spiritual awareness of the Lord’s love for us, we actually “receive” the Holy Spirit and know eternal life.

If we are going to have a more full and meaningful life, regardless of what material things we have or don't have, we need to get on our knees, open our hearts,  and say “Lord, I need your Love.”

Thankfulness in Brokenness

Today many families are celebrating Harvest Thanksgiving. Yet many families will struggle today because of broken relationships within the family.

Today’s Gospel is about divorce. What a subject to reflect on for Thanksgiving!

Because this is a painful issue, and because so many people are affected by it, is not a reason for us, the Church, to avoid it.

The same goes for:

• Adultery and not understanding and respecting the boundaries around covenant marriage.
• Fornication, especially with adolescents and young people.
• Homosexuality and the need for intimacy with someone of the same gender. 
• Abortion and the sanctity of all human life.

These are examples of difficult and painful issues. They are real and present in people’s lives, and need to be dealt with compassionately. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus was teaching against divorce for “Any Matter” (which was an ongoing debate with his contempories). In fact, the Scriptures do allow for divorce for infidelity, emotional or physical neglect or abuse.

Regardless of what the Scriptures say or don’t say about divorce, or any other moral issue, the fact remains that mistakes happen, and that people end up broken and wounded.

Historically, the Church has beaten people up with the morality straight jacket; that is, in our  obvious weaknesses we are to see ourselves as miserable sinners who are separated from God. This has been done with the absolute neglect of encouraging an authentic and deepening inner life.

It's not our morality that is most important, but our awareness of being united to God's Divine Life, regardless of the mistakes that we make. The more aware we are of our Divine Union, the more moral we will become, and not the other way around!

We are, all of us, broken and wounded, and the Lord desires to love us into healing, wholeness, restoration, joy, love and fullness of life!

And as the Church, we don’t judge anyone. As we recognize the garbage in our own lives, and our need for lifelong healing and conversion, the Holy Spirit convicts us, and changes us.

Therefore as the Church, We stand with one another, in the presence of our Lord, to help each other up when we fall, when we are broken, when we are hurting, when we are confused.

That is what I give thanks for today.

Who do you follow?

These days, asking someone who they follow, the first thing they may think of is Twitter or Facebook!

The truth is that we all "follow" someone. There are people in our lives whom we look to encourage us, inspire us, to model our lives after. That could be someone we know personally, someone of influence in society, someone of interest in history.

Abraham Lincoln is a national leader who inspires me because of his commitment to freedom and equality for all people. Nelson Mandela inspires me because of his ability to overcome adversity and change a nation. My wife is someone whom I look up to and inspires me in how we live together as a family. Bobby Orr is my hockey hero that I look up to. Max, my dog, inspires me to play and have fun.

But of all the ones that I look up to, it is Jesus who is the most important Person that I follow.

The Church historically has done injustice to what it means to follow Jesus. Following Jesus is not about the moral do's and don'ts. Following Jesus is about a deepening awareness of our absolute Oneness with Divine Life. Morality needs to be consequent to a deepening and maturing inner life. That is what Jesus reveals to us.

Because of the Cross of Jesus, I can know and experience forgiveness in my life.
Because of Jesus, I can know non-judgemental compassion toward all people.
Because of Jesus, I can know the power of Divine Love, the Holy Spirit, to reconcile and unite.

As I follow Jesus, I learn to travel within my heart and mind. I learn to know the silence and stillness at the very center of my existence. It is in this Holy Silence, this Holy Ground, that I know that I am one with God, and one with you. It is out of this sacred place that we can support one another in our struggles, respect our differences, celebrate our sameness.

As I follow Jesus, I know a peace that no one else can give.

Who do you follow?

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Welcome Back to Church!

Welcome to Back to Church Sunday!

What is Church?

Is it the building? No. That’s why we call the place where we gather an Oratory - which means "place of prayer."

Is it the people? Yes. And we gather together as Church in order to encounter the living God in Word, Sacrament and in each other. 

The gathered church is a place where we come to discover and explore the purpose and meaning of life.

The gathered Church is a place where we come to encounter Jesus Christ risen and alive. 

The gathered Church is a community that seeks to serve the needs of others. 

The call of Back to Church Sunday is really a call Back to Life.

- the church is place to come to get your life together.

- the church is a place where there are hypocrites, and there is always room for one more!

- the church is a place where you can wear whatever kind of clothes you want to wear.

- the church is a place where it is ok to doubt and not necessarily believe the same things.

- the church is a place for men, women, children, old and young.

- the church is a place where your past is forgiven.

- the church is a place where it is ok to not be ok.

- the church is not about religion as much as it is about relationship.

To be Church is to…have a heart and mind that is changing and maturing in Christ. It is to be in relationship with God and one another. It is to be reaching out in love and care to a hurting and broken community and world. 

Lets change our hearts and minds and give them to the Love that is Christ.

Let us make His Love known.

Let us change our families, communities and  world for good.

Welcome back to Church!

Does Religion cause War?

There is so much war and conflict in our world. Every time we turn on the news, there is conflict, death and destruction somewhere. And often time it seems to have some kind of religious connection. One of the headlines over the last week has been the violent protests in parts of the Muslim world in reaction to a Western film about Mohammad.

War and violence stems from Ideological Extremists in every area of human community - extremist religious or secular ideology, extremist political or economic ideology. History shows us examples of extremism from all of these areas.

Extremism is about being closed minded. Extremism is about seeing oneself as different or superior than another. Extremism is about being threatened by that which is different that oneself.

Extremism does not only play itself out on the world stage of politics and war, it plays itself out in families, schools, workplaces and communities with "emotional" violence and abuse towards those who may seem different from "us" or who do not think like "us."

The remedy for all forms of extremism is to seek to become more open minded. "Open Minded" is a spiritual or inner stance, where a person learns to go deeper inside themselves, to become more aware of your own inner issues that need to be acknowledged and healed. In the process of becoming more "at home" within ourselves, not only will we find that we are less threatened by that which is different from us, but we will also become more aware of the One Source of Life that we all share and live out of. We will become more aware that we are in fact One and Equal in God's Divine Life.

It is out of this center, this Holy Place, that each of us, one by one, will become agents of peace and transformation in our world.

Religion, at a deep and mature level, is not the source of war, but the way to peace.

Faith and Works

The Gospel calls us to come to know who Jesus Christ is, to deny our selves, and to follow Him in our service to others. 

To do this requires faith, and it requires hard work.

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?” (James)

Faith is not…

Faith is not simply saying that one believes in Jesus.

Faith is not simply going to the liturgy with the church.

Faith is not simply saying prayers.

If this is all faith is to you, then it is a dead faith.

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?…faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

Faith is …

Faith is an inner consent to that Life which is bigger than we are.

Faith is a saying yes to the life of Christ within us and amongst us.

Faith brings us to the point of being able to say with St.Paul that it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

Faith causes us to seek to serve Christ in every single other person we encounter.

Faith and Works

So once we come to the realization that Christianity is not just about what we think and say, but also about what we do, our WORKS, then I would like to suggest that there are at least two modes of how we carry out Christ’s works: individually and corporately.

Individually

At home, in our work places, when we are out in the community getting on with our personal lives, we are to acknowledge and respond to Christ in all whom we meet.

Corporately

In addition to living out our faith in our individual lives, we also need to be involved in the “works” of our local church. 

It is not enough for you to come in here on a Sunday morning, say your prayers, and to leave without doing something to contribute to our shared work in serving the needs of others. 

“Financial” support of our Work

To do the ministry and work that we are involved in, yes, it requires your proportional and consistent financial support. 

“Personal Gift” support of our Work

We all have different gifts, and we all have “A” gift. Whether it be music, visiting the shut in, preparing meals for the bereaved, serving in the café, operating the sound room, etc, we all have gifts to offer in our shared work of ministry.

“Time” support of our Work

In addition to your financial support, and the offering of your personal gifts, your TIME to share in our Corporate Work for Christ is absolutely crucial.

There is a lot of ministry happening in this parish. Therefore we need a lot of help.

Do you want a faith that is dead, or do you want a faith that is alive?

Do you want to belong to a church that is dead? Or to a church that is alive?

Then get yourself involved in the work that we do.

We are all wounded and in need of healing

In the Gospel of Mark we read that “They brought to him a man who was deaf and who had an impediment in his speech.”

They brought to Jesus a person who was in need of healing. The truth is that every single one of us are in need of healing!

Woundedness comes in so many forms:

1. Physically 

-       arthritis setting in.

-       backs giving out.

-       cancer eating at the body;

-       etc.

2. Psychologically

-       anxiety

-       depression

-       mental illness

-       etc

3. Emotionally

-       dealing with job loss;

-       the stress of having to relocate;

-       having to manage change;

-       broken relationships;

-       managing memories and experiences from our past.

-       Etc.

4. Spiritually

-       life loosing meaning;

-       the empty ache at the core of our being;

-       restlessness.

-       Unhappiness.

-       Etc.

Every single human being is wounded in some way and is in need of healing!

Why the Church exists

The Church exists in order to “change” people.

The Church exists to heal humanity.

There is healing in the daily, loving relationships within the community of the church.

There is healing in the hearing of the Word of God.

There is healing in the worship.

There is healing with the holy oils that we use in the liturgy.

There is healing as we share in the Body and Blood of Christ.

My friends, Jesus heals!

And every single one of us has a role to play in this healing ministry of the Church.

First of all, let us recognize our own need for healing. Everyone here is broken in some way.

We need to acknowledge our own hurt and pain and invite the Lord to come along side.

As you worship with your heart, as you hear the Word of God, as you receive and participate in the Holy Eucharist, allow the Lord to work in your life and touch you and heal you in ways that only His Love can.

Secondly, as in our Gospel today, “They brought to Him a man who was in need of healing.”

As we experience the Lord’s healing love, we need to bring others to that experience.

What are you doing to encourage and bring others along to encounter Christ?

We should never tire of inviting others to come to our Sunday liturgy, café, or programs.

No greater gift can we give a friend than to meet the Lord of Life.

Invitation

Open up your broken hearts and minds to the Lord of Life.

Let Him in.

Don’t be afraid.

Let Him love you.

Let His love touch your brokenness.

And may you know His Life in all its fullness.

Then bring along a friend to also meet the Lord of life.