First and foremost, I wish each of you a blessed and holy Thanksgiving weekend and a peaceful “black Friday” in the hopes that time with family and friends will remind us of what we already possess and be satisfied in the love that surround us.
My moment of preaching.
As many of you know I have celebrated weekly, throughout the 11 plus years as a priest, with the Sisters of the Eucharistic Missionaries of The Most Holy Trinity (MESST) with Mass followed by my lessons in Spanish around the breakfast table as we share stories of hope and blessing…and yes complain about life too….we are human. But mostly it is about the celebration of life and the gifts that God shares with us. On Monday of this week I was blessed to celebrate with them as they marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of their congregation. It has been a great year of blessing for the sisters as they have also marked the naming of their founder, Fr. Pablo Maria Guzman, as Venerable in our Catholic Church. Venerable is one of the steps that move a man or woman in the process of being recognized and canonized a saint.
I think all people are fascinated by holiness. I often look at pictures of St. John Paul II or St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta in prayer and am brought to great peace in my heart. It is as if I am spying a moment of great grace and conversation with our Lord Jesus that is bringing forth the gift of life which is the gift of holiness. Knowing that and seeing that in the recognized Saints of the Church gives me great joy and peace because I will often see the same graceful peace in those who are caught in prayer, in looks of contemplation and in holy moments of service to our brothers and sisters.
It happens all the time. A few weeks ago at our retreat for the children and their families preparing for First Reconciliation we offered them a time of prayer where they came to the crucifix in veneration and prayed together. Watching them and praying with them was a moment of joy for me. One of the children, as he came forward with his family, touched the cross with such gentleness, caressed the image of Jesus with holy tenderness and entered into a sacred moment of communion as his family prayed with him. It is the image of holiness.
Visiting a family whose mother was in her final hours. Praying with them, anointing her, sharing God’s love with her and her family. Watching her children touch and speak words of blessing and love as we knew the peace of our Lord Jesus filled the room and filled their mother with the invitation to come and follow him to paradise. It is the image of holiness.
It is walking into a silent church and seeing a man or woman deeply in prayer as they carrying the words of thanksgiving, the words of sorrow, of trouble or of hurt, the words of joy, of peace or of hope quietly and assuredly to the feet of Jesus. It is the image of holiness
This is the grace of life lived out each day if as our Lord Jesus reminds us, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” (Mk 4:9) And we with eyes to see…let us see the presence of God the surrounds us. This is what each of us should be doing every day but especially this time of Thanksgiving. In it we will be and see the image of holiness.
God Bless
Fr. Mark