Parish Bulletin for Sunday, November 4, 2007

30th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

The Parable of Zacchaeus

Like so many of the featured characters in the Lucan Gospel, Zacchaeus didn't seem to have much going in his favour. In fact, he was at a downright disadvantage. He was a tax collector, a chief tax collector, and as such he had amassed a considerable amount of money. He was also short, and according to the traditional Jewish social mores, he was lacking in the dignity considered appropriate to a person of his social status because he actually climbed a tree in order to see Jesus. All these factors – his means of making a living and his short-comings in height and etiquette – placed Zacchaeus outside the realm of cultural acceptability in the ancient Near Eastern world. Nevertheless, as was his custom, Jesus threw social niceties to the wind and invited himself to stay in Zacchaeus' house. His coming to Zacchaeus enabled such a thorough transformation in his host that Jesus was prompted to proclaim that salvation had come to the tax collector's house. Salvation had come in the person of Jesus, and Zacchaeus reached out with both hands and seized the opportunity.

Obviously, Jesus saw in Zacchaeus the kernels needed to plant the seeds of discipleship – an openness and desire for what is good and right. Zacchaeus had a great desire to see Jesus and for that he was willing to risk ridicule and embarrassment before his neighbours and possible rejection by Jesus. But instead of rejection, Jesus offered acceptance, and Zacchaeus responded accordingly.

This story is an interesting contrast to an earlier story told by Luke. Another wealthy man whose encounter with Jesus ended with his "going away sad, for he had many riches" prompted Jesus to comment upon the sad wealthy ruler's departure with: "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God." (Luke 18:18-25).

At that point, Jesus offered the impossible image of the camel straining to pass through the eye of a needle. It appeared as if the fate of the rich were carved in stone – that is, until Zacchaeus. What the rich ruler would not or could not so, he did. Zacchaeus' response to Jesus revealed that the impossible can and does happen! The wealthy man can gain freedom from being possessed by their possessions, just as the blind can come to see, the lame can walk, the demon-possessed can be freed and the dead can come to life.

For Zacchaeus, salvation became a here-and-now experience. He knew the saving power of God as more than a future hope but in such an actual way that it forever changed how he would live and do business. Repentant, he also made generous restitution so as to have the joy of reconciliation with God and neighbour.

We are not told how Zacchaeus' story ended, but from this Gospel we understand that he began a new life in which Jesus would function very importantly. Christ's coming to this short and feisty tax collector continues to inspire a similar welcome of Jesus into each of our homes and hearts – if we but let him enter!

May all our beloved dead, especially. . .

TUESDAY, Nov. 6

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Alberto Deni

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 7

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Barbara and Joseph Manza

THURSDAY, Nov. 8

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Creighton Begy

FRIDAY, Nov. 9

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Angelina Manarin

. . .find eternal rest and refreshment in the kingdom of heaven. Let us pray to the Lord.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, November 11, 2007

32nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Dying and Rising to New Life

The mystery of the resurrection, an indefinable source of hope, has an historical dimension in that it is rooted in the Christ-event. It has a future dimension in that we await the fullest experience of resurrection after death and for all eternity. But there must also be a present dimension of the resurrection, for it is a reality that gives meaning to all of life here and now, here and everywhere. Yet, before we can experience resurrection in any dimension, there must come dying, for death is the passage to life. Baptism has been described as our dying to our old way of life and rising again into new life. There are all kinds of dying. Let me expand.

Jesus died to his own will so that he might accept God's will fully. He died too soon, too terribly, too sadly, and all this for us. He died to bring forgiveness to sinners, life to the lost and love to the unlovable. In following him we too shall die – not just at the end of our time here on earth, but as part of the process of becoming more like the One who died for us. Perhaps our dying might not be as dramatic and tragic as that of Jesus. More probably it will be tedious, mundane and lacking in drama. Nevertheless, it is through our dying, all kinds of dying, that we prepare to enter the experience of resurrection.

Let's look at some examples we can relate to. Marriage is a new way of being – ‘I' becomes replaced by ‘we' and ‘us' and ‘you'. My self, my preferences, my opinions, my choices and my desires must necessarily yield to the other, who, because of my love, has become foremost. With parenthood also follows a dying to my free time, my solitude, my peace and quiet, my expensive hobbies, and my desire for freedom from responsibilities. With all the joys they bring into the lives of their parents, children also bring with them the opportunities for self-sacrifice and daily dying that every parent is willing to do for love.

As children mature and begin their own lives, parents will have to allow them the freedom to choose their own friends, careers, spouses et al as they become their own free and independent persons. Surely there is a dying here to which every parent must surrender, however gracefully or grudgingly.

What about the dying inherent in growing older, as each year and every illness and ache sap strength and vigour. There is a dying when plans don't work out or when a business fails. There is a dying when parents grow old and ill and are no longer the rocks on whom we can rely and the bottomless resources upon whom we can always depend for support. There is a dying when friendship is broken or ended. There is a dying when divorce ends a marriage and disrupts a family. When loved ones die, the finality of their dying forces its ultimate and most difficult test upon our belief in the resurrection.

It is this very belief that sustains us and sees us through these various kinds of dying. Faith in the resurrection is faith in a miracle- the miracle of new life in Christ – sons and daughters of God. The miracle does not lie solely in the belief that the dead body of Jesus was raised from the dead and transformed in glory. The true miracle is what this action reveals: the illogical and humanly inconceivable love of God. In spite of the evil, ugliness and pain of this world, in spite of our failures, our refusals to love, our violence and destructiveness – God loves us and remains at the centre of our reality, keeping watch over all. Jesus came to reveal this love and we are called to respond to this love. We are called to take action, to reveal God's love in all we say and do and to respond to God's love with all that we are and shall become. Amen.

TUESDAY, Nov. 13

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Diniz Raposo

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14

Weekday

8:30 a.m. – In Thanksgiving: Joan D'Souza

THURSDAY, Nov. 15

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Anna Fung

FRIDAY, Nov. 16

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Gertrude Fornarolo

Let us pray to the Lord.

May all our beloved dead, especially Diniz Raposo, Anna Fung and Gertrude Fornarolo find eternal rest and refreshment in the kingdom of heaven.

Please remember the sick in your prayers during the coming week, especially: Ken Tai, Benjamin Rubio, Marvyn Cardoza, Melita Juliana, Hassan Kingrabe, Jack Hamilton and John Shea.

. . . who have asked for our prayers . . . for those among us in special need . . . for those who experience the shadows of sickness and pain . . . for those who feel isolated in their illness…for caregivers. . . . We pray to the Lord.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, November 18, 2007

33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

"Dying and Rising to New Life"

This is the time of our liturgical year when our readings urge us to take stock of who we are, what we have done to bring us into deeper relationship with the Lord of all time and where we need to go in order to grow in faith, hope and love. It is a time of winding down as we prepare to leave the Gospel of Luke and winding up to enter into the Gospel of Mark.

It is fitting, then, that in this Gospel reading, Jesus is preparing his own for the passing away of all things, except, of course, their faith. Faith would enable his disciples to endure the same tests Jesus himself experienced throughout his ministry. When the Gospels were read and broken open, Jesus' example and his encouraging words helped readers to deal with their own share of the struggle of being Christian. Through this very struggle, believers would give testimony or bear a martyr's witness to the truth.

By the time Luke's gospel appeared in final form in the 80's, that martyrdom had begun to be realized – Nero's persecution in the 60's followed closely by the persecution of Domitian in the 80's and into the 90's. Christians were indeed being handed over because of Jesus' name. To all who were handed over then, and to all who are still being handed over now, Jesus assures his support and guidance. Literally, Jesus promised "a mouth and wisdom" (v.15).

This is not meant to be a license to ignore the hard work required for regular Christian teaching and preaching, but does indeed refer to those times when people are on trial for their lives because of their allegiance to Jesus. A then and now and into the future promise that we can count on! Jesus himself proved to have ‘a mouth of wisdom'; when he was dying he asked for forgiveness for others and promised them a share in the kingdom. The eloquent manner in which many early Christians spoke when death was near – Stephen and Paul coming to mind – shows that they followed Jesus' lead.

Not many of us will face a martyr's death, yet none of us has permanent residence here on earth. We live each day in full knowledge that our stint on this earth is a prelude to eternity and that the manner in which we live here and now will determine whether we will enjoy our eternity or endure it with great struggle.

The first reading encourages us with the promise that those who persevere faithfully and in awe of God need not fear the end. Paul reminds us to keep our preparations for eternity practical and purposeful. Jesus warns that pursuit of our life's goals as believers will be fraught with conflict, but we will not be left to our own devices. God and God's grace will be ever near, as will Jesus' own Spirit, giving us words and wisdom and the will to persevere.

In order to prepare for the ultimate encounter with God, we are invited today to ask ourselves life questions. What do I need to do? How must I grow and who must I become before I die? A French Carmelite and spiritual writer who died a painful death from Addison's disease in 1906 put this all in perspective. Elizabeth of the Trinity said on her deathbed: "Everything passes. In the evening of life, love alone remains." In the evening of life, love alone remains."

TUESDAY, Nov. 20

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Giuseppe Pieri

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 21

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Don Carmichael

THURSDAY, Nov. 22

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Edward and Cecilia Pieri

FRIDAY, Nov. 23

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Eileen and Edmund Grabecki

May all our beloved dead find eternal rest and refreshment in the kingdom of heaven. . . For those of our community and our families who have died and for all those who have been buried from this place of worship during the past year. Let us pray to the Lord.

Please remember the sick in your prayers during the coming week, especially:
Ken Tai, Hassan Kinggrabe, Benjamin Rubio, John Shea, Mervyn Cardoza, Jack Hamilton, Melita Juliana and Yvonne Calgoni

. . . who have asked for our prayers . . . for those among us in special need . . . for those among us who must use food banks to survive . . . for those in mourning. We pray to the Lord.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, November 25, 2007

Feast of Christ The King

"Christ The King"

In the diary that he kept during his final year on earth, Henri Nouwen wrote the following on the Feast of Christ the King in 1995: "On the last Sunday of the liturgical year, Christ is presented to us as the mocked King on the cross as well as the King of the universe…All through the …year we have to stay close to the humiliation as well as the victory of Christ because we are called to live both in our own daily lives. We are small and big specks, specks in the universe and the glory of God, little fearful people and sons and daughters of the Lord of all creation." – (from Sabbatical Journey; Crossroad Pub. Co, New York: 1998.)

Nouwen died the following September. His diary entry comes alive for us today in the person of the criminal who turned to Jesus in the moment of his dying. Humiliated by his crimes and by his execution, the man nevertheless had the spiritual sense to recognize that he had cause to hope in one who was dying with him. At once humble and victorious, Jesus had the power to save, to forgive and to redeem.

Attuned to this, the hopeful criminal reached out in repentance to receive the gifts that Jesus had to give. Unlike the other criminal with them, who derided Jesus for calling himself the Messiah – "Save yourself and us!" – the repentant one believed in that power to save. His willingness to throw himself upon the last minute mercies of Jesus is meant to inspire a similar response in each one of us.

This exchange between Jesus and the repentant criminal is only recorded in Luke. Through this exchange, the evangelist witnesses to the exaltation of Jesus in glory, a theme he takes with him as author to the Acts of the Apostles. He records an act of salvation in a situation where the word ‘save' has been used with taunts and ridicule. The dying Jesus was goaded to ‘save' by those who did not believe in his capacity to do so.

In the end, and despite the disbelief of some, Jesus' power to save is affirmed in his statement to the criminal. Like those to whom Jesus reached out during his ministry, the dying criminal seemed to be lost. But "the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost" (19:10). Just as these words rang true for the tax collector, Zacchaeus, so they were true for the unnamed criminal crucified with Jesus, who promised him "Paradise, today, with me." Jesus could promise this because the forgiveness he accomplished through his death on the cross created the possibility of paradise and opened its gate to sinners. Nowhere is Jesus more regal than here; nowhere is the reign of God more near than in him.

"The Good Thief"

This man has captured the imagination and has become the stuff of legends through the centuries. He has been named Dismas, Demas and Dumachus. The importance of this man lies in his request that Jesus remember him in paradise. This anonymous criminal assures sinners that it is never too late to turn to God and Jesus with a repentant heart.

So long as there is a heart beating in a sinner's chest, the loving invitation of Christ still stands. So long as one can draw breath, a share in the victory of Christ awaits. What a testimony to the love and the mercy of our God!

Mass Intentions

May all our beloved dead, especially

TUESDAY, Nov. 27

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Paul Fung

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 28

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Carmen Spadafora

THURSDAY, Nov. 29

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † John Fernandez

FRIDAY, Nov. 30

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Nelson Raposo

find eternal rest and refreshment in the kingdom of heaven. Let us pray to the Lord.

Please remember the sick in your prayers during the coming week, especially:
Ken Tai, Hassan Kinggrabe, Benjamin Rubio, John Shea, Mervyn Cardoza, Jack Hamilton, Melita Juliana and Yvonne Calgoni

. . . who have asked for our prayers . . . for those among us in special need . . . for those who experience the shadows of sickness and pain . . . for those who feel isolated in their illness . . . for caregivers . . . We pray to the Lord.