Champion Choices

In response to various requests and emails, below is the text of my talk to our Elementary School Graduates from June 2012.

My young friends. Tonight you graduate.

I am happy for you; but even more so proud of you. It is safe to say that our parish elementary school is a place, besides your own home, where you grew, you had guidance given and hopefully you developed gratitude. Tonight in addition to your parents, your teachers and school staff members, your brothers or sisters, friends or relatives, grandparents or uncles and aunts; I hope you will take a moment to thank almighty God for tonight. You didn’t arrive here alone; make sure you thank He who is the source of all we do, and all we are to be grateful for. Say thank you to Almighty God - and worship Him on Sunday - for you did not get here because of you - you got here because of HIM

A few weeks ago one of you were walking our hallways and I asked you how many days til Graduation. You knew it - right down to the minute and the second. You spoke of what you’d be wearing, who would be there, how many dances are already pre booked for tonight’s social, and the fun you hope to have all summer long.

Then came the line - “Father, graduation night is my night - my night to be a CHAMPION!”.

To be a Champion!

I can think of no greater wish I have for you - all of you than that - to be Champions!

Your name need not be Ronaldo in order for that to happen - although being Portuguese will help the odds of it happening - but being a Champion is actually a pretty simple determination - to be a Champion you need only to decide that from the second you receive the diploma you will tonight until the day the Lord call you home - that the inclincation WILL BE to do only one thing and do it well - THAT YOU WILL MAKE CHAMPION CHOICES !!!

Champion Choices !

★ Champion Choices are about putting faith ahead of pleasing friends

★ Champion Choices are about putting family ahead of personal fame

★ Champion Choices are about having a dignity of self which says no substance in a smoke pit will take away my goodness or sense of self

★ Champion Choices are about focusing on a goal but not letting that goal take up the focus of your life to the point that faith has no room.

★ Champion Choices are about respecting another person not as an object on a screen, a virtual toy to be made fun of, a put down in a story, or an object to be used for pleasure

Champion choices are about not begging for bronze, or even settling for silver but rather going for gold in your relationships, your commitments, your school work, your family life and in your word to those who matter most!

To be a Champion!

I can think of no greater wish I have for you - all of you than that - to be Champions!

And my wish for you - my true hope for you - my heart felt desire and earnest daily prayer for you really is that you will be a champion - but that can only happen if every day you ask yourself - is this a Champion Choice ??

★As you are faced with the pressure or temptation

★As you are faced with that acceptance or denial

★ As you are faced with that step forward or backward

Ask yourself - is this a Champion Choice ??

To be a Champion!

I can think of no greater wish I have for you - all of you than that - to be Champions!

Now my friends - it is up to you - You will leave the doors of our school no longer to be known as a student here - but as a graduate - I don’t ask you to make us proud - you have done that already - but make your self proud -Be a Champion!

I am very proud of you ! God Bless you and keep in touch

Start of Summer - Great Time for Prayer

MY SUMMER BLESSING

Walk along beside me, Jesus,

as I begin the months of Summer.

As I work, play, enjoy family time and friendships,

may I hear your voice within me, guiding me toward

all that is right and good.

Give me faith in your presence, knowing that you

walk beside me in everything I do.

Gracious and loving Jesus,

thank you for the gift of Summer.

May the warmth of its sun and the beauty of its light

remind me daily of your love for me. Amen.

After more than 100 years, all the world, and especially this community, is marvelling at the wonderful invention of Alexander Graham Bell in 1874. The telephone which links us with all parts of the world has become a vital part of day-to-day living.

We in the Christian community also have our spiritual telephone and the number we dial to get in touch with God is P-R-A-Y-E-R. Prayer is like the telephone in many ways. In fact there are more places to pray than there are places from which to telephone.  We can talk to God at ANY MOMENT of the day or night.

We can call upon God for any favour. There is no limit to what He can do, and there is no limit to His desire to do good things for us. We never hear “The line is busy” or “The line is out of order” or “God isn’t home right now. Shall I have him call you?” The conversations we have with God in prayer come under four separate headings:

PRAISE - God is indefinitely wonderful in Himself and God has done infinitely wonderful things. He has made this marvelous world and all the astounding wonders in it. We simply cannot help PRAISING Him for what He is and what He has done.

THANKS - God is all-good in Himself and all-good to us. Just try to count your blessings. Try to count merely those blessings which you have and many others do not have -- sight, hearing, health, food, a home, a job. Then you will want to call God on the telephone of prayer and thank Him.

PETITION - We all need many help of body and soul every day. Don’t hesitate to ask God. He wants us to call and ask Him for what we need.

FORGIVENESS - All of us have offended and disappointed God. All need to beg His pardon.

So vary your conversations with God.... choose a different subject each time you call Him. Prayer seems so simple and natural when we think of it as calling Him on a telephone. Call Him often. You’ll enjoy talking with God. He’s waiting for your call.

Father's Day - A Special Sign

All of us have had the experience, I believe, of being in an airport. Here the mastery of people watching is at its best as individuals from all over the continent, in deed world, come together with the goal of departing or arriving at a destination. One of the most fascinating aspects of all the arrivals and departures are the people who, waiting usually by the luggage arrival bins, are present holding signs. These signs name an individual whom they have been charged with the task of receiving and then taking to a safe lodging.

These individuals fascinate me really. I guess its because they have what seems like a simple task, and yet a very important one. They hold a sign - on it a name, and they wait for a person whom they do not know, and whom they have never met, and when that person recognizes the name on the sign, they approach the individual holding the sign and they are taken to where they are meant to go - safely and securely - to become and do what they have travelled for. I guess they fascinate me because in many ways the role and the function of Discipleship, is very much the same.

We hold up a figurative sign each day. The sign may be in different forms - in might be in the form of being a Father or a Mother, a cherished friend or a brother, a kind neighbour or a local business person, a spouse or a sibling, a person with culinary talents or mechanical gifts, an office worker or a custodial employee- but the sign - no matter our function - really by virtue of our Baptismal Call - has only one name on it - Jesus Christ.

As we hold the sign, going about our daily life - our arrivals and departures each day - we don’t really know who we are waiting for. But someone is looking for it - looking for the name that we hold - and when they recognize the name we are called to take them safely and securely to become and do what they have travelled for on this journey of life.

As St Paul said, in the second reading of the Mass today, in his letter to the Corinthians “ we make it our aim to please Him” ( 2 Cor. 5:6-10). For the secret and purpose of life is not to become who we want to be, to do what we want or to achieve what we desire - life is not about holding a sign that has our name written on it - but the secret, purpose and road to happiness in life is found in arriving or departing into, and from each day, and looking for the sign with one name on it - Jesus - and then following Him to become who God - who is to be called Father - wants us to go and be.

For Father’s especially this weekend - I think God’s word offers a particular sign - to be present no matter the age of one’s child or the stage of a family’s life - in moral good example for the interaction, collaboration, guidance, advice in the arrivals and departures of life.

Maybe you and I could invite God’s grace in a particular way this Lord’s Day weekend to accompany us in the arrivals and departures, and as we seek signs, and hold signs - for those we are privileged to help lead to where the Father wants them to be.

This gathering of God’s people calls us to pause, give thanks, and seek Grace, that we may continue ourselves to look for the name on that sign, that our frequent reception of Him in the Eucharist, may help each of us to be able to hold the sign of His name up with greater vigour and strength.

The Gift of the Eucharist

We celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ this weekend. The Eucharist is the most precious gift - the gift of Christ Himself - that we have. It is a great weekend to consider - Faith and Prayer.

Our faith, of course, is internal. The essence of our faith is an interior, sincere acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior, and of all the truths He and His Church have revealed. However, our faith is also external, because our internal acceptance of Christ has profound exterior effects. An interior adhesion to Christ results in a conversion of heart which has significant social, communal effects.

Thus, as we internally profess our faith in the Eucharist, we are moved to manifest that externally. Think about it:

– we genuflect as we enter Church as a sign that we adore Jesus really and truly present in the Tabernacle

– we say out loud, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof” before approaching the altar, publicly indicating our sorrow for sin and desire to be cleansed, a desire that would result in sacramental confession when we are conscious of mortal sin;

– we bow before we receive our Lord at Holy Communion;

– we say Amen, meaning, yes, when the priest, deacon, or extraordinary minster proclaims “The Body of Christ,” “The Blood of Christ”;

– we dress modestly, appropriately, for the Eucharist, giving a public sign that this is an event more sublime than playing tennis or lounging at the pool;

– on occasion, we publicly express our interior faith in the Eucharist through processions, Eucharistic exposition, and forty hour devotions;

– and, every four years, the Church universal sponsors a Eucharistic Congress as a corporate, ecclesial act of faith on behalf of the entire Church. This is going on beginning this week in Ireland - it is the 50th Eucharistic Congress. I was privileged enough to attend the last one in Quebec City in 2008 - wow - what blessing! During the preparations for this Congress we were blessed to host the Icon of the Ark of Covenant and to be blessed by the beautiful icons which lead us to appreciation and growing in our understanding of  the Eucharistic Scriptural stories of our faith.

I personally see so many signs of a revived appreciation for the Eucharist in the Church:

– enhanced participation in the liturgy;

– more opportunity for our sick and homebound to receive Holy Communion because of the generous apostolate of our Extraordinary ministers;

– the growing popularity of Eucharistic adoration (at St Mary of the the Visitation we are blessed to have a Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel - open 24 hours a day - and every hour, every day there is someone there adoring Our Lord!)

– an increased awareness of the social demands inherent in the celebration of the Eucharist, acknowledging that the Eucharist has implications “beyond the walls” of our Church buildings; For example at St Mary's our Love of the Eucharist leads us to build a community where there is something for everyone. It also leads us to care for the less fortunate and those in need through our Haiti Mission partnership with the Sisters of St Joseph and our Neighbourhood Ministry which aids those in our own local corners and streets who are in need.

– a heightened sensitivity to the necessity of a worthy reception of Holy Communion; and that our partaking of the Eucharist indicates a communion not only with our Lord but with His Church. Thus, we would not dare violate integrity by receiving the Eucharist if we are conscious of being separated from the unity of the Church by sin or dissent from clear Church teaching.

I believe that this Lord's Day weekend celebration offers us a great opportunity for renewal in faith so that we may be a people who truly live our the faith that is found in the statement " My Lord and My God".