A story is told about Sir John A MacDonald - Canada’s First Prime Minister - who was out with a few of his friends a little bit away from Kingston. He was riding horseback with some of his friends and they came to a swollen stream. There by the river was a man who couldn’t cross and was looking for someone to give him a lift. So very quickly, when MacDonald and his party rode up, he went right up to the Prime Minister and asked for a ride across the stream. Without hesitating, MacDonald reached down, grabbed the fellow by the arm, and pulled him up on the horse with him. The two of them forded the stream together, and MacDonald let him off on the other side.
There was an onlooker who said to the fellow, “Out of all those men in that group, why did you ask the Prime Minister to bring you across?” The man said, “The Prime Minister? The onlooker said, “Yes it was. Why did you ask him to bring you across?” The man replied, “I didn’t know he was the Prime Minister. All I knew was that he had a ‘yes’ face.” Have you ever met someone who had a “yes” face, a face that sparkled, that glowed, a face that made you feel welcomed?
People are attracted to a “yes” face. A “yes” face is a face filled with joy, encouragement, and hope. We begin a small series of homilies entitled “It Starts With Me”. It is our desire in 2014 for St Mary of the Visitation Parish to become a catalyst for spiritual awakening in Hespeler and beyond, and we will see how that catalyst starts in me and in you.
In this series, our focus over the next three weeks, is to see how our Parish Statement (2007) along with our four values as a parish (2012): Eucharistic Spirituality, Hospitality and Welcome, Evangelization, Faithfulness to Who God Made Us to Be, lead us to Encounter, Engage and Express who we are as a parish family. Not only will we be using our scripture to help us to do so, but also Pope Francis’ recently written letter “Evangelii Gaudium," (The Joy of the Gospel). I’m looking forward to these next 3 weekends!
So here is question for you - In 2014 - Are you going to follow Jesus or are you going to ask Jesus to follow you ? Now you might be shocked by that question - like why would anyone do that?
We do it all the time - we set out plans and ask God to bless it. We have a choice everyday - am I going to follow Jesus or will He follow me. Now the Baptism of Jesus was when Christ - the Son of God - comes before the Father and says - I will follow you - Christ humbles Himself - lowers in the water - is baptized by John the Baptist - and the Father blesses Him - “this is my Son the beloved” - the Father acknowledges Him. (c.f. Acts 10:34-38, Matthew 3:13-17)
The first thing we can do if we are not careful is that we can end up Doing Life Without God. We make plans, we mark places, we manufacture purposes, we measure profit - all without ever involving God. Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with making plans - I do it all the time - but do we include God in the plan making or do we just ask Him at the tail end to approve what we have put together? Do we turn and say to the Lord “Show me God what you want?” Or do we tell God our plan? God’s plan for you is above what you want- don’t diminish His impact in your life by telling Him, implore God's blessing by asking Him.
Vince Poscente: wrote a book called “The Age of Speed”. He writes about how fast life has gotten in our generation. Our culture has been changed by the boom in technology - email, downloadable music, 24 hour news, instant Google access to any bit of information you want - technology has driven - and is driving so much of what we do in life! The ceiling has been lifted and our options for going fast are unlimited.
As I read the book - I asked myself - how do I put God in the plan when our plans are changing at lightning speed. Its not like we can just sit down for hours and plan and lay out the day or seeking His input on every fast choice we need to make. But here is the thing - in the world we live in - we can’t be people who just have a yearly plan with God or a monthly plan - we can’t be people who say I get what I need on Sunday; then do what we want during the week. If life is that fast - and we all know it is - then we must be a people who have a sense of God present in our life so intense that it is almost as if God is at the desk beside at work/school, on the chair near us at the lunch or supper table, the car next to us (or even in front of us), even looking over our shoulder as we type or view things on our computer or tablet.
Because without that sense of His presence in your life - you will end up doing your own thing. It may not be the wrong thing, it might lead you to do something,.....but it will keep us from the thing God wants us to do with our life. That is why the Baptism of the Lord teaches us the first step in becoming truly spiritually awaken, truly rooted Disciples of Jesus - firm lights who help others to be followers of God.
The First Step: Encounter - Jesus did not get started on His life without encountering the Father - going to the water! He first "heard" from God. He first humbled Himself so that He would know from God "what are YOUR PLANS for my life?" Then He did them and the Father acknowledged Him and showed Him plans way beyond what He could have imagined!
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 127 “Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey."
If we do not daily encounter God then we will live our days - not appreciated for the moment but presumed that another will come. If we do not daily encounter God then we will do life without God, determine life without God, describe life without God - we plan, we procrastinate, but we do not prosper all that we could. Don’t diminish His impact in your life - submit your life to God and you will end up doing what we are suppose to be doing.
Every minute, every choice, every plan say gently to Him - Show me God - what you want - His plan for you is above what you want - so go encounter Him! Make sure you encounter Him! It starts with me!
So are you going to follow Jesus or are you going to ask Jesus to follow you?
There was an onlooker who said to the fellow, “Out of all those men in that group, why did you ask the Prime Minister to bring you across?” The man said, “The Prime Minister? The onlooker said, “Yes it was. Why did you ask him to bring you across?” The man replied, “I didn’t know he was the Prime Minister. All I knew was that he had a ‘yes’ face.” Have you ever met someone who had a “yes” face, a face that sparkled, that glowed, a face that made you feel welcomed?
People are attracted to a “yes” face. A “yes” face is a face filled with joy, encouragement, and hope. We begin a small series of homilies entitled “It Starts With Me”. It is our desire in 2014 for St Mary of the Visitation Parish to become a catalyst for spiritual awakening in Hespeler and beyond, and we will see how that catalyst starts in me and in you.
In this series, our focus over the next three weeks, is to see how our Parish Statement (2007) along with our four values as a parish (2012): Eucharistic Spirituality, Hospitality and Welcome, Evangelization, Faithfulness to Who God Made Us to Be, lead us to Encounter, Engage and Express who we are as a parish family. Not only will we be using our scripture to help us to do so, but also Pope Francis’ recently written letter “Evangelii Gaudium," (The Joy of the Gospel). I’m looking forward to these next 3 weekends!
So here is question for you - In 2014 - Are you going to follow Jesus or are you going to ask Jesus to follow you ? Now you might be shocked by that question - like why would anyone do that?
We do it all the time - we set out plans and ask God to bless it. We have a choice everyday - am I going to follow Jesus or will He follow me. Now the Baptism of Jesus was when Christ - the Son of God - comes before the Father and says - I will follow you - Christ humbles Himself - lowers in the water - is baptized by John the Baptist - and the Father blesses Him - “this is my Son the beloved” - the Father acknowledges Him. (c.f. Acts 10:34-38, Matthew 3:13-17)
The first thing we can do if we are not careful is that we can end up Doing Life Without God. We make plans, we mark places, we manufacture purposes, we measure profit - all without ever involving God. Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with making plans - I do it all the time - but do we include God in the plan making or do we just ask Him at the tail end to approve what we have put together? Do we turn and say to the Lord “Show me God what you want?” Or do we tell God our plan? God’s plan for you is above what you want- don’t diminish His impact in your life by telling Him, implore God's blessing by asking Him.
Vince Poscente: wrote a book called “The Age of Speed”. He writes about how fast life has gotten in our generation. Our culture has been changed by the boom in technology - email, downloadable music, 24 hour news, instant Google access to any bit of information you want - technology has driven - and is driving so much of what we do in life! The ceiling has been lifted and our options for going fast are unlimited.
As I read the book - I asked myself - how do I put God in the plan when our plans are changing at lightning speed. Its not like we can just sit down for hours and plan and lay out the day or seeking His input on every fast choice we need to make. But here is the thing - in the world we live in - we can’t be people who just have a yearly plan with God or a monthly plan - we can’t be people who say I get what I need on Sunday; then do what we want during the week. If life is that fast - and we all know it is - then we must be a people who have a sense of God present in our life so intense that it is almost as if God is at the desk beside at work/school, on the chair near us at the lunch or supper table, the car next to us (or even in front of us), even looking over our shoulder as we type or view things on our computer or tablet.
Because without that sense of His presence in your life - you will end up doing your own thing. It may not be the wrong thing, it might lead you to do something,.....but it will keep us from the thing God wants us to do with our life. That is why the Baptism of the Lord teaches us the first step in becoming truly spiritually awaken, truly rooted Disciples of Jesus - firm lights who help others to be followers of God.
The First Step: Encounter - Jesus did not get started on His life without encountering the Father - going to the water! He first "heard" from God. He first humbled Himself so that He would know from God "what are YOUR PLANS for my life?" Then He did them and the Father acknowledged Him and showed Him plans way beyond what He could have imagined!
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 127 “Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey."
If we do not daily encounter God then we will live our days - not appreciated for the moment but presumed that another will come. If we do not daily encounter God then we will do life without God, determine life without God, describe life without God - we plan, we procrastinate, but we do not prosper all that we could. Don’t diminish His impact in your life - submit your life to God and you will end up doing what we are suppose to be doing.
Every minute, every choice, every plan say gently to Him - Show me God - what you want - His plan for you is above what you want - so go encounter Him! Make sure you encounter Him! It starts with me!
So are you going to follow Jesus or are you going to ask Jesus to follow you?