Feast day of St. Vincent de Paul - September 27

 

A reflection by Deacon Steve

“…our Lord's work is accomplished not so much by the multitude of workers as by the fidelity of the small number whom He calls." - St. Vincent de Paul

As we celebrate the Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul (unfortunately it falls on a Sunday so it is not mentioned) let us ponder these words he wrote.

There may be times we are tempted to get discouraged or begin to doubt what we are doing in our service to the Lord. The more we give out the greater we become aware that the need dwarfs the work we have done. Somehow it may feel overwhelming. In this time of Covid-19 indeed we are hearing that the rich grow vastly richer and the poor are becoming even more numerous.

St. Vincent reminds us that we are to stay focused on our love for our Lord and our Lord’s people and allow that love to grow ever deeper. We are not to “count” the results or measure as the world does.
Instead, with God’s grace, we are to allow our Lord to open and fill our hearts with our Lord’s abundant goodness, love and mercy, and then go out and be that love for others. That is all the Lord asks of us and God will do the rest.

Deacon Steve Pitre is Spiritual Advisor to our Conference in Newmarket

The Paradox of the Cross

Spiritual Reading, Monday September 14, 2020

Deacon Steve took our spiritual reading last Monday from “The Passion and the Cross”, a book by Ron Rolheiser.

“A man, a God, hangs naked, exposed vulnerable, defenseless, silent, with his arms stretched wide, open for an embrace, and with his hands also stretched open with nails driven through them. Yet strangely, in all that, we don’t see bitterness, defeat and anger. Paradoxically, we see their opposite. This is what real trust, love, and metanoia (un-paranoia) look like.

And I say “look like” because we don’t understand this- we see it. We don’t understand intellectually how giving oneself over in betrayal teaches trust, nor how vulnerability and powerlessness are the real powers that bring about intimacy. But we see this when we look at the cross of Jesus. It is no wonder that so many people - millions, literally – wear a cross as a symbol of love, trust and hope. Unconsciously, they know, however dimly, what theology can never quite make clear to us: namely, that what divides us from each other can only be bridged by the cross of Christ, and that our hope for intimacy and community is not in ourselves but in an embrace that is beyond us. In a cross this is not understood, it’s seen- mystically, not rationally.”

Rolheiser, Ron, “The Passion and the Cross”, Franciscan Media, Cincinnati, 2015, p. 74

A Little Good - a reflection by Deacon Steve

 

“In my life I want to become better and do a little good.” 
- Bl. Frederic Ozanam

In our gospel reading for today September 9th, the feast of Blessed Frederic, taken from Luke chapter 6, Jesus tells his disciples, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

To experience the kingdom of God we are to grow in humility first. The quote from Blessed Frederic speaks to me of his humility. Despite his education and position, and more important, despite all he had done to serve the poor, he sees it as, “a little good”.

The kingdom of God is not only about some end of life or end of the world event. Instead the more we serve with humility and the more humble we become, especially as we walk with people who are poor and marginalized, we can begin to experience, albeit in small glimpses, the kingdom of God.

Deacon Steve Pitre is Spiritual Advisor to the New market Conference of St Vincent de Paul.

Season of Creation 2020 - Jubilee for the Earth

 

Endorsed by Pope Francis in 2015 and supported by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the annual month-long ecumenical celebration entitled the Season of Creation will begin on 1 September (World Day of Prayer for Creation) and continue until 4 October 2020 (feast of Saint Francis of Assisi). 

The celebration calls on the global Christian community to promote prayer and action to protect our common home, and is one of the initiatives to celebrate the Special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year which runs from 24 May 2020 until 24 May 2021. The theme for this year’s season is “Jubilee for the Earth”. 

For more information and resources on the Season of Creation, please visit the website at https://seasonofcreation.org/

Reproduced from the website of the  Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)