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“The Child Inside Our Hearts”
“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are!” What a marvellous thing to hear, the very words of St. Paul himself who was chosen by Christ himself to spread his gospel. We almost have the uncanny sense that, over these hundreds of years, he is actually speaking directly to us, to you and to me! But do we truly acknowledge that we are children of God? Do we see and listen to the child inside our hearts, we who are his most beloved creation? Do we honestly trust that this loving Father, who is above all fathers, is really taking care of us, because some might have doubts, especially during this difficult time of Covid. Perhaps because I am unable to visit the children in our school, limited only to virtual visits, and a brief, but thoroughly entertaining and endearing meeting with them during their First Reconciliation, I have been doing a bit of research into the fine art of working with children, and a fine art and skill it is! In my research, I enjoyed a video by ‘Ms. Carol’ who works for the Acorn Hill Waldorff Kindergarten & Nursery School in Maryland, USA, which is “part of a world-wide education movement of over 800 schools whose work is based on the insights of Rudolf Steiner, an [early 20th C] Austrian philosopher, artist, scientist and [Christian] educator,” (acornhill.org). “Receive the child with reverence, educate the child with love, and let the child go forth in freedom,” was his aim. Ms. Carol discusses this fine art of working with children in her YouTube video called, Gentle Approaches to Teaching Children How to Listen. It is interesting to note the first thing we want to learn is ‘to listen’ ourselves, listen to the child with full, sincere attention. What they have to say is always important. It teaches us many things about them, and certainly earns their trust and confidence in us. No commentary or spoken response is necessary. Just listen. If they are troubled, guide them to a place where they can learn how to cope with their emotions away from others. A hug and a gentle song is often all they need to calm themselves. Even offering a drink of water helps them find their breath again between sobs. Something which stood out is our children thrive on schedules: daily, weekly, and monthly. It helps them learn to organize themselves, know what to anticipate, even give them a sense of calm and safety. They learn how structuring their lives helps them be more productive and satisfied, content, cheerful, and at peace. Are adults not much the same? Are we not just big-little children in many ways? We have our schedules, our routines, and though these rituals can sometimes smother our spontaneity or become monotonous, they also motivate us, giving us a sense of regularity, productiveness, and often even peace and contentment. However, like all children, we, too, experience trouble in life. Our structured lives can be suddenly interrupted by the unexpected like Covid has interrupted the routines of an entire planet. Our small world is having a difficult time finding that place away from everyone else to cope, to work things out. But isn’t God waiting there to embrace us? To sing a gentle song in our hearts if we only listen? This is why meditative and contemplative prayer is so important in our lives. This is where the ‘place’ is! This is where God cradles us in his arms. If we listen quietly in prayer, we will hear the Shepherd’s soothing lullaby of peace come down on us. Remember: “Beloved, we are God’s children now!” We are not just children in the heart of our hearts, we are now children of God, of a Father who truly is looking out for us, watching over his flock in the classroom of life, though perhaps in ways we cannot understand. This is why we need faith, have faith, nurture faith, trust in God. Let us embrace these words of St. Paul, and live our lives with attentiveness and kindness to that child in our hearts, and love for the child in each one of us. “Jesus, see your children gathering around you again. Good Shepherd, come and embrace us for many of us are troubled. Hear and listen to us with your caring, rapt attention, the Good Shepherd who helps us cope with our anger, bitterness, fear and worries. We need you now, perhaps more than ever before. … For just as the psalmist sang, ‘You are our God, and we give you great thanks and praise, for you are good, and your steadfast love for your children endures forever’. – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario
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"The Church Inside Our Hearts"
A few years before my beloved, maternal grandmother died, at 96 yrs old, I asked her what this Spanish Flu thing was all about. After all, she had experienced it first hand at 17 yrs of age growing up in Toronto. “Did you go out then, Grandma?” “No, young girls did not ‘gad about’”, she answered. They stayed close to home until they were married or maybe went to college. “But No one went out then!” After deciding the virus had died out during the summer of 2018, people began to gather again in restaurants and pubs. But within days, the flu hit again with a tidal wave of suffering. Masks were also employed then, worn by most, shunned by some, but many jailed if they did not comply. Aspirin was the only medicine. It was the bodies on front lawns Grandma saw outside her window which told her how dangerous the epidemic was; bodies of school-mates, friends, neighbours, waiting to be picked up by horse and wagon for the morgue or immediate burial. Her story matches interviews of others of her time on YouTube. One gentleman remembered a classmate who came knocking in the morning, desperate for help. “Could someone get a doctor? My mother and sister are really sick. I don’t know what to do. I can’t leave them.” His mother left to fetch someone, but when they returned, the whole family had died, (something apparently happening in our ICUs). “But what about work? Didn’t people have to go to work? And food?”, I asked. “Only those who provided the essentials, food and fuel and such, and who could tolerate the lime and vinegar they cleaned the workplaces with, would still go. Meanwhile, the Red Cross and church groups collected food and goods from those better off for distribution to peoples’ front steps and outside their apartment doors.” “What about Church and School?” Like another senior’s story, she said, “No one went to school or church for about 2 years! No one dared to go! They were all closed anyway for everyone’s safety.” “But it must have caused a lot of mental fatigue, even illness?” She said, “We are stronger than we realize, especially our children. It made us all stronger. I’d even say it made us better able to cope with the depression when it hit. With the grace of God, people always soldier on.” “This was a horrible catastrophe! Why don’t we hear more about it?” I asked. “Because like all challenges in life, once you get past them, you just learn from them, and then move on. No one wanted to talk about it. All was forgotten within a few months. We just went back to living our lives again. Yes, many had died, but ironically it opened up more jobs for those in need. Life is just like that. God in his wisdom knows this. God always knows more than we do.” No one went to school or church for about 2 years. What can we learn from this? Perhaps learn how lucky we are now to have scientists who can see a virus and manipulate it; medically trained professionals who can advise us, provide medicine to heal us, and medical equipment to help us breathe. An amazing technical system, the Internet, helps us communicate with each other visually and audibly from vast distances. Food and resources are still available for our tables. Employment insurance and Govt assistance helps pay the bills. OHIP! Grandma lived on porridge most of her winters without milk or sugar, just basic bread, root vegetables and greens in good weather. Little meat. They were lucky to have a small garden. Perhaps we can also manage without Church or School, even if for another year? Stay home, accept our being a bit deprived, if only in supportive union with those who will never see a church in their lifetime. Perhaps, like Christ asks us today, we can be witnesses to Christ’s good news, proclaim his gospel of forgiveness of sins and new life in spirit … just by being patient, tolerant, even cheerful ‘living’ witnesses to it; respect with deep gratitude our Health Care Professionals whom we pay through taxes to help us keep well. Meanwhile, let us stay safe in our homes, trusting and knowing God will open his churches for us again. Meantime he will teach us to open the Church inside our hearts instead, in true Christian fellowship like they did in my Grandmother’s time, because, just like she told me, “God always knows more than we do!” – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario “Community, Duty, Service”
“The whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common” … held in communion, and held together in community. It was ‘faith’ which was the foundation of their community. It was faith in a loving Saviour who not only promised them, but demonstrated for them that a resurrection into a glorious new life was what awaited those who loved God and supported each other according to the ways of his good news. Before Christ’s Resurrection, people expected to either come to nothing after death, or to enter a grim existence of continuous wandering forever within the shadows of ‘Sheol’. The Hebrew Bible tells us ‘Sheol’ is a place of darkness where the dead go. Later, in their translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Greeks would call this same place ‘Hades’ or the underworld. So, if we can put ourselves in their culture, time and place, then we can certainly understand their awe and amazement, their utter joy in knowing death was not the end, but a magnificient beginning. They expressed this joy by abandoning their fears for safety and security, replacing it with a readiness to share their material advantages with each other, to unite each other in this new bond of loving, mutual support built on a faith, so strong, that they could endure anything. This is how the martyrs were born. Suffering, pain or victimization was displaced by a deep belief in Christ and his promise of salvation. It was this ‘faith’ in Christ which brought people together in a shared joy which we call ‘community’. And because Christ commissioned them to share this good news with the world, they assumed this new missionary role as their ‘duty’. From now on, they would no longer live as completely independent individuals, isolated and living their separate lives. From now on they would live in ‘service’ to one another, supporting each other in the challenges and labours of life, loving and honouring God every day of their new existence as Children of God, built on hope and faith. We, too, are called to a community of faith, to duty to share the good news, and to be of service to all humanity. These tough times mean nothing in the face of faith. There is someone whose life we are celebrating this weekend, someone who lived his life according to these virtues. The Honourable Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip once said, ‘community, duty and service’ were the pillars of his life. And Philip was truly a dutiful, committed man of service, much loved, respected as a caring, generous, very religious man; yet also, sometimes controversial. In many ways, Philip was a man of his time and his era, much like my own father who received not a few chastisements from his children for unsettling comments or behaviour. In fact, how many fathers were more like ‘Archie Bunker’ than not, the politically-flawed father in the 1970s comic drama All In The Family. Still, through Archie, many viewers were taught a great deal about tolerance, openness and love. Values like being of service to society were weekly topics. His daughter, Gloria, was always involved in contributing to her local community’s call for justice, while mother, Edith, in her duty as a Christian mother was always poised to be of loving service to her family and neighbours. Certainly, rather than criticize, we must forgive, and then learn from the flaws of others, kindly correcting them as we interact with each other at home and in community, service and duty. It is a well-known fact many today have either lost their faith in God or in anything, let alone an understanding of duty, service or community. In fact, for many, the words duty and service might mean negative things to them. So, many are ‘doubters’ of the highest order. Which means our work as Christians is not easy. But it was also not easy for the early followers of Christ, including the disciples, who had many doubts themselves until the resurrection. After all, Christianity would not exist today if not for Christ’s resurrection. But to doubt is a healthy thing. It is where faith begins. Thomas Merton once said, “The person of faith who has never experienced doubt is not a person of faith”. And where there is faith, there will be community, duty to evangelize, and service in the name of a loving God. We must touch Jesus, feel his resurrected body, and then help others touch Jesus as well. We might ask: How will we be remembered years from now: As people isolated and fearful in our own homes? Or fearless in the face of crisis, because worldly things mean nothing in the face of the faith of a strong, vibrant, dutiful, community of believers who serve God and one another. – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario “Remember To Seek The Light”
Through the unfolding of our sacred celebration of the Triduum we have recognized it can be considered as a time of ‘remembrance’, our response to Christ’s call to “Do this in remembrance of me”. On Holy Thursday, we remembered Christ’s call to us to be of service to each other as he demonstrated by gently washing the feet of his beloved apostles. On Good Friday, we remembered Christ’s call to us to make sacrifices to God and for each other as he gave up his own life for us in the ultimate sacrifice of all time. Now, with Christ’s coming Resurrection, we remember his call to us to seek his light, to follow and bring his light into our lives! We remember his ‘Light’. Where would we be without ‘light’? We used to honour the light in a very practical way, rising for and retiring from our day’s labours according to the coming and going of the light of day. When we are lost in the darkness of night we are grateful for moonbeams or even the gathered light of humble fireflies to find our way home. It is interesting that we have never measured ‘darkness’. It seems perhaps we are too fearful or too resistant to measuring the darkness, something considered maybe too negative in our lives. It seems only light interests us enough to measure it, as in the calculation of the speed of ‘light’, more breathtaking than the speed of ‘sound’. Light has profound attributes. Light, itself, always finds its way in the darkness we resist measuring. It makes itself known through the smallest gaps of our window blinds or the tiniest holes in our canvas tents. Light warms our bodies while it leads our eyes to where our hearts compel us to go. If the tiniest pinpoint of light in the night sky can dazzle us with such awe, imagine the power of the ‘Light of Christ’. Helen Keller knew the importance of light, especially Christ’s light, because his light came from within, a light she could see without sight, feeling its spiritual warmth penetrate her whole being. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or heard or touched – they must be felt with [the light] of the heart.” Helen had actually been born with sight and hearing, but after an illness, perhaps Scarlet Fever, she lost them. Yet with love and guidance from her teacher, Anne Sullivan, a specialist in sensory disabilities, Helen learned to read and communicate with sign language, braille, even how to type. She called Anne a ‘miracle worker’! She would visit 35 countries, was elected as the first USA Goodwill Ambassador to Japan, and helped institute the ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union which championed the rights of the disabled and disadvantaged. “Keep your face to the sunshine,” she’d say, “and you will never see the shadow.” Her faith was paramount in her life. She prayed that when she died she would be reunited with her teacher, companion, and friend of 49 years, Anne Sullivan. “I look forward to the day when God brings me home to where I can finally see her face.” Helen will be remembered forever as a powerful, iconic figure of strength, courage, and determination against diversity, all because she learned one word: ‘water!’ Indeed, is it not significant the first word she learned was ‘water’, because water is the foundation of life. This miraculous element which flows through creation, making all life possible, is also the life source of our sacred ritual of ‘Baptism’. Remembering the power of the Light of Christ, and refreshed by the remembrance of our blessing with his holy water, let us remember and renew our baptismal vows. – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario “Remember To Sacrifice”
As preached yesterday, the all embracing theme of the Triduum – the Last Supper, the Passion, the Vigil – could be called ‘remembrance’: remembering Christ, the youth inspiring the elders in the temple; Christ healing the lepers, feeding the thousands, raising Lazarus back to life; Christ who taught us to guide our lives with the beatitudes, and to pray to our Father in words he gave us; Christ who showed in the washing of his apostles’ feet how we, too, must offer ourselves in service. Today, we remember his journey to Golgotha, remembering the sacrifice of his own life to wash away the sins of humanity, remembering his cross, and everything which it stands for in our daily lives as Christians. Do we make sacrifices in our lives, sacrifices to God and for each others? Or have we forgotten about it? Have we perhaps even lost the notion of what it means to make a sacrifice? In the past few weeks, I have had the great pleasure of hearing the very first confessions of our First Holy Communion students. The comments and questions from these little souls are always entertaining, refreshingly real, and often inciteful. I told one parent I had probably learned more about our faith in the past ten minutes from her son than I had in years at the seminary. After we finished his confession, one little lad said with his arms crossed, “This has been just great, Father! Do you think we could do this again?” After her confession, a little girl asked me, “Why did Jesus have to die on a cross? Couldn’t he have died a different way?” Certainly thought-provoking. Another little fellow, jumping up and down after I gave him his absolution, said he had something very important to show me. It was a shiny, new chain with a shiny, little cross hanging round his neck. He was beside himself with excitement! I told him he was very lucky to have it, because it would let everyone know Jesus was his best friend. I said when we do the ‘Sign of the Cross’ it is actually a little prayer. “Wow!” he said. “So, Father, I can pray all the time, now, right? Watch how fast I can do the Sign of the Cross,” as he crossed himself several times, delighted he could pray as often and as quickly as he wanted. Truly, the most meaningful way we can remember Christ and his sacrifice for us, is by promising to ‘pray’ the Sign of the Cross every day, hopefully with the same enthusiasm as this little boy, as we rise from bed, eat our meals, start the car, head to work or school, while taking in the beauty of God’s creation all around us. – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario “Remember To Serve”
“Do this in memory of me.” … Memory. We might say the all-encompassing theme of the Triduum – the Last Supper, the Passion, the Vigil – is ‘remembering’: remembering Christ as the youth mesmerizing the scribes in the temple, Christ healing the lepers, feeding the thousands, raising Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus back to life. Chiefly, he would want us to remember his teachings of how to live according to the Beatitudes, how to pray to our Father as he taught us, to remember how we must offer ourselves in service to God and to one another, as he so beautifully demonstrated by washing the feet of his beloved apostles. Although we cannot celebrate the beloved, traditional rituals of foot washing, reverencing the cross, and holding high candles of the light of Christ in the Vigil darkness, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we always have our joyous memories of Easters in previous years, and of Christ himself – past, present and to come. Jesus would want us to especially remember the sacrifice he made of his own life to wipe away the sins of humanity, symbolized in the simple meal he enjoyed with those who followed him. Indeed, he called us all to the priesthood in this sharing of bread and wine, clergy and lay people alike. “Remember me”, he asks. Indeed, tonight we do remember Jesus at the table of Holy Communing with his apostles. The iconic Baroque composer, Henry Purcell, a young man following in the steps of Bach and Handel, wrote what is considered the first, true English opera, Dido and Aeneas, for the Josias Priest's ‘Chelsea Boarding School’ for young ladies. A short work, it is especially known for one aria, sung at the conclusion, which transformed opera from its earlier, highly structured and ornate roots into a highly emotional and passionate experience. The dying queen, Dido, sings a deeply touching lament called, “Remember Me”. She appeals to Belinda, her servant girl, not to be troubled by her past wrongs, and her descent into death because of a broken heart, but to remember her as a good and loving Queen when she is ‘laid in earth’ – ‘but, oh, not her fate!’ Her earnest wish to be remembered has always reminded me of Christ’s own appeal to us to remember him. He wants us to remember the good news he taught us through word and demonstration, what service and sacrifice and prayer and worship mean, to remember him ‘when he is laid in earth’. He especially calls us to remember and practice the symbolism of his sacrifice in the Holy Eucharist: “Do this in remembrance of me.” This Lent, to know ourselves more deeply at our core as creations of God, we have asked ourselves a few questions: ‘Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I now? Where am I going? … Then, Where do I want to go?’ … and this past week, ‘But where does God want me to go?’ Perhaps on this night of remembering, remembering Christ, we can get even closer to ourselves, better grasp who we are and where we are headed, and how we can determine where God wants us to go, by asking ourselves one final question: “How do I want to be remembered?” What earnest song of appeal would I sing to those who have loved and supported me in my life, ‘when I am laid in the earth’? – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario |
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Rev. Fr. Christopher Tracey
St. Joseph Parish Pastor Archives
January 2022
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