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"Wisdom Among Us" Christ’s ‘Miracle of Feeding the Thousands’ was so important to the people of his time that this is his only miracle included in all four gospels. The people would have recognized Jesus as the new Moses who has come to release his people from bondage, feeding them with new ‘mana’ from heaven, not just real ‘bread’, but the ‘bread of freedom’ as their new King, releasing them from Rome’s bondage.
But this miracle confirms two important things about the nature of Christ’s mission: 1.) that he and the Father take care of the physical body first, beginning with food. [As in the 7 Corporal Works of Mercy – feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, the imprisoned, bury the dead.] 2.) then ‘spiritual’ food comes in the form of grace, not earthly honours. [As in the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy – teach the gospel, counsel the doubtful, educate the sinner, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses willingly, comfort the afflicted, and pray for the living and the dead.] In essence, Jesus nourishes us physically first, and then spiritually, so that we may do the same for others. Today, in our very first Annual Celebration of Grandparents and the Elderly in our communities, we pay them special homage, love, and gratitude, especially as we recognize how much they have fed us the ‘bread of life’, and continue to do so! Writer, Catherine Pulsifer, says in her book, How Old Are You, that, “Sometimes, people use age as a convenient excuse. “I'm too old to start something new” or “I couldn't learn that at my age.” However, other people go on to achieve their greatest accomplishments in life during their later years [often sharing them with others].” George Bernard Shaw did not even begin writing plays until he was about 45 years old, completing over 60 works before he died in 1950 at 94 years of age. Julia Child’s gifts as an iconic cook were not recognized until she published her first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in 1961 while in her mid-50s. Even after her death in 2004 at 91years old, she was still cooking and travelling. Harland Sanders whom we know as ‘Colonel Sanders’ was the founder of KFC the Kentucky Fried Chicken company which he franchised in 1952 at the age of 62. He would sell it for several million dollars only a few years later. George Burns played ‘God’ in both the hugely popular film, Oh, God! and its sequel with John Denver in 1977 at 81 years of age. He continued to perform and make appearances until he died in 1996 at 100 years of age. His famous peer from Gone With The Wind, Olivia de Havilland, was still travelling and doing interviews before her death at 104 years of age in 2020, the year of the pandemic. Saint Teresa of Calcutta may have begun her challenging ministry in her early youth, but she just as vibrant, zealous, involved, and committed to her work when she died in 1997 at 87 years of age. But these are just the ‘success’ stories, right? What do the elderly among us say? “You're not as young as you were, but you'll never be as old as you're going to be.” “I believe we keep ourselves young by surrounding ourselves with things that make us feel young, especially our families, and especially young people themselves.” “We may lose a lot of our childhood wonder as we go through adulthood, but as we age we also have a chance to relive that wonder all over again.” “We should all count by the changes and events within us, not by our years.” “Age may wrinkle the face, but lack of enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” – Danish. “I will never be an old man. To me, old age is always 15 years older me.” “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – Les Brown “Retirement is a joy if you can figure out how to spend time without spending.” “The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.” – Frank Lloyd Wright “To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” – Pearl S. Buck “It’s not the years in life that count, but the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln Finally, “Nobody can do for children what grandparents can do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.” – Alex Haley. In fact, each of our lives has a story within it, with more wonderful, maybe even cliff-hanging chapters ahead, especially as we age. We must visit and accompany our grandparents and elderly, listen to their stories, because they help us understand our own, who we are, where we are headed, while nourishing ourselves with their wisdom who have lived and learned and loved. Invest in them! In her late 80s, my mother was feeling like she didn’t belong to the world anymore, a sentiment my grandmother expressed when she was 96. “Of what value am I to anyone stuck here sitting in this chair.” Though her bible was great company, she had lots of questions about the grim parts of the OT. So, I got her a bible with a commentary and a concordance. This opened up a whole new world for her. She suddenly began sharing all the interesting, fascinating details she was discovering with the whole family, especially her grand children. Suddenly, she was engaged again with the world and the people she loved. (In fact, Sunday is her birthday.) In honour of my mother and all grandparents and elderly, I close with a ‘Blessing for the Aged’ by John O’Donohue from, To Bless The Space Between Us: May the light of your soul mind you. May all your worry and anxiousness about your age be transfigured. May you be given wisdom for the eyes of your soul to see this as a time of gracious harvesting. May you have the passion to heal what has hurt you, and allow it to come closer and become one with you. May you have great dignity, sense how free you are; above all, may you be given the wonderful gift of meeting the eternal light which is within you. May you be blessed, and may you find a wonderful love in your self for your self. – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario
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"Shepherds for Christ" The Lord is our Shepherd. Never shall we ever want for anything. Jesus told us this himself, choosing a shepherd as the symbol of his care for us. A shepherd is the embodiment of caring: feeding, guiding, and protecting the flock.
But this was an unusual choice of symbol for Christ to choose for a few reasons. First of all, his disciples would have expected Jesus to identify himself with a king, not a lowly shepherd. They were anticipating Christ leading them into a victory over their Roman persecutors, ruling over Judea as a judicial King and Lord. How was a shepherd to do this? Also, the idea of the shepherd, typically a little shepherd boy, has been very idealized by society since Christ’s time. Even the modern idea of the shepherd and their pastoral work is where the term ‘pastor’ came from. But history tells us the typical shepherd Jesus would have known was usually a loner, often an outcast, someone generally poor and unkempt who travelled from area to area with no ties or permanent residence, getting work as a hired hand or itinerant worker, living on the fringe of society. Farmers did not have as many children, if any, to help with tending livestock and farm work. Research tells us many women died in childbirth. Children died early from starvation and disease. Average age expectancy in Christ’s time was 30 to 35 yrs of age. Thus, even more can we imagine the disciplines dismay at Jesus comparing himself to a shepherd. Yet, the working traits of the shepherd align completely with those of Christ who chose wisely someone of low estate just as the OT had predicted he would be. But Christ is the ‘Good’ Shepherd, who provides nourishment, protection, guidance, and healing, watching his flock non-stop with the utmost love and compassion. “I am the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So, when he sees the wolf, he abandons the sheep and runs away. … But I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me … and I lay down my life for the sheep,” (John 10.11-15). Christ is the ultimate Shepherd, in essence, the ultimate ‘Care-giver’, because the shepherd is the embodiment of caring. Psalm 23 beautifully celebrates our Good Shepherd and from our perspective. Often the choice for funerals and the end of life, psalm 23 is really meant for the living, to give them hope and comfort in this life that they are not alone. Christ is with us day and night, providing rest to our busy, anxious, stressed and often tired minds. He restores our souls, leads and guides us in the right direction. He calms our fears, comforts and protects us when we experience dark times. He provides us with more than everything and anything we need. Above all, he promises that at the end of our life’s lessons, we will journey further in spirit to dwell in peace and joy with him. Are their shepherds among us? There are many! We see them now: ministering to people in our hospitals, keeping our critical utilities like Bruce Power operating, maintaining necessary services which provide us food and water and other essential needs for our well-being, and those who keep watch over our roadways and infrastructure, while others ensure our homes and workplaces are safe. So, are we good shepherds? Do we welcome those who ask for help? Or do we only tolerate their interruptions? Christ never turned down the crowds who sought him. Do we consider the well-being of others? Or are we caught up in our own wellness? Christ made sure his disciples were fed and rested after their mission journey. Do we complain about and criticize those trying their best to help us, particularly now? Or do we give them respect and love, putting our true trust in the Good Shepherd? A shepherd is about caring, and caring is at the core of Christ’s gospel. Salesian priest, Flor McCarthy, says, “Caring calls for awareness, sensitivity, unselfishness.” A professor he was once visiting was interrupted repeatedly during their meeting. When Flor asked him how he ever gets his work done, the professor replied, “But these people ARE my work!” If we focus on the welfare and wellbeing of others and open ourselves up to caring for them in whatever way we can, the irony is a profound peace and joy will come back to us. Not that we do good works for reward, but rewards do come to those who try their level best to be good shepherds like the Good Shepherd himself. – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario " Mission Possible" At the seminary, students were assigned to groups and each group to a particular parish in town. Every year each group was required to take-on a project of some kind, something members of the group came up with for themselves which would take place on a given day that year. Often, it was preparing liturgy and music for a special mass at the parish they belonged to. Others planned a day of hospital visits or helping out at a local soup kitchen. One year, our group decided ‘to boldly go where no man had gone before’ … at least not gone for a very long time. We decided to follow Christ’s instructions as per today’s gospel: go forth in pairs, take nothing with us – except a bottle of water and our humility – and knock-on doors within the footprint of the parish we belonged to, dusting our feet off on the porches and steps of those who rejected us. Meantime, the pastor provided lists of parishioners for us, and later announced at mass one Sunday that people may encounter some seminary lads – plus an elderly gentleman – wandering the streets and daring to knock on their doors. We would simply invite them to our local church to enjoy the good, Christian fellowship and worship there. Our preaching was by our presence alone. Although it would be only a three-hour afternoon exercise, we expected it would feel like forever. The surprise came when in most cases we found ourselves welcomed and engaged. Many stood at their doors and chatted about the church in general, sometimes their involvement or non-involvement, being too busy to attend. Others were astonished that anyone from the Catholic church would bother to visit them! Most seemed delighted, while others were wary, because they thought it was for donations. There were a few who invited us in, usually for tea and cookies. They would have set a place for us at dinner if we had accepted. One chap pulled us into a lengthy, philosophical discussion about where religion was going, where society was going and where the world was going, and it was not a happy place. An elderly lady loved talking about the church she once knew, but her husband had passed, her children were far away, and church attendance had become part of her past as well. Probably the most impressed were those who were of a different faith, since we had decided to knock on everyone’s doors. They had never experienced the Catholic church doing this kind of evangelization. We encouraged them ‘to come and see’. Some did not answer their doors, while a few said they were not interested, but no one hastily closed or slammed their doors in our faces, nor confronted us in anger. We never did need to ‘dust our feet off’ after the inspiring visits we all shared later. People are looking for answers. They ask themselves what life is all about. The pandemic has shone a spotlight on their need for something more than material things, more than money and security, more than power and control over our environment. The spotlight is on our soul and how to spiritually nourish it. Many people behind their doors are asking themselves each day how to address it, and we must ask ourselves, how do we knock on their doors, especially during a pandemic. Too many are not aware that God and spiritual nourishment is as close to them, is as available to them, and as rooted within them as is the Holy Spirit which moves and causes to move and recreate every living being on this planet and beyond. But we can tell them this. It is part of our baptismal calling to share this with them. Ever since we found Jesus Christ, we have been privileged to know and learn of his peace, hope and salvation. We ‘received’ his good word, but now we must ‘give’ it. In the 1940s film, ‘Now Voyager’, itself a story about rebirth and nourishment of one’s soul, the main character, Charlotte, is chastised for always doing for others, but nothing for herself. But she explains that ‘giving is a kind of receiving’. Jesus turned his 12 disciples into 12 apostles, from followers to teachers, from receivers to givers. Thanks to the relatively recent involvement of the laity in the Church, anyone who gives, volunteers or contributes to the church knows this gratifying feeling of also receiving, and experiencing growth in their faith, while seeing the expansion of love in their lives and the lives of others they reach out to. As Christ’s missionaries, let us assess our skills, talents and individual situations, and give what we can. God ensures we will receive his protection, grace and love. – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario "The Spirit Of Life" On June 29th, Lytton, B.C., recorded the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada at 49.6 C. The next day it suddenly caught fire, burning to the ground in a few, short hours, displacing with little notice over 300 residents, even killing 2.
As of July 2nd, the B. C. Wildfire Service reports 123 forest fires burning across the province. Strong winds, lightning strikes and dry conditions have combined with the extreme temperatures, adding to the intensity of the flaming furnace. Fire is the fourth element in our examination of the four critical elements of God’s creation, together with earth, water, and air. Like our indigenous brothers and sisters, we, too, celebrate and thank our Creator for the magnificient world he has given us. And ‘fire’ is indeed critical to our lives. We could not live without fire. All creation could not live without fire despite its volatility. John O’Donohue, whom we are referencing for our four-part homily journey, tells us in his book, ‘The Four Elements’: “Fire has a life of its own. It is the ultra-living element. A fire is never still. It is constantly changing shape, dancing and rising. Fire has a frightening spontaneity. There is hardly any other force in the universe which can generate itself so quickly. There is so little distance between the spark and the raging furnace. If the spark can take hold at all, the material is [engulfed in flames]; within minutes what was an ordinary sequence of objects in a definite place has become a raging inferno.” John says, “All the matter in the universe was born in [burning] violence. Hydrogen and helium emerged from the intense heat of the Big Bang 15 billion yrs ago. More complex atoms of carbon, oxygen, calcium, iron, out of which we are made, had their origins in the burning depths of the stars. … Though infinitely distant from us, the same matter which burns in the stars [burns] in us.” More incredible is that this happened within seconds. What was smaller than a dime, became a universe. While the fire of the sun is above us, underneath us our planet’s core is alive with fire. We are reminded when molten lava bursts through the surface of earth’s crust in a volcanic eruption, reminiscent of the fires of hell burning in the underworld. Fire above the earth, in the earth, and upon the earth which we attempt to bring into the hearths of our homes for cooking and warmth; try to capture and control in generators for a society dependant upon electricity. Yet, we have all learned fire is not to be taken lightly. Water, air and earth can all be manipulated by its radiation. But from a spiritual view, it is the metaphors for God which reference the sun and fire which have moved human beings most. The sun always represented God to primitive humans. Then, in the OT God appeared in the burning bush and the Holy Spirit in the pillar of fire, … but at a distance. Like the necessary distance between us and the nourishing, physical sun, Moses and the Israelites were nourished by, yet protected from the powerful, overwhelming force of God. Later, in the NT on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon those in the upper room as tongues of flame. O’Donohue says this event “is an indication that the Holy Spirit is the secret hearth where all Eros [or Love] is kindled [in the world].” But what of the fire within us; fire, the symbol of renewal, cleansing and purging souls like the farmer burns chaff off his field? John says, “[The Legendary German theologian,] Meister Eckhardt identified a place within the soul which neither time, flesh nor space can touch. This sacred temple is in every heart. He believed this to be the Vunklein, the simple, divine spark within us. In that spark [our] own essence and the essence of God are the one brightness. … the passion at the heart of the human is indeed divine. … This is why Christian teaching on the Holy Spirit is so profound. The warmth and fire in the human heart is [indeed] of the Holy Spirit.” But like all things, Fire can be used positively or negatively. It has been used to hurt and kill like the cruel flame-throwers in Vietnam, or in sadness, grief, and protest like the church burnings set in response to the Reservation School tragedies. We must use this Holy Spirit in our hearts to warm the hearts of others, to strike a spark of faith in God which will set hearts ablaze with hope, happiness and love. May the Force of God and Holy Fire be with us and our Indigenous friends always. – Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario |
Father's Blog
Rev. Fr. Christopher Tracey
St. Joseph Parish Pastor Archives
January 2022
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