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"The Child Waits for God" If we look at the journey of life, especially a life of Faith, we will find there are really only two players: ourselves and the Creator, God and us, interacting in a complex relationship of praise and petition, suffering and well-being, pain and pleasure, giving and receiving, sorrow and love, peace and surrender. God, the main character, is a Being of vast dimensions and definitions we can never hope to grasp or understand. While we, difficult to define as well, play our parts, moving from Act 1, Scene 1, all the way to Act 4 and the conclusion of our stories. We might consider these 4 Acts as 4 phases of development in our lives: our Childhood, Youth, years as an Adult, and finally, Elders in our old age. This relationship between ourselves and God, our life story of interaction with our Creator, especially comes into play with great importance at this time of year, the Four Sundays of Advent. But are our experiences during Advent simply the same year after year? Or are they shaped by these four contrasting chapters of our life? How have we, how can we, and how will we experience God during this exciting, expectant time, given where we are in our life journey, waiting for and anticipating God over these next four weeks? Today, we look at ‘Childhood’, our own and that of our children, and we ask what was our relationship with God like when we were a child, and what might our children’s relationship with God be? Some will hardly remember being a child, perhaps recalling only specific incidents or happy events. Others can surprisingly remember the images on the wall-paper next to their cribs as infants. Most of us will remember the first little struggles and first successes: the first day at school, the first report card (a pleasant or unpleasant memory), our best friend, the fight with the new kid on the block, the milestones like birthdays, and glorious Christmas mornings. But we may also remember a painful illness or emotional suffering, maybe from abuse or abandonment. But how do we remember Advent? Where was God in our busy little lives? Was he a constant companion or just a baby in a crib at Christmas or a sad man on a cross? There is a notion that children, until about six yrs old, are still connected with God who remains present to them for a period of time like a playmate in their daily activities until they begin to mature into the human beings God intends them to be. Austin Ruse published a book (in 2017) called, “Littlest Suffering Souls: Children Whose Short Lives Point Us to Christ.” One of these children was Brendan Kelly, not only born with Down Syndrome, but suffering without complaint from cancer. But what was truly remarkable was his relationship with his best friend, ‘Jesus’! At the age of two, the same year they discovered Brendan had leukemia, he would cry until they handed him a crucifix, so he could kiss it. After 3 years of treatment, and remission, his much-desired visit to see the pope happened thanks to the ‘Make a Wish Foundation’. “Me meet pope,” he would ask over and over. Through miraculous connections, not only did Brendan meet the pope, but Pope John-Paul II took him by the hand, so that Brendan could walk with him on his tour that day. After his first confession, Brendan was seen by his father spending a very long time making his penance. His father said, “You must have been really bad to get such a long penance.” But Brendan replied, “I wasn’t doing my penance. I was talking with Jesus.” “Yes, he’s in the tabernacle,” said his father. “No,” said Brendan, “he’s in the light above the tabernacle. Can’t you see him?” But the place was completely dark. There was no light above the tabernacle. After many more such encounters, the priest, Fr Drummond, was convinced Brendan was a mystic. Meanwhile, Brendan prayed constantly, especially for suffering children, couple’s marital problems, and men and women who needed jobs or needed help with them. Brendan suffered 2 more bouts of leukemia before his death at age 16. But he had astonished and inspired many with his claims Jesus was definitely alive and visible to him everywhere. Jesus, his best friend, was as tangible as everyone else. Parents, teach your children to pray. Help them experience an Advent to remember. Tell them Jesus is always with them, that he is their best friend, he will guide them, heal them, protect them their whole life long. And let us pray for these parents and their children. Let us give them our love and support as a true Christian community. – Rev Fr Chris Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario
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“The True Kingdom Of God” The teacher asks the Kindergarten 2 class, “So, …Who is Jesus?”
Amy says, “He is a very important man who lived awhile ago.” John says, “He was a prophet and really smart.” Mary says, “He looks after Heaven.” “Yes,” the teacher says, “he is the King of the Kingdom of Heaven. And where do you think Heaven is?” John says, “Somewhere we can’t see it.” Amy says, “It’s where everybody wants to go!” Mary says, “It’s above the clouds, so we can’t see it.” But even actor, William Shatner, would tell us heaven isn’t there. He was far above the clouds in outer space and didn’t see the Kingdom of God there, although he did say the view was breathtaking, maybe something like heaven itself. Pilot brings this subject up in today’s gospel in his discussion with Jesus himself. In response to Pilot’s question, “Are you the King of Jews?” Jesus responds with “It is as you say,” in both Matthew and Luke, while in Mark he says, “You say I am a king,” but Jesus says nothing further in these accounts. It is rather like the other three gospels illustrate the trial of Jesus more from a distance as a crowd scene with the Jews and the Roman authorities pitted against each other, with only a brief closeup of Pilot asking Jesus if he is King of the Jews. Only in John’s gospel do we experience an intimate, lengthy dialogue between Pilot and Jesus, a full scene played out just between them. It is indeed a very important scene because Jesus himself delivers to Pilot and to us an explanation of who he truly is; that he, Christ, is a King, but of a Kingdom not of this world. He explains he was born to dwell among us, to reveal and testify to the ‘truth’, and that whoever comes to know the truth from his lips, would come to know his kingdom. The scene actually ends with a significant question posed by Pilot to Jesus, not in today’s reading: Pilot asks Jesus, “What is truth?” And the answer seems to be conveyed to Pilot by looking into the face of Jesus, from his own growing witness to this remarkable man in front of him, that “Jesus is the Truth, Jesus IS Truth!” The acclaimed screenwriter, Rod Serling, wrote a highly praised episode for his series, The Twilight Zone, called, “The Obsolete Man”, studied by philosophers and theologians alike, as it is loosely based on today’s episode between Pilot and Jesus. The theme is whether God exists or not, and an examination of Truth. Based on the destructive inhuman nature of totalitarianism, the main character, the Chancellor, says, the state has proven there is no God! Therefore, the preacher is of no worth. He is obsolete. Logic is an enemy of the people and ‘Truth’ is a menace to society. It is almost unfortunately a sad commentary on ‘too much’ of today’s politics. But ‘Truth’, God – wins out, as the Chancellor, suddenly trapped in the execution cell of his prisoner cries out, “Please, in the Name of God, let me out of here!” There is a God after all, there is Truth written in the hearts and souls of humankind. So, is the Kingdom of God somewhere above the clouds? The Trappist monk, Fr Thomas Keating, famous for his teachings in contemplative prayer had a lively discussion with equally celebrated Franciscan author, Fr Richard Rohr. The main underlying question was: where is the Kingdom of God? They agreed God is not ‘outside’ of us, but ‘inside’. There is no distance between us. Richard said, God is here. God loves us. Our journey is not an obstacle course to do the right things to win enough points to win his love. Christianity is not so much a moral matter, as it is a mystical one, more complex than just rules and regulations. God does not love you because you are good. He loves you because God is good. Thomas said, we want to realize God is with us, in us, indeed closest to us when we suffer. We should see God in a more transcendent way, remember he is all loving, all knowing, caring, present at all times, ‘one’ with our souls. We can hear and feel him if we make time to be alone with him in silence where true being, spirit dwells. Paul says, Jesus loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father. Jesus did not die on the cross to talk God into loving us; Jesus died to change ‘our’ minds to love God. Christ is in his Kingdom, living within us, and always patiently waiting for our knock on his door. – Rev Fr Chris Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario “The Wonderful Counsellor” As he sat on the bench in the prison holding cell, John suddenly remembered it was Armistice Day or Veteran’s Day as they liked to call it now. He was a Veteran himself, having served in Afghanistan. Seemed like it was all for nothing now. He was surprised people even knew what a veteran was. But he was glad he’d been picked up for vagrancy. At least he could look forward to a hot meal. He’d been pretty desperate, searching trash bins all around town. It wasn’t easy being poor. And it was getting harder as he aged. He watched the clock. It was now 10:30am. He promised himself he’d spend those important 2 mins of silence at 11am, especially in honour of the friends he’d lost in battle; but suddenly, there was shuffling and shouting coming from down the hall. “Not another one?!” he thought to himself. John was joined by Herman, a stout, obviously well-fed chap, who had a stormy demeanor, and a look of overwhelming determination and anger. “It’s the end of the world!” he shouted. “That’s fine,” John said, “they told me that in Afghanistan, too, several years ago!” “But all the signs are here, they’re everywhere!!” Herman emphasized. “Well, you’re in a safe place for it, because nothing happens here,” John said. John could tell Herman was in for disturbing the peace. He’d be out in 24 hrs, but John knew he wouldn’t be. They’d keep him here as a kind of duty to the poor. “You need to ‘prepare’ yourself!” said Herman. “Well, you’ve got that right. You should stop worrying about the end of world, because even Christ said no one, not even angels, would know when it is coming; but in the meantime, that’s what you should be doing, preparing yourself by living a decent, generous, productive life, and stop all this dramatic bellowing!” John said. In a cell next to them, a young lad was groaning. He was coming out of a stupor from the ‘fentanyl’ he’d injected the night before. John figured the lad, Tyler, was lucky to get picked up, since he might have died of an overdose, so common now. All night the boy had been saying in his disturbed sleep, “Nobody loves me! Nobody cares! No family. No friends. No work. No future. No reason to live.” Then more noise came from the hall. Several young people were being ushered into cells, chanting, “No more war! No more suffering! No more climate change! What do we want? Climate Justice for All! When do we want it? We want it Now!” But there was also an adult chap among them who was silent and composed, quietly observing John, Herman, Tyler, all of them. Suddenly, he stood up and said, “Can I tell you a story? It’s about someone who suffered as a child in WWII, but managed to survive, become a mega, movie star, then devoted her later adult life to the poor and destitute. I think she has an important, hopeful message for all of you.” Tyler said excitedly, “Hey! That’s what I want to be! A movie star, or Canada’s Singing Idol!” John himself knew who the man was referring to: it was Audrey Hepburn. Everyone knew of her tremendous work with the poor and suffering as the 1980s spokesperson for UNICEF. He could still hear her on TV after her visit to an orphanage in Ethiopia which housed over 500 starving children. She said: “I have a broken heart. I feel desperate. I can't stand the idea that two million people are in imminent danger of starving to death, many of them children, [and] not because there is not tons of food sitting in the northern port of Shoa; it can't be distributed. Last spring, Red Cross and UNICEF workers were ordered out of the northern provinces because of two simultaneous civil wars. … I went into rebel country and saw mothers and their children who had walked for ten days, even three weeks, looking for food, settling on the desert floor into makeshift camps where they may die. Horrible. That image is too much for me. The 'Third World' is a term I don't like very much, because we're all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering.” Sadly, John thought, things haven’t changed much. The end of the world? Who cares about that, when you need to get on with helping people here and now. And the world is to be reborn, not destroyed. He knew that from his own bible study. The adult chap had finished telling them how Audrey was like the children in the Netherlands during WWII seen in old B&W films scrounging through waste cans for food. After the war, her mother moved them to England to escape the carnage. “Little Audrey” remarkably studied ballet thanks to a generous sponsor, was later spotted by Hollywood, and became the Oscar-winning film star we know today. But she never forgot her roots, her suffering, her love of children, and would later express that in a profound way: touring with UNICEF among the poor, raising hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars in her heartfelt, earnest campaigning. John asked this chap who he was. “I’m a ‘counsellor’”, he said. “I like to visit the prison off and on to help give you folks some peace and ‘hope’. Do you remember Audrey? She was a true example of what a human being is capable of.” “Yes, I do,” said, John. “She died far too young, too; 63 years, I think.” “Correct! Audrey is a beloved mentor to people, especially to Christians, of what our lives should really be about: savouring the joy of being alive, taking care of the beautiful temple of the Holy Spirit which our bodies are, and balancing care of the self with the care and nurturing of others, because all human beings are in fact God. ‘Whatever you do for the least of these among you, you do for me.’” The counsellor was listened to with awe and rapt attention. A charismatic man, he was certainly making some very important sense, far beyond ‘common’ sense. “And don’t’ worry about tomorrow, nor the ‘end-times’. Let go of fear!” he said. “Get on with living, learning and doing for others. Don’t bemoan your troubles and emotional ups and downs. Learn from them instead. That’s why they happen to you, to give you wisdom. They even help you learn ‘limitations’ in your life. And don’t seek love. Give love! The day Audrey died, she told those around her bed she could see friends in the room greeting her. “I know you can’t see them, but I can!” she said smiling! Then, she told her son her special ‘secret’: “The most important thing I carried through life is that whatever I have suffered, has helped me later on; and not to seek love, but give love. And when I love, I love unconditionally.” As the Counsellor left his now opened cell, he said, “All is well. All is just as God wishes. Don’t worry. He will not let his creation be destroyed. Peace be with You.” John asked the guard, “I’ve never seen you send in a ‘counsellor’ before. Where did you get him?” “Get who?” said the guard. “Nobody here but you trouble-makers.” At that moment, John looked up to see the clock striking 11am, and suddenly the entire jail went quiet, everyone was still, and all was filled with silence and peace. – Rev Fr Chris Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario “God, Giver Of Life” Today’s lesson is clearly about ‘charity’, giving to others. We must not allow ourselves to become selfish, self-centred and self-promoting, but rather to engage in self-less generosity to the world around us, even to the point of self-sacrifice.
This self-sacrifice does not particularly need to have anything to do with money: think of those who give blood or donate a vital organ to those desperately in need. Giving should be a regular part of daily life. Indeed, giving is a form of sharing. We share all kinds of things: parents share their experiences in life with their children; teachers share knowledge; coaches, techniques; managers, skills; medical professionals, healing; priests, sign-posts for peace and salvation. Clearly, we do not need to give to the point of hurting one’s own welfare, but it is our intent which matters. Mother Teresa once said, “God looks not at the size of the gift, but at the love which is given with it.” Giving should be second nature to living. In 1964, Shel Silverstein, the famous children’s author, published an iconic children’s book about ‘giving’: “The Giving Tree”. By word of mouth alone, it surged in popularity. Various surveys reveal it is the 14th best children book ever written, while a recent online account claims it has won 3rd place. It is a simple, and at the same time, profound story of the life-long, giving relationship between a tree and a boy whom it loves. The tree is extremely ‘giving’, but the boy is always ‘taking’. The boy grows into a teenager, a father, a middle-aged worker, and in the end a weak, dispossessed, sad and bitter old man. Over his whole life, he has made ‘demands’ and ‘requests’ of the tree who is always happy to satisfy the ‘boy’s’ desire. Endearingly, the tree always calls the boy a ‘boy’ even in his adulthood. Even after the boy sells the tree’s fruit to make money, shears off the tree’s limbs to build a house, cut its trunk down to build a boat to escape life, and then finds rest upon the tree’s stump (its final gift to the ‘boy’), the tree is still ‘happy’ with the boy, that it has made him happy in his final days. Ironically, the story has never been fully understood. It has been analyzed, and even criticized, as well as praised. Clearly, this is part of its compelling mystery. Different groups have developed various ideas of what the book is telling us: -- Family groups say the tree and boy are in a parent-child learning relationship. -- Psychologists believe the relationship between the boy and the tree is one of friendship, indicating what happens when one becomes to busy with the world and lets one’s critical relationships with others tragically disappear from one’s life. -- Some critics believe the book was not written for children, but to be read as a satire of the misdirected, self-centred, existential life of adults. -- Climate change enthusiasts believe the tree is Mother Nature and the boy is humanity, meant to give children a better understanding of the critical importance of our environment. In 2013, “Plain White T's”, created a music video, ‘The Giving Tree’, which reveals the failure of people to relate to each other generously, and the negative consequence of ‘taking’ with abandon from their environment. -- Of course, Christians and Jews see it as an exemplary example of unconditional love and charity. Jews have even created a ‘Giving Tree Garden’ in Holon, Israel. The story clearly embraces all these interpretations. But as Christians, its true nature should be more obvious than we may think: the Tree is God, the Giver, and the boy is us, the Receiver. Then story makes deeper sense, teaching us clearly what true giving, true charity is and where it comes from, the Source whom we are called to emulate: God, the Father, who loves us even when we enjoy his blessings, take advantage of his ‘fruits’, abuse him in the pursuit of personal desires, break his ‘limbs’ to build our houses; abandoning him to pursue what we think is best. We often give nothing back, and yet return to God when the consequences of a selfish life are upon us. Yet, in the end, God still embraces us, his beloved people. In Apostle Peter’s 2nd Letter 3.9 he tells us: The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8.35-39: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? I am convinced that neither death, nor life, will be able to separate us from the [giving] love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us learn how to give from God, the Tree of Life, the greatest Giver; give to others and needy situations with true Christian charity. In this difficult time, give what we can of time and resources to keep each other going and our Church alive. – 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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