• Home
  • Mary Immaculate
    • Novena of the Immaculate Conception
  • Oblates
  • Blog
fatherdaniel
dd text

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1/31/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
            This Monday the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which from 1997 has been also observed as the World Day of the Consecrated Life. Saint John Paul II when he instituted this celebration wrote: “The celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life is intended to help the entire Church to esteem ever more greatly the witness of those persons who have chosen to follow Christ by means of the practice of the evangelical counsels and, at the same time, is intended to be a suitable occasion for consecrated persons to renew their commitment and rekindle the fervor which should inspire their offering of themselves to the Lord.”

            My Dear Sisters and Brothers! Lots of us who grew up during those ancient times when computers, laptops, IPads, Smartphones etc. were unknown, with great sentiment recall nuns, religious brothers and priests from various Orders. The variety of their habits showed the richness of the tradition of this form of life which can be traced back to the first centuries of Christianity, when thousands of Christian men and women left their homes and made their way to the desert to give their life to prayer, meditation, penance and acts of charity. As I was reflecting on the readings for this Sunday I was struck by a couple of Divine messages which help all Christians to understand better what happens behind the walls and gates of the monasteries, convents and religious homes, but most explicitly opens to you what happens in the hearts of our nuns, religious brothers and sisters.

            First Divine message comes from the second reading which this Sunday is taken from the First Letter to the Corinthians where St Paul writes: “An unmarried man can devote himself to the Lord’s affairs, all he need worry about is pleasing the Lord. In the same way and unmarried woman, like a young girl, can devote herself to the Lord’s affairs; all she need worry about is being holy in body and spirit.” I am sure that you have heard some people say that celibacy is unhealthy or even distractive. I could support this statement wholeheartedly if Jesus didn’t exist. No one choses celibacy, the vow of chastity because they despise the married intimacy and family life either. On the contrary the celibacy and the vow of chastity remind the world that Christ the Lord is real and that he is at work in this world of ours where people can discover him and can give their whole life to him. Sometimes I feel that the criticism of the celibacy comes from some attempts to eliminate Jesus, to remove him from our society where the presence of consecrated men and women reminds of him powerfully.

As a consecrated person myself I find how true the Gospel passage from St Mark about Jesus teaching with firmness and consistency and the unclean spirit shouting to shut down Jesus’ message expresses the meaning of the consecrated life. That the second Divine message: Men and woman who have taken the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience can be ridiculed and laughed at by the world noisily. However let us remember Jesus was treated in this way too, can those who follow him in the religious life expect to be treated differently?

            Let me finish with a story taken from those early days when Christians went to the desert to serve the Lord. A very pious and fervent disciple wanted to go to a tribe that lived far away in the desert. Unfortunately they were cannibals, they killed and ate him. When other disciples learnt about that they communicated the matter to their superior. The holy man heard them out and seeing their distress said: “At least those poor pagans had a chance to taste our true religion.” I always recall this story in my reflection as it shows that a consecrated person is so saturated with the message of the Gospel that he or she tells us that Christ is real and at work in this world of ours transforming people from within.


0 Comments

Oblate Foundation Day, We are 199 years old

1/26/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureRelic of the heart of St Eugene de Mazenod
In 2002 the Holy See published a letter to all religious in which we read: ”Starting afresh from Christ means once again finding one's first love, the inspiring spark which first gave rise to the following. The primacy of love is Jesus’. The following is only a response in love to the love of God. If “we love” it is “because he first loved us”(1Jn 4:10,19). This means recognizing his personal love with that heartfelt awareness which made the apostle Paul say: “Christ loved me and gave up his life for me” (Gal 2:20).”

For us, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the first love, the inspiring spark, has its time and place, the time is 25th of January 1816 and the place is the former Carmelite monastery in Aix en Provence in France. We can also recall the first people who were given that first love, the inspiring spark: Fr Eugene de Mazenod, Fr François de Paule Henry Tempier, Fr Auguste Icard, Fr Pierre Nolasque Mie, Fr Emmanuel Fréjus Maunier, Fr Jean François Sébastien Deblieu. Today we recall the 199th Anniversary of Our Foundation Day, when St Eugene de Mazenod with his first companions initiated the first community of Missionaries of Provence, which later developed into the Congregation of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

The first companion and devoted friend of St Eugene - Father Henry Tempier, wrote about 25th of January 1816: “This memorable day that I will never forget for as long as I live.”

In 1831 when France was going through another turbulent period of unrest, the Oblates had to move their novices and scholastics to Switzerland as France wasn’t safe for young seminarians. While in “exile” the young Oblates received a letter from the Founder. St Eugene in the letter simply shared with them his recollections of the first day of the Oblate Congregation: “Tomorrow I celebrate the anniversary of the day, sixteen years ago, I left my mother’s house to go and set up house at the Mission. Father Tempier had taken possession of it some days before. Our lodging had none of the splendour of your house, and whatever deprivations you may be subject to, ours were greater still. My camp-bed was placed in the small passageway which leads to the library: it was then a large room used as a bedroom for Father Tempier and for one other. It was also our community room. One lamp was all our lighting and, when it was time for bed, it was placed in the doorway to give light to all three of us.

The table that adorned our refectory was one plank laid alongside another, on top of two old barrels. We have never enjoyed the blessing of such poverty since the time we took the vow. Without question, it was a foreshadowing of the state of perfection that we now live so imperfectly. I highlight this wholly voluntary deprivation deliberately (it would have been easy to put a stop to it and to have everything that was needed brought from my mother’s house) so as to draw the lesson that God in his goodness was directing us even then, and really without us having yet given it a thought, towards the evangelical counsels which we were to profess later on. It is through experiencing them that we learnt their value.

I assure you we lost none of our merriment; on the contrary, as this new way of life was in quite striking contrast with that we had just left, we often found ourselves having a hearty laugh over it. I owed this tribute to the memory of our first day of common life. How happy I would be to live it now with you!”

In this letter St Eugene was passing onto the young Oblates the Oblate first love, the inspiring spark which first gave rise to the following. As we begin the final year of our preparation for the Bicentennial Anniversary of the Oblates, which will be celebrated in 2016, please pray for us, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, so that that inspiring spark which filled the hearts of our first Fathers in Aix may grow in the hearts of the Oblates today to become the “bushfire” consuming our imperfection and perfecting us for God’s glory and the salvation of souls.


First Oblates and friends for life

Picture
St Eugene de Mazenod OMI
Picture
Fr François de Paule Henry Tempier OMI
0 Comments

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Homily

1/25/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Strange words we hear form St Paul in the second reading: “Those who have wives should live as though they had none, those who mourn as though they had nothing to mourn for.”
          The words are very strange indeed but they are strange not because of what they propose but because of how we look at them. Let’s look at each sentence separately now:
          “Those who have wives should live as though they had none.” It is hard to imagine St Paul changing what Jesus said about the marriage: “What God has joined no one must divide.” The Word of God we receive this Sunday doesn’t dissolve marriage but invites husbands and wives to remember that their heaven is Jesus not each other; that the affection for another human being mustn’t overshadow the love for God. Just think about a man and woman falling in love with each other. If they only looked into each other’s eyes they wouldn’t get far. They need to see what is around them; otherwise they would trip over after a few steps. There is no excuse for an affection that pushes Jesus away. We just lie to ourselves if we say that in our relationships we can be loved and we can love enough. Without God it will never be enough. If you expect somebody else to love you like God only can love you, you expect of the person an impossible thing. Or if you think that you can love the way God loves you live the life of lie. Even the best relationship will never replace what Jesus has to offer. That’s why today’s message is: ”Don’t pretend that you can substitute God or that somebody can substitute God for you.
          How close to this first sentence about marriages is the second one: “Those who mourn should live as though they had nothing to mourn for.”
          If I say that with the death of my dear one my world has ended it means that I have built my world on this person not on God. Can I expect to last? If I am lucky it will do for a while, but not forever.
          Don’t wait for death to teach you the lesson but build your today on Jesus and your faith in him. Look at the first disciples from the Gospel. They left everything not because they despised their families, friends and properties but because they came to believe that Jesus was to give them the life eternal and the fulfilment of what nobody else could do for them and they could not do for others.
          We meet people in our life in order to amaze them with God not with us. That’s why where faith in God dies the self-esteem needs to be fed with the affections of others or for others. However this feeding doesn’t stop the spiritual starvation.
          “Your time is growing short” says the Bible. If you were given 30 minutes at Woollies to shop in order to survive next six months, what would you put in you trolley? I guess you would go for essentials. The essential thing to get you to life eternal cannot be put in the trolley as it is not a thing; it is your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How to take him? You may ask. “BY FOLLOWING HIM” the answer is. By saying: “Yes” to him, “Your will be done” when you make big and small decisions every day.


0 Comments

Good and faithful servant.....

1/23/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureFr Denis' Oblate Crucifix
Recently we have farewelled one of our Oblate confreres, Fr Denis, whom the Lord Jesus called to himself. Many years ago Denis, a young Irish lad, heard the voice of the Lord calling him to the priesthood. After some time of prayer and reflection on what he was hearing in his heart he went to his Parish Priest and revealed to him his vocation to serve the Lord Jesus. Denis spoke to him about a few religious orders he could choose from when his PP, a diocesan priest, asked: “Why not the Oblates?” The random question of the pastor was a prophetic voice as Denis was deeply struck by it and couldn’t get it out of his heart and mind. Soon he joined the Oblate in his home country Ireland where he eventually made his final vows and was ordained a priest in 1950. Five years ago when he was celebrating his Diamond Jubilee of the Priesthood he reflected on the long journey that took him from that conversation with his pastor to the shores of Australia: “On this day 60 years ago God conferred on me the wonderful gift of the Priesthood. On that day 14 were ordained and 11 have returned to God. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would reach this milestone. Over the years I have often asked myself: “Why did I become a priest?” We were taught in the seminary that even Our Lady was given the privilege of the priesthood.  Of course Christ himself gives us the answer: You have not chosen you – it is I who have chosen you. In moments of doubts and unworthiness these words provide comfort and consolation… If I had my life over again, I would do exactly the same. I have been very happy as a priest. I have been given opportunities that no other calling would have given me.  Our Lord promises us a 100-fold return but he has given me 1000-fold or even 10,000.”

Fr Denis’ faith in Jesus and his commitment to his Oblate Congregation enabled him to laid solid foundations to the Iona College in Queensland where he was a founding staff member. His hard work and even firmer faith in the Divine Providence resulted in the establishing of the collage. Later Fr Denis was called by his Provincial to look after M.A.M.I. – the office which supports various Oblate missions here in Australia and particularly overseas.   The M.A.M.I. support enabled the Australian Oblates to establish flourishing missions in Indonesia and in China. Fr Denis travelled tirelessly our vast country to promote the Oblate missions and to share with others his enthusiasm for the work of the Evangelisation.

However his most striking quality was seeing goodness in every person. “What a marvellous person he is.” was his common comment on the people he met. In the homily at his Diamond Jubilee he revealed the secret of his many and lasting friendships: “If you want to make friends and keep them, Rule Number 1 is: Be kind to people; Rule number 2 is the same;  Rule Number 3 is still the same.”

According to the Oblate tradition Fr Denis’ Oblate crucifix which was given to him on the day of his final vows was replaced by a simple black cross. The Oblate crucifix which is the most distinct feature of our Oblate religious habit doesn’t go to the coffin of the deceased Oblate but is kept in the Provincial archives as a sign of our unity with the Oblate who have gone before us and so that in the future another young man could take it up. Let’s hope and pray that Fr Denis’ Oblate crucifix doesn’t need to wait long before it is given to another man who will make a life commitment to Christ and his Church.


0 Comments

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Homily

1/17/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
          When I read the Gospel for this Sunday, this question occurred to me: What was so special in Jesus’ house that the two disciples of the Baptist stayed there? Was the house like a palace that it made them feel like the rich people they had never been? Or maybe it was the food served there, the kind of the food these poor men had never tasted before. Or it might have been a good entertainment these men had never enjoyed for they had to work hard all day long every day.
          None of these things made them stay in Jesus’ place because simply Jesus didn’t have a splendid house or expensive food or home theater with huge plasma. It was Jesus himself who made the place so special for them that they felt at home there. The place wasn’t breathtaking but the person who inhabited it took the breath away from the two disciples of John the Baptist who would become the first disciples of Jesus. One of them was Andrew the other is believed to be St John the Apostle whose Gospel was read a few minutes ago. John wrote the Gospel as an old man, many decades after Jesus ascension to heaven, but still, after so many years he remembered that it was at 10 am when Jesus invited him and Andrew over.
          How vivid and precious the memory of that first encounter with Jesus must have been to St John that even the passing years didn’t fade it out.
          So, what did they see in Jesus? ” St Andrew put it in a simple way: “We have found the Messiah, the Savior, the Lamb of God.”
          Look, a few hours with Jesus transformed Andrew and John forever.
          Although on this second Sunday of the ordinary time we read the Gospel according to St John I’d like to recall a story from the Gospel of St Luke. Can you remember the story of the prodigal Son? What is the story about?

There is a father and there are two sons of him. The younger takes his inheritance and goes to a far away country where he looses all the money he got from his father. In the end he comes to his senses and returns home as a contrite prodigal son. I hope we remember the welcome he was given by his father. That’s why the story should be called the parable of the merciful father rather then the parable of the prodigal son. Though the prodigal son takes most of the story it is the father who is in the center of the parable.
          I think that we don’t need specialist studies to recognize God the Father in the Father from the parable and us in the two sons. However the question appears: Where is Jesus in the parable?
          Some of the Christian teachers from the early stage of the church, from the second and third century say that the arms with which the father embraces the prodigal son are Jesus Christ. The arm of the Father is the Jesus.
          That day at Jesus’ John and Andrew experienced the same compassion, forgiveness, tenderness, joy, peace, in one word – love which the prodigal son felt when the arms of his father were holding him against his father heart.
          For John and Andrew who came from the people who were very sensitive to God it was an overwhelming experience. They might have felt like the young Samuel from the first reading when he realized that God was speaking to him. John and Andrew might have remembered all the testimonies of the prophets and the holy people from the past about their God revealing himself as the one who cares for his people. It was the same God, this time embracing them through Jesus Christ.
          It is a powerful image to be treasured for life: Our Lord Jesus Christ is the extended hand of God embracing us, pressing us against the heart of the Father; the heart which is full of merciful love for us.

          I’m not surprised that Andre and John stayed with Jesus.


0 Comments

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord - Homily

1/10/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
          I think that lots of people can’t imagine Christmas without Christmas presents. The weeks leading up to Christmas become the scene of searching for the gifts which are believed to bring joy and happiness.

          After Christmas when I had some peace and quiet I did some thinking. I was reflecting on the gifts and presents I’ve been given in my life. However, no matter how impressive and thoughtful they were, they can’t be compared to the gift of the people themselves. I believe that each of us here present can agree that in the end of the day another human being is the top present to us. One of the things I have learned is to focus on the person giving the gift rather then paying my full attention to the things being given to me.

          My Dear Sisters and brothers!

This Sunday as we conclude Christmastide let’s think about our understanding of this season. What does it mean to me? How would I explain a reason to have this season of Christmas?

          As we saw the last Sunday when we had the Epiphany Christmas is not just about the little Jesus. The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan and his miracle in Cana in Galilee where he turned water into wine belong to Christmas as much as the Nativity of the Lord on 25th of December does, though Jesus isn’t a baby any more when he is baptized and when he attends the wedding in Cana. So what do we celebrate during Christmas time? We celebrate Jesus’ first coming to us and our respond to that is: “We believe that Jesus is the Son of God” as St John says in the second reading today. Christmas isn’t just a birthday celebration but it is our acknowledgment and adoration of God appearing among us in a human body like ours, we celebrate God’s unique entry into the human history. When we think about Jesus descending into the waters of the Jordan today we see in this scene Jesus descending into our human world. We can also ask what he is bringing us, what is his Christmas present for you an me.

          I hope each of us can think about some gifts we have received from God and I suspect we have lots of things to ask him for. However on this feast of the Baptism of the Lord I’d like you to pay very special attention to the words coming from heaven: “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on you.” Did Jesus need these words? He didn’t. They were spoken out for our sake. However these words are more than introducing Jesus to us. They are the summit of our Christmas celebrations. In these words we see God the Father giving us his beloved son.

          Another thing which I’ve discovered in my life, and I am not the first person who has done this, is that Jesus Christ is the best gift we can be given. Now I am sorry for the period of time in my life when I ignored this gift and demanded other things from God, even if they were good things.

          Like I said before; all the presents we are given are nothing comparing to the people who love us. All the things we can ask God for, even the best things are nothing comparing to having God who loves us so much that he gave us his beloved Son to save us.

          Even if I am sorry for that period of time in my past when I didn’t comprehend how great is to have Jesus in my life, I am grateful that God shook me at some stage and I’m not longer like a person sitting under a Christmas tree, unwrapping presents and forgetting the people around him. I’m grateful that I don’t treat God like that. It would be terrible to spend the rest of my life in this way. “Seek the Lord while he is still to be found, call to him while he is still near” says Isaiah in the first reading. If we can find God it is because he wants to be found, because he became a human being in the womb of the Virgin.

          Let me finish with a Christmas wish, a great one, which is said a few times during Mass.

          “The Lord be with you.”


0 Comments

Solemnity of Epiphany - Homily

1/3/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to make most of a mango? I guess it would be: “Eat it”. One can’t enjoy a mango if it is put on a shelf next to books. It doesn’t make sense, does it? What advice would you give to someone who wanted to make most of a CD player? I guess it would be something like that: “Put a CD in and turn it on.” It doesn’t make sense to put a CD player in a vase among flowers, does it?  Now what advice would you give to someone who wanted to make most of faith in Jesus? Before we start guessing let’s listen to our Blessed Lord himself, it is advice he gave to his apostles before he ascended to heaven: “Go to the whole world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation.” In another place in the Bible we read: “Faith grows stronger when it is passed on to others.”

When I hear from some Catholics that it is boring to go to church, that faith is tasteless etc. I usually ask one question: “When did you share your faith in Christ with someone else last time.” Most of the time I get for the answer one’s surprised big eyes. Look, you will never enjoy Christianity, you will never discover beauty and power of faith, if you don’t share it, if you don’t pass it on. Keeping faith to yourself doesn’t make sense at all. Let me tell you something more: keeping faith to yourself kills faith very efficiently.

My Dear Friends! On this great solemnity of Epiphany I would like to invite you to pay attention not to the gifts the wise men had brought for Jesus but what their visit brought to Jerusalem. St Matthew tells us this: “King Herod was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem.” How did the wise men manage to stir up the Holy City of Jerusalem? When they arrived there they said: “Where is the infant king of the Jews?” Those men from the East were the first missionaries of Christ. Interesting men, they didn’t know where to go to in search for Christ but they knew whom they were looking for. The message they put across was this: “The promised Messiah, the king of the Jews is among you.” The faith which set them on such a long journey, they didn’t keep it private, on the contrary they made it very public when they made a statement before the King’s court.

Another thing I would like to draw your attention to. If you think that to share faith you would need to go to a pagan country reflect on the wise men story. They came to Jerusalem which was the most religious place on earth. The city was full of priests, Bible scholars, faithful Jews etc. It means that you can be a missionary, an evangelizer in your catholic family, in your catholic school, among catholic co-workers etc. and of course the most powerful faith sharing happens when you share your Christian faith with those who don’t love Christ yet.

To finish I would like to talk about the Hobbit. Please don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been paid to advertise the movie to you. Do you know that J.R.R.Tolkien, who wrote the story lived his life as a devout Catholic? He went to church nearly every day, but I describe him as a devout Catholic because he asked himself a very Catholic question: “How can I share my faith in Christ with those out there?” Because he was a writer he said: “I will write a story which is full of Christian message so that the people who would never read the Bible could get the message of the Bible into the minds and hearts.” The Hobbit and the Lord of the Ring aren’t science-fiction stories, they are Bible stories.

Among friends of J.R.R.Tolkien was C.S. Lewis who declared himself as an atheist. What came out of that friendship? C.S. Lewis became a Christian. J.R.R.Tolkien wasn’t extremely satisfied as C.S.Lewis joined the Church of England instead the Catholic Church but C.S.Lewis got Tolkien’s approach to faith. C.S.Lewis wrote Chronicles of Narnia to get Christian message across to those who don’t want to put their foot in a church. The Narnia stories are so saturated with Christianity that when the Belfast City Council in the Northern Ireland wanted to honour C.S.Lewis, who was born in Belfast, they were in a big dilemma. They wanted to make it a secular monument. They didn’t want to have a lion because the lion in Narnia stands for Christ so it is too religious. They didn’t want to have a witch because the witch in the Narnia stands for Devil so it is too religious too. Eventually they came up with a brilliant idea to have a statue of C.S.Lewis standing in front of the wardrobe. They thought it was safe. Silly them. They didn’t know that the wardrobe in the stories of Narnia stands for the Church. The Church which opens to us the new, divine world.

My Dear Friends! As you see the crowds of people queuing up to see the Hobbit these days I want to you to ask yourselves the question J.R.R.Tolkien asked himself before he wrote the story: “How can I share my Catholic Faith with others?”


Picture
Statue of C.S.Lewis in Belfast
0 Comments

    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

    Fr Daniel OMI

    An Oblate Priest

    Categories

    All
    Holy Land
    Homilies
    St Eugene De Mazenod

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.