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

Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul - Homily

6/30/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
I’m going to read some names now and you will need to do two things. The first task is to count the number of the people. The second task is more complicated. Find out what they’ve got in common. If you get one thing right you will make me happy. If you get two I will be over the moon. If you get the all three things I am speechless. So, here we go:

Peter, Linus, Anacletus, Clement I, Evaristus, Alexander I, Sixtus I, Telesphorus, Hyginus, Pius I, Anicetus, Soter, Eleutherius, Victor I, Zephyrinus, Callistus I, Urban I, Pontain, Anterus, Fabian, Cornelius, Lucius I, Stephen I, Sixtus II

So how many people have we got on the list? 24

What do they have in common?

They all were popes.

They all are saints.

They all were martyrs.

          My Brothers and Sisters!!

We all know that we were born from Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. The blood of our Saviour moistened the foundations of our Church. However I’m not sure how many Catholics are aware that for more then 200 years, the beginnings of our Church were being moistened by the blood of the first successors of St Peter, by our first popes. The first 24 of them, included St Peter, ended up as martyrs. They were killed because of their faith in Jesus Christ. When the Risen Christ asked Peter about his love to the Saviour and about and his readiness to look after the Church, Jesus’ family, Peter not only said Yes but he also lived up to his Yes. And it was the story of our popes for more than 200 years.

          Let’s take for example Pope St Dionysius. He was the 25th pope and he was to be the first one to die due to natural causes. However in 259 when he was elected the pope he didn’t know that. What he knew was that 24 men who had held this office before were all killed. Imagine being asked: “Do you accept the election?” Wouldn’t you be looking around and saying: “Why me? I’m not worthy. Choose the man sitting next to me.”

          That’s why I admire those men who loved Jesus and our Catholic Church so much that they accepted the leadership position knowing the consequences of the decision. They didn’t build big churches, they didn’t establish successful charity organizations, they didn’t write many inspiring books but they all sacrificed their lives for the growth of our Church.

          To finish this homily I’d like you to imagine another situation. I’m sorry if it may be a drastic one. Imagine a person who killed half of your family and now this person standing right here where I am. And imagine this person preaching to you, telling you that you need to change your life; that you need to love God and neighbour more. How would you react to this situation? Would you stay in your pew or would you leave the church? Do you know that such a situation has happened?

          Who was the man we called St Paul today? He was one of the most fanatic persecutors of the Church. Not a single catholic was safe if Paul discovered they believed in Jesus. And this man who caused grief and distress to so many, in the end was called to spread the faith he once tried to destroy.

          Today we should give thanks and praise to God for converting Paul into catholic faith and for what God did in him and through him for the Church. “I have fought the good fight to the end, I have run the race to the finish, I have kept the faith.” These words are so true. Christ has done so much for the Church through him.

          However today I can’t forget the humility of the Christians of that time. I can’t forget their openness to accept the ways God chooses to guide and lead his people. They had deep humility when accepted that God was speaking to them through the man who did so much harm to them previously. They were open to accept God’s mysterious ways when they welcomed Paul as God’s messenger. I admire our Catholics from the first century of Christianity. Do you know why? Because they didn’t leave their pews when Paul stood to preach to them.

          I can only pray that you and I may have the same humility and openness to listen to God speaking to us through our Holy Father Francis and our bishops who are the successors of the Apostles.


0 Comments

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Renewal of Vows

6/28/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Today the Church reflects on the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We can see how much place in her heart is reserved for Jesus. However her heart doesn’t lack room for us, Jesus’ brothers and sisters. One could say that her Immaculate Heart keeps expanding as she loves Christ so much and with that expansion her love for people grows as well. It is an invitation and encouragement for us all: when we love Christ more and more we find that we love the people around us more and more too.

Today we could see it as two scholastics: Brother Casmir and Brother Anthony renewed their vows in the Oblate Congregation. When a man joins our Order he undergoes a lengthy period of formation which begins with Pre-novitiate then it continues into a yearlong Novitiate.  The Novitiate is completed with taking the first vows of chastity, obedience, poverty and perseverance for one year. Then, at least for three years, our young Oblates renew their vows every year as they continue their process of discernment whether it is the way of life God wants them to walk. This period of temporary vows is completed with the perpetual Oblation, when they take the four vows for life. Today we witnessed two young men continuing their commitment to Christ and his Church as Oblates. Twelve Oblate priests gathered for the occasion. When Brothers Casmir and Anthony were renewing their vows before our Provincial, Fr Leo, I could see that the act of the vows was also a deeper commitment to the Missionary Oblates. The Oblates standing around the altar were like open arms of the Congregation embracing these young men. Again it was a powerful moment for me, because as Oblates we enjoy such close relationships in our communities but what bounds us so close to each other is our close relationship with Christ. The closer we are to Christ the closer we are to each other. As their Rector I find it very encouraging to see the growth in their faith and commitment to Christ as I know that they are laying solid foundations for their future life and ministry as Missionary Oblates. Their hearts grow bigger and bigger with love for Christ but it doesn’t give me and worries about their cardio wellbeing, in fact I know that the bigger heart they get the better contribution to the Church and the Congregation they will make. It is great to see their courage and perseverance in reserving so much place in their hearts for Jesus as it means they are getting more space in their hearts for people.

0 Comments

Time of renewal

6/26/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Retreat is being immersed in the Word of God like....
Although preparing for the priesthood involves lots of studies it is impossible to imagine a future Oblate missionary without a close relationship with Christ. Over the whole year that relationship is nurtured and developed, however every year, like all the other Oblates, our scholastics are given a week of retreat, which is the time of spiritual renewal. Through more intense rhythm of prayer and number of talks given every day over that week, a future missionary develops a listening ear, the ear sensitive to the voice of the Lord.
Picture
Oblate house in Sorrento
Picture
Oblate house in Sorrento
This year the retreat has taken our scholastics to an old Oblate house in Sorrento, in Mornington Peninsula. It was the first Oblate mission in the east. At the time of the Oblate arrival it was a sleepy, and forgotten by people town. Today, it is a popular tourist destination for many Victorians. Even if the place has lost its old quietness it still offers spectacular views which can direct one’s mind and heart to the goodness of the Lord. Praying in the place which remembers humble beginnings of the Oblates in Victoria, their struggles and many sacrifices they made to establish themselves here in order to serve the people of God, can certainly face our future Oblates with how much they want to sacrifice to continue the mission of those predecessors of theirs, who accepted Sorrento Parish when it was the poorest church in Melbourne. The inconspicuous church in Sorrento is like a shrine for us Oblates. For number of years it was also the house of the Novitiate where the candidates spent the first year after joining the Oblates. I hope that the scholastics can return filled with the spirit of the early Oblate settlers, who were full of passion for spreading the Good News.

Picture
View from the house, as vast the missionary filed
Picture
Contemplating beauty of God's creation
0 Comments

Here I am Lord.

6/23/2014

1 Comment

 
PictureJune 22, 2002
Corpus Christi Sunday this year explains how tightly my life is connected to the Most Holy Eucharist. Twelve years ago on this day of June 22, I was ordained a priest. That day for the first time I concelebrated Mass with the Archbishop who ordained us. It was such an overwhelming moment. The day before I could say the words of consecration most piously but nothing would happen to bread and wine. That Saturday morning when the Archbishop imposed his hands on my head I was graced with the gift of the Priesthood which has joined me to Christ so closely and Christ to me. This union is so close that Christ uses me to give his brothers and sisters his Body and Blood. That overwhelming feeling of wonder I had when I stood with my classmates around the altar 12 years ago hasn’t worn off. It still amazes me and humbles me, when I see how humble our Divine Saviour Jesus Christ is when he becomes present at the words I say every day: “This is my Body. This is my Blood.” I hope that I can grow in obedience to him who is so obedient to the priests he has called to serve him and his Holy People.

I have done Masses in so many places but the most powerful thing is that I have been able to celebrate Mass every single day. First I saw it as being close to Christ but very quickly I realized that when I say Mass, even on my own, it unites me to the people I serve. I love socializing with people that’s why I love doing Mass every day because when I celebrate Mass I am united to them through closeness to Jesus present on the Altar under the species of Bread and Wine.

Today I also thank God for those good friends of mine who were ordained with me that day. We were only a small class (for Polish standards). That day in 2002, five of us were ordained. I cannot express how much they contributed to my formation over seven years of preparation for the Ordination. I believe that were like tools in God’s hands to sculpture me. That day when we left the church with the Archbishop it was the last time we gathered as a group. It has never happened again. We were good friends but our friendship wasn’t just for ourselves. It was for Christ and his Holy Church. Those five priests ordained on June 22, 2002, minister now in five different countries: Poland, Luxemburg, Ukraine, Venezuela and Australia. I guess we couldn’t get more spread across the planet but it shows how big the Heart of Jesus is. He wants to reach to all people that’s why he invites his missionaries to go to faraway places. It does feel good.


Picture
Litany of the Saints. One who is to be a priest needs to be humble. Prostrating before the moment of the ordination expresses the need of humility for the future priests.
Picture
Ancient gesture of the imposition of the hands. I makes a connection to the time of Jesus and his Apostles.
Picture
Vested as priests for the first time and ready to celebrate Mass for the first time. A bit overwhelmed too ;)
Picture
Receiving a paten with bread from the hands of the Archbishop for the first time in order to be able to receive the bread at every Mass from the hands of the faithful and consecrate it so that it could become Jesus' Body and Blood
Picture
Class 2002. The last time together.
Picture
Mum and Dad look overwhelmed too. Australia is calling (right corner)
1 Comment

Corpus Christi Sunday - Homily

6/21/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
            One could ask: Why do we need Corpus Christi Sunday?  Look, before we go to heaven to be with Jesus forever, we won’t have any other encounter with him on Earth as real as the one here at Mass when he is present in his Body and Blood.

            Some people say: “Why do we need to go to Mass? Can’t I simply pray before a beautiful picture of Christ I have got in my place?” Well, answer me this question first: Would you say to your Dad: “Dad I have got a picture of yours in my place. I won’t be coming to see you, but I will look at the picture instead?” Do you think that your Dad would be happy to hear that?

            Some people say: “Why do we need to go to Mass? We can go to a park, or the beach or the mountain to pray. These places were created by God and we can sense his presence there.” Well, answer me this question first: Would you say to your Mum: “Mum I have got those warm socks, beanie and scarf you made for me last year. They are so perfect for this freezing Melbourne winter. I will not come to see you but I will wear them and I will remember you.” Do you think that your Mum would be happy with that? Probably she would be thinking: “Why did I make that stupid beanie for him? It stops him from seeing me.”

            My Dear friends! God has given us many beautiful things, but these things aren’t God. They should make us desire God not to keep us away from him.

            So why should we go to Mass? The first thing is because our God is here like in no other place on this planet. “The blessing cup that we bless is a communion with the Blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the Body of Christ.” - as we read in the Letter to the Corinthians. Remember also this: God’s got feelings too. As we read in the Holy Bible, Christ did suffer when he was abandoned by his disciples before his Passion. Don’t put him through this again.

            Secondly, we should go to Mass because when we stay away from Mass our faith starts weakening. It is like with any relationship. If you don’t share your life with the person who is important to you, soon you start growing apart and the person isn’t important to you anymore.

            Our first reading today takes us to those forty years the Chosen People walked the desert. What was so special about that long walk that we still remember that and reflect on that? God walked with his people. He shared with them their joys and sufferings, their ups and downs. That’s why those people grew close to him. They were still imperfect but they knew that they had God within their easy reach. Manna they collected every day proved that God was with them every day.

I have been a priest for 12 years and the greatest gift I have received from Our Blessed Lord is that I can celebrate Mass, that at my hands the bread and wine become Jesus’ Body and Blood. It is a great gift, but the Dear Lord has given me another gift during those 12 years: there hasn’t been a day in my priestly life without Mass. Sometimes it wasn’t easy to do Mass, especially when I was travelling. I remember doing Masses at the airports or even on the planes sitting in economy. I have done Masses at 11.30pm all by myself and falling asleep at the altar but there was Mass every day.

            My Sisters and Brothers! What I have come to believe celebrating Mass so often is this: Fight hard anything and anybody that can distract you from Sunday Mass. At Mass every Sunday, you bring to Christ present here your ordinary life with its ups and downs. Don’t feel bad when you can’t focus as your mind is imagining what your teenage son or daughter are doing while on holidays with their mates. Don’t feel embarrassed when in your mind the song from the birthday party of your husband is stronger than the church hymns. All these things don’t make Mass bad but they simply bring to the Lord your joys and sorrows you are having in your life. By sharing these joyous and sad moments with Jesus your faith, your trust you love for him grow stronger and stronger.

In Australia Corpus Christi Sunday we have at the beginning of such a plain and unimpressive winter season. What does this Corpus Christi Sunday mark then? It marks Jesus Christ, our Dear Lord wanting to share with us our life as it is. Your life and mine life are important to him even if it plain most of the time. Do you know why? Because he loves us.


0 Comments

Learning, studying, learning, studying...

6/20/2014

1 Comment

 
PictureMissionary, always learning
“Why should I still go to school?” - asked once a grade 6 student. Now I have got a perfect answer. The answer is not simply a sentence but it is a person – Fr Irek OMI. Fr Irek is a Polish Oblates who has spent most of his priestly life in Hong Kong and China. He was ordained 20 years ago. 18 years ago he came to Australia where for 2 years he was learning English and then he moved to China where he learnt Cantonese and later Mandarin. One could say that a lot of learning. Well, it is indeed but Fr Irek has got a simple answer: “It is for the people I serve. If you love them you learn for them.”  Even now, after a couple of decades of being a priest he undertook studies to get Masters in Counseling so that he could do a new ministry the Oblates want to start in China. I find it an example of faith. He didn’t do it for himself but for others. Very often people go to do courses because they are interested in the subject or they want to get their qualifications improve. But Fr Irek shows us a different approach, learning new things because you love people and you want to give them the best.

This week we have said a good bye to Father as he returns to his Mission. He is leaving us but he is also leaving us an example of humility and love. In the final days of his stay in Melbourne he was at a retreat with the pupils of our Mazenod College. He could easily excused himself for being busy with packing and stuff but he didn’t. He was spending his final hours among the people he was ministering during his time in Melbourne. I went to help him one day there and I could say how much he loved serving those boys. He is the man of the present day. He doesn’t think about the future if there are things to do today.

1 Comment

Sunday of the Holy Trinity - Homily

6/13/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
My Dear Sisters and Brothers! You and I are worshippers of the Holy Trinity. That what makes a person a Christian – believing there is One God in Three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Not three gods but One God in three persons.

In the Bible we read that there is One God: “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is One.”  (Deutronomy 6.4) But don’t get it wrong: One here doesn’t mean single. The word one was used for the first time in the Bible in Genesis when God created the first people: Listen to that: “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2.24). One means a very close union. Isn’t astonishing that with the creation of the first humans God started telling us about himself? Though people are week and sinful but their marriage union is reminding the world about the union of the Trinity. The union of the husband and the wife isn’t selfish, isn’t about having fun or satisfying urges but it is the expression of their love for each other. They love each other so much that their love doesn’t isolate them but their love becomes fruitful when there is a new life - a child, who expresses their love for each other.  On this Holy Trinity Sunday I want to say to all husbands and wives: You are reminding us that our God is One. Not a lonely ranger, but a close union of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

When the fullness of time came Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, revealed to us the Trinity explicitly when he said: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Before his death and Resurrection Jesus also revealed the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who was to be sent to the Church. That’s why St John, the Beloved Apostle of Christ wrote in the New Testament “God is love.” (1 John 4.8). I am sure that all couples here present would agree with me that they got married with dreams of loving each other in the most beautiful way, like no other couple on the face of the earth. However I am also sure that all couples wouldn’t say that they are love, rather they would say that that they love each other or maybe more often that they try to love each other. Why? Because apart of love in each human relationship there is also another aspect of: selfishness, jealousy, pride, anger, stubbornness etc. I don’t want you to make a public confession now but I think that I am not making up stories here. That’s the drama of our human condition. There is no pure love among us.

When, with St John, we say that “God is love” we acknowledge that the union of the Holy Trinity is pure love. The Son isn’t jealous when the Father is loved and worshipped by us.  The Father doesn’t see the love between the Son and the Holy Spirit as a threat to his Son’s love for him. Just think of some human fathers who become jealous when after their child is born they feel that their wives love the child more than them. We are not pure love.

It is a great gift that we believe that our origin as humans is in the Trinity, in the pure love, and that we can look up to that pure love in order to grow in love for each other in spite of our weaknesses. It is said that the greatest gift to a child is the love his parents have for each other, as husband and wife. The greatest gift we have is that we live our days exposed to the Holy Trinity, God who is love.

The famous icon of the Trinity of Rublev pictures God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit at the table where there is an empty seat. The seat is for each one of us. The Gospel tells us that “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” It is not only about being with God after our death but it also means that now, as we grow up, we can not only grow out of our clothes but that we can grow out of selfishness, jealousy, pride, anger, stubbornness, in a word: a sin. At the beginning of this homily I said that believing in the Holy Trinity is what makes a person a Christian. However if you spoke to somebody who had no clue who a Christian is you could put it in a plain English: Believing in the Holy Trinity is what makes a person a loving person because the Trinity it is God who is love.


Picture
Copy of the image of the Holy Trinity of Rublev
0 Comments

Blessed Jozef Cebula OMI

6/12/2014

0 Comments

 
PictureBl Jozef Cebula OMI
15 years ago, on June 13 I (and a million other people) attended Mass in Warsaw when Saint John Paul II beatified 108 Polish Martyrs from WWII. Among those Blesseds was our own Oblate, Fr Jozef (Joseph) Cebula. The day when we remember those Martyrs is June 12. In Oblate Congregation it is the day dedicated to Fr Jozef. When he was martyred he was 39 years of age. He had been a priest for 13 years and all those years as a priest he dedicated to training the future priests. Even as a seminarian he was already a teacher for his fellow students. As soon as he was ordained a priest he was assigned to the formation ministry and it was a providential appointment. His love and commitment to Christ was a powerful encouragement and inspiration to the young men who were being trained to be Oblate priests. Fr Jozef didn’t enjoy good health but his spirit was very strong. Those who lived with him considered him a saint such powerful was his witness to Christ. However this man who suffered from ill health was to give even a more powerful witness by his martyrdom. When Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 Fr Jozef and his confreres were put under house arrest and forbidden from exercising their priestly ministry. Instead of doing priestly things they were ordered to work as laborers at the local farms. Fr Jozef did work there during the days but the nights he was spending ministering to the locals. He was saying Masses for them, visiting the sick, hearing confessions, counseling those who were fainthearted etc. Nothing could stop him from being a priest and doing his priestly ministry. The furious occupants wanted to break the unity of the Oblate community there and ordered them to break statues of Our Lady in the little chapels at the entrance to the villages and in some other significant places. They chose December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady for that sacrilegious activity. They knew that the day was sacred to the Oblates. Fr Jozef as the superior responded: “Anyone who wishes to remain an Oblate will not go to destroy the statues.” In fact no one went. That event and his continues priestly ministry eventually led to Fr Jozef being arrested and sent to the Concentration Camp of Mauthausen in Austria. He was there for three weeks assigned to the most exhausting work of carrying big stone blocks and breaking them with a harmer he couldn’t even lift. To mock his priesthood the prison guards made him sing the hymns and prayers of Mass. He wasn’t given a chance to celebrate Mass in those final days but he was living those final days in a union with the suffering Christ. To the very end Fr Jozef lived his priestly vocation with commitment, compassion and self-sacrificing. To the very end he was faithful to his ministry as a formator of future Oblate priests leaving us all an example of being a priest even when he couldn’t give inspiring talks about priesthood. He was shot dead on May 9, 1941. His body was cremated soon after.

 

PRAYER

Blessed be you, o Christ, crucified and glorious Good Shepherd! Your strength was made known in the weakness of Blessed Jozef who by his dedication to the formation of young men for the priesthood and the pastoral care of your people, merited to sacrifice himself to the Father in union with You. Grant us by his intercession the grace we humbly request. You who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen


0 Comments

Pentecost Sunday - Homily

6/7/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
          The readings for this Mass of Pentecost are filled with surprises. In the Gospel Jesus surprises his disciples when he comes to them on the day of the Resurrection. In the first reading the Holy Spirit surprises the Apostles when He descends upon them as powerful wind and fire. Then the people in the streets of Jerusalem get surprised when they see the Apostles boldly preaching the Good News. Believe me, that it is not the end of surprises. A few days ago I got surprised by the Holy Spirit myself. I went to see an elderly priest in a nursing home. He is a very saintly person. By the way I can give you a tip: If you go to see a saintly priest don’t simply talk to him but grab the opportunity and ask him to hear your confession. That’ what I did. After I confessed my sins he said: “Leave your sins at the foot of the cross of Jesus. Go home innocent like on the day of your baptism.”

          My Dear Sisters and Brothers!

          The words were spoken by a fragile priest but they were full of fire and power of the Holy Spirit. I was convinced that the Risen Christ stood there, in that room in the nursing home, like he did in the Gospel today. The Apostles were filled with joy. Probably they didn’t know what that joy was all about but 50 day later, on the Pentecost Sunday, they knew it, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. True and lasing joy is the sign that the Holy Spirit is in you.

          I grew up in Europe, where around this time, I mean May and June, you can see young people in love with each other. It is said that warmer days after the freezing winter make people prone to falling in love. It is also said that spring is the display of love. Well, I could argue that. It is more the display of kissing, hugging and ditching school.

We Christians believe that the spring is the time begun by Jesus’ Resurrection. Look, when Christ was raised up he didn’t come to the Apostles saying: “I’m fine! I’m good. I’m good! Don’t worry!” No, he came to them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” Before that, as St John, who was there, recorded, Jesus breathed on them. It is exactly what God did at the beginning of Creation, as we read in Genesis: “God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, thus man became a living being.”

Jesus coming to his disciples breathes on them in the same way that brought the first human being to life. In the morning of Easter Sunday Christ Jesus was raised up. In the evening of the same day Christ Jesus transforms his barely alive companions into people fully alive, filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with joy. This breath of Christ, the Holy Spirit, brings forgiveness of sins. Who can forgive sins? Only God can! If sins are forgiven it means that God wants them to be forgiven. We could finish here this homily as the message of forgiveness being carried by the Holy Spirit is like the warm spring breath that breaks the power of winter which stops life from sprouting. We could sit here and enjoy this warmth of the Holy Spirit forgiving our sins, like after confessions which we did well. But it wouldn’t be a full picture if we didn’t have a display of love. What is this display about? The Risen Lord coming to his disciples breathed on them not only to forgive them their sins but also to enable them to forgive others in his name. We know that it happens at Baptism and at Reconciliation when sins are forgiven in the name of Christ. That’s why when the Apostles left the Upper Room, where the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they started preaching God’s mercy. It was the display of love. Though some onlookers thought the Apostles were drunk. That first public preaching of Peter resulted in 3000 people being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit for forgiveness of their sins. But still there is something more in the Gospel for us. Christ the Lord breathing the Holy Spirit on the Apostles gave them power to forgive those who wronged them. The same Holy Spirit has been given us, you and me, to forgive from our hearts those who have wronged us. Maybe you live among angels, but in my life I have dealt with people who were not exactly angels. The message of Christ is: “Forgive them as I have forgiven you.” The display of love is all about forgiving others. Don’t hold grudges against people. Let your anger go. Don’t nurture resentment or bitterness toward people. Have faith in Jesus, and you will be among those who are in love with Jesus so much that they display it by forgiving others.


0 Comments

In good company

6/4/2014

0 Comments

 
Last week we remembered Blessed Joseph Gerard, an Oblate priest who spent most of his time as a missionary in South Africa.  In his journal he described what it means to be an Oblate: “I imagine a priest, a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, in a mission. He wants to see everything with his eyes, know with his heart, give joy to everybody by his presence, be all things to all people to win them over to Jesus Christ.”

As I reflect of these words I cannot stop thinking about an Oblate I know personally here in Australia. Somebody described him as a legend of our Province. F John is in his eighties now. Although he isn’t well he simply radiates love and joy around. If I can make it I go to see him every week. I may sound selfish but every time I see him I feel like I am a changed person. Fr John has been always known for his faith in Christ and his interest in the lives of the people. Today due to his health he cannot go out much but what amazes me is that people come to him. I have seen people bringing to him their elderly parents or grandparents so that he could minister to them. His mind is still sharp and he makes the best of it. I am fascinated how many details he can remember from our previous conversations. He genuinely cares about you.

Lately I have had a privilege to concelebrate Mass with him. I think I could stay in the chapel of the presbytery for hours watching him. He was so captivated by what he was doing that he seemed to be in a different world. These days he is constantly plugged into oxygen but as I was looking at the machine I thought that it is simply a reminder that the saintly Oblate is plugged to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit flows into Fr John divine love Jesus spoke about. That’s why he is spreading so much joy and love in spite of his fragility. Would you believe that during that Mass which was like a private Mass with just a couple of people he gave a homily? As I was listening to him talking about love of God I couldn’t help thinking that he was talking as if he had been already in heaven. Actually he was talking he was taking us to have a glimpse of heaven.

Picture
Our High Mass
Picture
Fr John giving a homily. Is it the oxygen that makes his so lively or is it the Holy Spirit brining the air of heaven into his soul?
Picture
Jesus and his faithful servant.
0 Comments

    Archives

    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.