Author: AnishinabeSC

We read in John’s Gospel that, when Jesus was on the cross and had died, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out” (19:34). The passage that includes this verse is read on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which, this year, is celebrated this Friday, June 7^th. It is also a verse, a passage, which fits with today’s (Sunday’s) celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ.

There is a link between these two feast days: the Body and Blood of Christ, and the Sacred Heart. They are intentionally, purposefully placed close together on the calendar. One connection that can be made is this: if we think of Jesus’ body and blood, well, his heart is at the center of his body, and the heart keeps the blood flowing. Jesus’ heart can be seen as a source of love, as that which keeps the love flowing. That love was and still is shared with us by Jesus, including through the Eucharist.

Here are a couple of verses from one of the other readings of the June 7 Mass for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These verses also fit with today’s feast of the Body and Blood of Christ: “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).

– Fr. Paul Robson SJ

A Reflection by Eddie MacDonald

Every day, around the world, millions of Catholics make the sign of the cross.  We all begin our prayers with this blessing of ourselves in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Throughout the day we may find ourselves doing this blessing as we pass Catholic churches, when we see a funeral pass by or even as an ambulance screams by us.  We may hold a baby and gently make the sign of the cross over their forehead or bless our children as they fall asleep.  When we get startled or seriously frightened, we make the sign of the cross.  Even in the movies we can see people make the sign of the cross before they do something difficult.

Why is it that we call upon each of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit throughout the day and sometimes even in the middle of the night?  Why?  Because we are calling on the Wholeness of God, the Holy Trinity to come to our aid. 

A way to visualize this love of God put into action is through Confirmation.  I always loved Confirmations.  I prepared students and attended Confirmations for many years.  The renewal of our Baptismal vows, the receiving of Christ in the Eucharist and that special moment when one is sealed with the Holy Spirit.  The Bishop lathering on the heavily scented oils on the forehead of wide eyed recipients and sometimes the smell of lemons as he tries to clear the oils off of his fingers. The last of the Rites of Initiation, being sealed by that which is the action of God, the Holy Spirit.  Jesus, the way, the truth and the life ever present to us as he is the Bread of Life. And again, the Holy Spirit pouring over us in our Baptism, breaking the barrier that barred us from eternity!  What an amazing gift – God Himself through the sacraments, through the daily blessings. 

In the name of the Father.  The Creator of all who is called “The Father”, we touch our forehead.  In the Son (in is referring to us living within Christ).  We then touch below our heart to intentionally include our heart; and then we cross over our entire selves saying and the Holy Spirit.  And meaning inclusive, the Holy Spirit being the Action of God, called love.  All together.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is one.  They are the Holy Trinity – the three of them.  Each comes from the same source, God, yet each has a role, a purpose to play in our lives.  Together they are power, they are grace.  They are the Most Holy Trinity. We are truly blessed!

    The Solemnity of Pentecost concludes the fifty days of the Easter Season. While faithful Jews celebrate the feast of Pentecost to show their gratitude for the gift of the Mosaic Law, Christians are thankful for the outpouring of God’s love manifested in the descent of the Holy Spirit when the Church was born.

   Before Jesus sent His apostles to continue His mission, He had to remove a paralyzing fear from their midst. Thus, He addressed them once more with the reassuring words: “Peace be with you”. After receiving the Holy Spirit, they joyfully left the upper room to proclaim the Gospel, instruct and baptize the catechumens, and reconcile sinners to God.

   The Sacrament of Confirmation empowers us to participate actively in spreading the Good News (initiated by Christ and continued by the Apostles) in our surroundings in 2024 and beyond. Let us pray for God’s blessing on the Confirmandi (candidates for Confirmation) in our parishes, that they will receive the sacrament with zeal and courage. The separate tongues of fire, which rested on each of the Apostles, indicate that everyone should work for the common good according to the specific talents bestowed on him/her. 

– Fr. Toni Baranowski SJ

Today we celebrate Jesus’ ascension into heaven, 40 days after his resurrection. Before he began his ministry, Jesus spent 40 days being tempted in the desert. The lure of worldly riches, power, prestige and money was offered to him because satan believed Jesus’ human nature would overpower the God Spirit in him. Satan hoped Jesus would lose faith in himself and who he really was, God in man. If he did, Jesus would cling to the material reality that satan held out to him, telling him to worship him through this passing false reality. (Isn’t this what happens to us?) Being imbued with Fr Richard Rohr’s and Fr Thomas Keating’s teachings, in my mind, this means believing in the falseness of this world and involves the worship of idols.

Before his public life, Jesus spent thirty years of ordinary life, faithful to his Jewish prayer rituals and, one can imagine, hours of quiet reflection pondering the mysteries, strengthening and unifying his relationship with the Father God. It is because of this quiet life of prayer that Jesus grew in the knowledge of who he was and his mission. Mary and Joseph, the human parents, did a great job of guiding him in his childhood and teaching him about God. We need healthy role modeling parents. We are also celebrating Mother’s Day today and we often forget the important and challenging role of motherhood. Joseph and Mary are our powerful intercessors who look after ‘the Jesus life in us’. Jesus needed both parents to become the person he became.

Jesus was crucified because he wouldn’t enter into the lies and the false reality of this world. This became the ultimate test of his Divinity and Humanity. He was stripped of all earthly glory to give birth to the fulness of His Divine glory. He rose above the restrictions of his human nature where there was no more temptation. Forty days of fasting and temptation to forty days of a glorified human body brings us to celebrate Jesus’ return to the Father. We have already received the ‘gift from on high’ at our birth, renewed in our baptism through our parents’ commitment, strengthened by our commitment at confirmation. The trials and challenges we have lived through, or have yet to live through, are what will carry us to our resurrection that is already in this life. Those of us who are aged are at the edge of the western door, waiting for our Ascension back into the fullness of God life.

Let us wait for the feast of Pentecost, take time to pause, and wait with a spirit of expectation for the gift from on high to renew and strengthen our faith.

~ Sr. Terry (Kateri) Beaudry CPS

“That you may love one another”

Week by week the Easter season invites and takes us deeper and deeper into our relationship with God. The readings for this Sunday have been carefully chosen to pull us into the mystery of love — deeper into the mystery of God’s love.

One who loves unselfishly and whole-heartedly is a living sacrament of divine life, according to the First Letter of John. Jesus is for us the prime example of that kind of love. He is one who is willing to give everything up for the love of others, for the sake of others entirely. Everything that is good springs from that love which Jesus teaches, and practices, and which he tells us to imitate. “Love one another,” he tells us, “as I have loved you.”

In order to understand Jesus, we have to work to set our minds free of the narrow and sappy notions of love that popular culture sells. For example, love that is merely romance or erotic is restricted and limited by feelings that are self-involved and possessive. Which is why we are taught that the proper context for that love—beautiful and sweet as it is—is within the bonds of marriage and family life. Indeed, in that context the lover is drawn irrevocably into the kind of love that Jesus modeled: it becomes ultimately self-giving, not self-seeking. You may need look no further than the grandmas and granddads in your life to see what that kind of love looks like in real life.

This week, you might take some time to ponder the examples of selfless love that make God’s Love real for you. May God, we pray, draw each of us into living more fully the mystery of selfless love of others.

– Fr. Mark Hoelsken, SJ

This Wednesday marks the feast day of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. Here in Wiikwemkoong, we will celebrate with a Mass at 5:00 followed by a potluck dinner.

Kateri has been called the “Lily of the Mohawks”. Where does that title come from? In a book by Darren Bonaparte of Akwesasne, the author recounts how a Mohawk elder had told him that, after the death of Kateri, lilies sprouted from her grave – and so the title “Lily of the Mohawks”.

Bonaparte’s book is titled A Lily Among Thorns: The Mohawk Repatriation of Kateri Tekahkwi:tha. We find in the title of this book, then, another possible name for Kateri: a “lily among thorns”. When he used this phrase, Bonaparte was quoting Fr. Claude Chauchetière SJ, one of the early biographers of Kateri. Chauchetière wrote, in his story about Kateri: “I have up to the present written of Katherine as a lily among thorns, but now I shall relate how God transplanted this beautiful lily . . .”

Now, Bonaparte takes issue with the title “a lily among thorns” for Kateri. Fr. Chauchetière was suggesting that the “thorns” were Kateri’s own people, including her own family. Bonaparte questions the narrative, found in the early Jesuit biographies, which suggests that she was a good and great person in spite of her own people, her culture, her upbringing.

Based on what I know of Kateri’s life story, it seems clear that her Christian faith was an important, impactful part of her life. However, Bonaparte makes a good point in stating that her character, her goodness, her saintliness, surely would have also been formed by her culture, her family, her people – including those who were not Christians.

– Fr. Paul Robson SJ

   The second Sunday of Easter marks the end of the Easter Octave, and it is also celebrated as the feast of Divine Mercy. St. Faustina, in her famous diary, reminds us repeatedly about Jesus’ unlimited mercy which was generously bestowed even upon hard core sinners like the good thief on Golgotha. St. Peter, after his denial, was also the beneficiary of this mercy.

   The future first pope (Peter) and most of his colleagues must have been ashamed because they had deserted Christ during his passion. After his death on the cross, they were shocked and uncertain about their future. Instead of scolding them, the Risen Lord greeted them with uplifting words: “Peace be with you”.

   The patient Jesus appeared at the suitable time to Thomas and was ready to meet all his demands, to assure him in his skepticism. Jesus is also very merciful to modern doubtful Thomases, waiting for the radical change of their unbelieving hearts. We all rejoice when their newly found faith is expressed by statements like “My Lord and my God”.

   We can show our gratitude for being counted among those who are blessed, by extending mercy towards others, and by continuing to perform acts of charity. Although we cannot share everything in common as the first Catholics did, let us be inspired by their spirituality.

  – Fr. Toni Baranowski SJ

We begin this Holy Week with Mark telling us about the amazing “prediction” of Jesus, concerning where the disciples would find the colt, and where it would be tied. Can you imagine how these disciples felt, finding everything as our Lord said! We are then filled with joy, as people are celebrating Jesus for who he is and what he has done! You can see the full palms waving in front of Jesus as he rides into town in this beautiful, colourful procession! It must have been a sunny day! 

     Then in our first reading we hear the prophetic, painful words of Isaiah, as the joy plummets in our stomachs: “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” Surely no! Surely no one would do such a thing to the man who healed the sick, made the blind see and the lame walk!

     Our mind’s eye can visualize this prophecy of Isaiah, but our heart aches at speaking the words of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” The psalm again, written long before Christ’s birth, captures the depth of pain of Christ’s last few words.

   We have a small reprieve from the pit of despair when we hear from Paul in the second reading. He gives us hope as he explains that God’s plan is at play and that His son, Jesus Christ, bore all of this for all humanity, for all of us. So that we can enter the kingdom of heaven one day.

     One of my favourite visualizations is seeing this woman in Bethany, pouring this expensive oil all over Jesus’s head and feet, using her thick black hair to wipe the oil. Of course, Judas Iscariot, with greed in his heart, complains that she is wasting this oil by anointing him. Jesus would be denied much of the rituals of death, but this would be given in its place.

     We can see the preparations being made for Passover; the lovely upper room ready to seat twelve. We can hear Jesus call out to the one who would betray him; we witness in our mind’s eye the first breaking of the bread, our hearts filled with gratitude. The reading takes us to all the darkness of those following 24 hours. Great sadness fills us as we exit the church, knowing what will be coming over the next 6 days.

     We will hear different details/perspectives throughout Holy Week. We are meant to journey with Christ through this painfully difficult time. I pray we each will open our hearts to this journey and unite ourselves on the cross of Good Friday, so that we can joyfully witness the Resurrection – our future with Christ.

– Eddie MacDonald

A theme of Christmas, found in our recent Christmas Mass readings, is that of the light shining in the darkness; or we might say that the light overcomes the darkness. Today, as we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany (meaning “manifestation” or “revelation”), that theme continues with the story of the star shining in the sky, which leads the wise men from the East to the baby Jesus.

Similar to light overcoming darkness is the theme of good overcoming evil. We can see the whole Jesus story, not only his birth story, as one of the triumph of good over evil. In the story of Herod and the wise men and the baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph, King Herod represents evil as he tells a lie to the wise men and is plotting to kill the child. Yet, despite Herod’s best efforts, the child is born and is kept alive and safe.

Not only is the child alive and safe, but there is time for celebration! There is time for prayer and reverence as the wise men “pay him homage”. There is time for gift giving. There is time for the wise men to be “overwhelmed with joy”.

Despite the evil forces which still exist today, let us pray that good things continue to happen, in us and through us and around us, through the grace of that same God who became one of us in the child Jesus. May good things not only happen and survive, but thrive and bring joy and be celebrated and cherished.

– Fr. Paul Robson SJ

Joy. A lightness in your heart and in your step and on your lips.  It can last a few seconds or hours.  It is that unexplained welling up that occurs and that feels like it overflows from within.  It is hard to contain!  It most often tumbles out of in a burst of laughter, sometimes tears of happiness.  It is different than funny – funny can still be spontaneous but joy seems to be, purer.  Like beauty.  Breath taking beauty.  The colors of a sun set against the waters.  The twinkling of the sun through the green leaves.  These moments of beauty create a sense of awe and joy.

In the first reading, the prophet announces a welcome back to the captives that have finally been released from Babylon.  He describes his mission, which is of service to God’s people. He and they are filled with joy.  He says “in my God is the joy of my soul”.  He recognizes that the source of Joy is God!  Imagine, when you feel that fullness of joy, that overwhelming joy, you are feeling God as its true source!  And we acknowledge that joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit sealed upon us at our Confirmation.  

Mary and Elizebeth were each filled with joy upon discovering each other’s pregnancy and were spontaneous in sharing their overflowing joy.  From the Gospel of Luke, after Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, she experienced the child in her womb leap for joy.  She said “Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” (Luke 1:42 The Jerusalem Reader’s Edition).  So important is this reflection on joy that we remember it with each Hail Mary prayer.

In the second reading, we hear that we are to rejoice always. Break down that word REJOICE and we see the word JOY once again.  Pray without ceasing!  Meaning let us shout our joy to the world in thanksgiving!  Don’t stop!  Imagine those angels who sing God’s praises always and forever!  Wow!  To experience that perfect joy of God for more than a few minutes!  To be that full of joy, it would be a surreal experience!

Finally, let’s look at John the Baptist in today’s Gospel, who felt so deep and profoundly the joy of God while in his mother’s womb that it made him leap!  It was said that he was filled with the Holy Spirit, so much so that people thought he was crazy wearing camel haired cloth (to constantly make him uncomfortable – a sacrifice) and eating honey covered grasshoppers (again a sacrifice – a way of not letting his bodily wants take over the focus of his mission).  His mission was to point the way to the true light, the Messiah.  We are to be like John the Baptist.  We are to serve the Lord with joy and point the way to the Messiah by the example of our life – let us be filled with Joy as John was, and point the way!

– Eddie MacDonald