Posted on: February 4, 2022
World Day of the Sick - February 11
We will be celebrating World Day of the Sick on Friday, February 11. I invite you to come to celebrate the Healing Mass at 10:00 am. If you would like to receive the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, there will be a special seating area reserved for you in the church.
In order to help you to understand this sacrament, please read the following excerpt from “Anointing of the Sick – Joined to Christ, Witnesses of Hope and Healing” by the USCCB:
Anointing of the Sick is the sacrament that is received by those who are ill or suffering. By the sacred anointing and the prayer of the priest, the whole Church commends those who are sick to Christ. The sick person receives the Holy Spirit’s gifts of strength, faith, peace, and courage, and his or her suffering is united with the suffering of Christ for the building up of the Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], nos. 1520-23).
Through the Sacrament of Anointing on the Sick, the Church carries out Jesus’ mission of compassion and healing for the sick. The one who is ill can also be a minister to others. By uniting their suffering to Christ, those who are sick can be signs of faith and witnesses of Christ’s Resurrection to the entire community (Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici [The Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the church and in the World], no. 54).
Father Louis
Posted on: February 4, 2022
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
What we hear in the Gospel this weekend is a story about Peter and his friends, fishermen, who had done their best. They had worked all night but had caught nothing; all their time and effort had been for nothing. They are now tired.
However, when the Lord is with them all things change. We hear a beautiful conversation between Peter and the Lord: “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch” to which Peter replies “Lord, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets”.
We recall what happened at the Wedding Feast at Cana after Mary said to the servants “Do whatever he tells you”. Again in this story Peter puts his trust in the Lord by saying “We have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so I will let down the nets”.
Fishing is a worthy calling. However, Jesus sees that Peter is capable of other things. He is the kind of man that Jesus wants to have helping him with his mission. What qualities does Jesus see in Peter that makes him call Peter to share in his work? Peter has the first and most essential one - faith in Jesus. He also has humility.
It is very clear that the Gospel story is not so much a story about fishing, but about trust. We should not forget that Jesus is a carpenter’s son. He is not familiar with fishing. However, he offers Peter a chance to put his trust in him for what Peter will do later in his entire life: fish for people.
The Lord still calls people, and the need is just as great today. And there still are those who respond. Some people are called to dedicate themselves totally to the following of Christ, but not all Christians are called to follow Christ in this way.
By our own Baptism we are called to follow Christ. But what does the following of Christ mean for us? It means to be a Christian wherever we are and have great love in our actions.
What Jesus says to Peter he is saying to us: go further and do your best in whatever responsibilities you have. He invites us to put our trust in him and he will look after the rest. We might hear his voice: “Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching people”. We all have a mission and the Lord is with us. He challenges us but also helps us to fulfill our mission.
Simon teaches us a great lesson today: When we give everything up for Jesus, we find even more. Indeed, we can see that the Lord always does something much more beautiful and much more challenging. He invites Simon to leave everything behind and to follow him - he invites Simon to share his own life.
And as Simon and his friends leave everything behind and follow Jesus, they recognize that although they are leaving their boats, they have found Jesus.
My dear sisters and brothers, we may lose a sense of personal security, we may feel like we’re losing control, but it’s worth it. When we leave everything and follow Jesus, we find so much more. Our hearts are set free, and Christ becomes the centre of our life.
To conclude, I would like to invite you to read what Pope Benedict XVI says in his homily on April 24th, 2005:
“If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide… Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life.”
I wish you a blessed weekend and keep warm when the weather is cold on these days.
Fr. Louis Nguyen
Posted on: January 20, 2022