Father Yves speaking today on living from the Heart. To have faith in God through the heart. How there is a place, a room reserved for each of us in Heaven prepared for us by the Father. How we need to to be secure in that reality. That this is where we are destined for eternity. To be in the Father's Heart, through Jesus who is the way, the truth and the light.
I chose the picture below from my parent's gravestone which has that inscription on it: Do not let your hearts be troubled.
This familiar phrase of Jesus, brings to mind how Jesus also frequently tells us to not be afraid. Whenever I read these passages, it reminds me how Jesus wants us to hand over my worries, anxieties and fears to him. That he is far more able to bear them than we are. All it takes is trust in him.
Father Jerry's Homily given today on Good Shepherd Sunday is below. He speaks about vocations, not only for Priests, but for all of us.
Fr. Jerry gives us the beautiful example of Catherine Doherty and her vocation to open Friendship House and Madonna House. He reads excerpts from her biography Victorious Exile and tells us how her vocation was not always easy. She and her husband Eddie were sometimes tempted to give it all up. They never did.
Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them Eternal Life and they shall never perish."
This post is a bit late. It took me a while to figure out how to make a movie out of my audio file of the homily Fr. Jerry gave on Holy Thursday.
Fr. Jerry talks about the institution of Holy Orders and priests, which was started on that first Holy Thursday over two thousand years ago.
He apologizes for those priests who have victimized others.
He talks about Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict, and Pope Francis who represent Faith, Hope and Charity respectively.
He also talks about the true vocation of priests and quotes this poem by Catherine Doherty.
WHAT IS A PRIEST? ByCatherine Doherty - foundress of Madonna House, Combermere, Ontario, Canada
A PRIEST is a lover of God, a priest is a lover of men, a priest is a holy man because he walks before the face of the All-Holy.
A priest understands all things, a priest forgives all things, a priest encompasses all things.
The heart of a priest is pierced, like Christ's with the lance of love.
The heart of a priest is open, like Christ's for the whole world to walk through.
The heart of a priest is a vessel of compassion, the heart of a priest is a chalice of love, the heart of a priest is the trysting place of human and divine love.
A priest is a man whose goal is to be another Christ; a priest is a man who lives to serve. A priest is a man who has crucified himself so that he too may be lifted up and draw all things to Christ.
A priest is a man in love with God. A priest is the gift of God to man and of man to God.
A priest is the symbol of the word made flesh, a priest is the naked sword of God's justice, a priest is the hand of God's mercy, a priest is the reflection of God's love.
Nothing can be greater in this world than a priest, nothing but God Himself.
