gifts

three-wise-men

What Gifts Do You Have To Offer?

three-wise-men

Feast Of The Epiphany

Fr. Mark Gatto

Preached: January 8, 2023

I saw a story of an old grandmother, a good woman, who was about to go to sleep for the evening on a fierce winter night, when a knock came on her door. It was the wise men, and they told her excitedly about the King born in Bethlehem; they urge her to come and honour him. She peeks out the door. It is an awful night, cold and blustery. She looks back at her warm bed, hesitates, and says, “I will see the Christ Child – tomorrow.” She returns to bed.

Well, the next day she packs some food and gifts and goes off to Bethlehem. But the stable is empty when she gets there. She is sad she missed them but determined. In fact, for the rest of her life she looks for the Child. In her endless journey she finds children, finds them everywhere. In many different places and situations. She leaves gifts at each place hoping that it is the Christ Child.

When she became very old and close to death, the Christ Child appears to her wearing the face of every child she has ever touched and offered gifts. She dies happily knowing that, in spite of her first hesitancy, she did indeed find the Child, not in the manger where she expected him, but in the poor and needy where she never expected him.

All of us need to be on a journey throughout our life. Search for the Christ Child. Offer gifts to those we meet. Each day and in each moment, be searching for the Christ Child in unexpected people and places. Be ready to offer gifts to all we meet. What gifts do we have to offer?

The gift of kindness, the gift of a smile, of whatever we are able to give at that time. The gift of our time to listen, the gift of our prayer on behalf of others, the gift of a phone call to someone alone or grieving. The gift of our wealth for those who are struggling without enough.

Like the Wise Men, we all need to be on a journey, searching for the Christ Child. Are you ready to see the Christ Child today in some unexpected place, in some unexpected person? The grace of God, the light of God, reaches out to the whole world, to all people. Offer the gift of your very self to all you meet, offer gifts from your treasure chest. In this way you can meet the Christ Child just like those Wise Men.

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What Gift Are You Going To Bring?

Adoration_of_the_Magi_by_Sandro_Botticelli-Uffizi

Epiphany Of The Lord

Deacon Tom Vert

Preached: January 2, 2022

What gift are we going to bring?

How many times have you asked this question at your own house?

Maybe it is a birthday, a wedding, a baptism, Christmas, or an anniversary; we all ask what would be an appropriate gift?

You think about what the person likes, what are their interests, or did they mention something that you remember months later that will be perfect.

All of us I think are happy when we bring a gift that is appreciated by the people who receive it.

When looking at the readings today, I wondered, do you think the three wise men had these same thoughts in what gifts they would bring?

The three “Magi” are believed to have been Zoroastrian priests from Persia that were very intellectual, and at that time, they had been anticipating a great leader to be born in the Middle East.

So, when they saw the star, they believed this to be a sign, and they struck out on the long and dangerous journey.

They of course had to figure out the appropriate gift to bring and as we know, they brought 3 gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

All of these are significant, well thought out gifts.

Gold represented wealth and power, and as a potential leader or king this would be appropriate.  I think it also would have been a great practical gift for the family as they would need money in their flight to Egypt, to set up a new life, and then come back again to Israel.

The next was frankincense which was a type of incense and signified Jesus’ priesthood, but may also practically could be given to the temple priests as an offering during religious services.

And finally, is myrrh, which was a perfume used for embalming and at death.  It was important for the family to know that Christ would suffer and die (as Simeon told Mary), and practically it is probably the perfume brought by the women to the tomb after Jesus’ death that they would have used in his linen wrappings.

These are all well thought out gifts, brought by non-Jewish or Gentile visitors to the child.

It is essential to realize that this moment of gift giving by the magi also signifies what is spoken of in Psalm 72 that we have sung “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you!”

We also see the prophet Isaiah in the first reading “the wealth of nations shall be brought to you” showing that Christ is for all peoples, all lands, every part of the world.

When I think about gifts from all nations that are found in the Roman Catholic Church, I think of travels that my family and I have been privileged to have around the world and the spiritual gifts and joys that I have seen.

In El Salvador, we got to see the place where St. Oscar Romero was assassinated while celebrating mass and in talking with Father Patras, we get to learn about the persecuted church in the world.

In Zimbabwe, we got to learn about the sacrifice and joy of the poor who would walk 10km at 5am to get to mass and have 1000 people celebrate in a church build for 500 with singing, dancing, and joy that was amazing to experience in what I have to say was the gift of the best mass I have ever attended.

In rural India, we heard the acapella voices of 500 young girls at a Catholic missionary school for the “untouchable” children of the area, which brought the gift of praise, worship and simplicity to the space.

In Europe we see the beauty and strength of the great Gothic churches that symbolize the gift of the eternalness of the church.

All these experiences show gifts that groups of people, cultures, and nations bring to our Catholic faith, and we will try and incorporate these gifts into the new parish that we are building in many ways, not just in the building, but in the ministries that will come forward.

But the readings also ask us to ponder the question, “if we are a part of this great outpouring of the love of God, what gifts do we bring”?

What do we bring to the table that shows how much we love God and how we endeavor to spread His message in our lives each day?

As St. Paul tells the Ephesians back then, and he tells us today (all of us being Gentiles) – we are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Remember, he goes on to tell the Ephesians in the same letter that “His gifts to the church were varied and He Himself appointed some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, to fully equip and perfect the saints for works of service, to build up the body of Christ.

Therefore, we each have a gift to bring to the party!  Each of us has been given a gift that we can bring as individuals like the Persian priests.

What do each of us bring to Christ to help further his kingdom in the world?  What do we bring to our parish as we continue to see how we can help the community of Hamilton through our outpouring of love?

There are at least 15-20 spiritual gifts that we may bring forward no matter if we are young, old, married, single, rich, poor, or any combination.

Gifts like hospitality to welcome people into our church and make them feel wanted when they arrive.

Gifts like unshakeable faith that manifests itself in prayer, many times by those who are home bound or elderly, who pray for God’s “will to be done” and helping us understand and accept it.

Gifts like helping, whether it is with SSVP or the CWL or Knights of Columbus; using this desire to help another and give a “lift” so to speak to others.

Or maybe even the gift of teaching to help with Children’s ministry or maybe a Bible study, etc.

As we see the magi bring gifts to the Jesus to help him and his family in their mission to spread the Good News, I ask that each of us think about our parish and then ask ourselves this week “What gift are we going to bring?”

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Everything You Need Is Already In There – Deacon Tom

everything-you-need-is-there

33rd Sunday In Ordinary Time – A

Deacon Tom Vert

Preached: Nov 19, 2017

“Everything you need is already in there”

As I was preparing the homily this week, it was interesting that I have heard this gospel many times before and every time previously I had focused on the fact that the one servant did nothing with the talent or money that was given to him as the key point of the reading.

But this time, one new key point came out; that the master was going on a journey and entrusted his possessions to the servants and went away.

He already knew that they had all the skills and all the talents and all the knowledge to make the most of the money/talent given to them – he had confidence.

Note that talents in the gospel here are a weight of money (~75kg of silver or gold) and would be a great sum.  One talent would be worth 15 year’s wages!!  It was a huge amount of money and only with confidence would he have given it to these three servants.

He would have had to say to himself – I know they can do it, everything they need to manage this is inside of them – it’s already in there and I believe in them!

It’s almost if he is visualizing them standing there and seeing the potential.

It reminds me of what Michelangelo the great sculptor said when he was asked about his greatest works – the Pieta at the Vatican and David in Florence – he told people “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the unneeded material.”

And this is what the master sees in his servants.

And when he comes back – to the servants who have utilized the gifts inside he says “well done my good and faithful servant” while to the one who did nothing he says “you wicked, lazy servant”.

There are three great lessons for us in this gospel message:

First we must know that God is the source of all of the talents and gifts and it is His love and grace that is the primary enabler for us.

Second, we must recognize that God is not only the source, but He has put into us these great talents when He created us and it is for us to discover what that great talent is.  For each of us it is different and we have to determine through our life’s journey what those gifts are.

To me this is one of the most important parts of parenting – to help your children to find those gifts and talents and then to nurture them to grow and blossom in order for your children to do God’s will with the abilities that He has given to them.

Sometimes parents tell me that they are pushing their children to make sure that they are focused on the best paying careers as their key focus to ensure financial stability.  But we need to ask ourselves as parents if that is really the right thing?  Is that what God wants?  Are we suppressing God’s gifts and talents in our children by not allowing them to focus on what God has put inside of them?

True joy in a career is when talents and gifts are celebrated and each day is a gift to society whether it is art, music, math, science, or literature.  When we wake up each day loving what we do, it makes the world a better place.

Thirdly, when we know the gift we have been given, we are not to be afraid to put it into practice.

The lazy servant as we hear is in some ways paralyzed by fear – fear of doing the wrong thing.  Fear of what might happen if he makes a mistake; and therefore he does nothing and buries his talent and just stands by.

If a person loves to sing and has the ability, but doesn’t join the choir because they say “I’m not as good as the others, or what If they don’t like my voice or maybe I just won’t fit in?” – isn’t that what the third servant did?

Or if we are a great organizer and when the call comes for help with a committee or a plan, and we say “someone else will step up” or “I’ve done my turn already” – is that using our gifts to the fullest?

These are important messages for us at this key point in our parish’s life, as we will need every person and every talent in order to make St. Catherine of Siena the community we want it to be.

We had our first parish building committee this past week and we discussed based on the feedback from everyone and our own perceptions what kind of parish we were trying to build.  Not what kind of building, but what kind of parish – because the type of parish then defines the building.

And we heard the words inclusive, and having a community that walks the journey with our parishioners from baptism, through childhood, youth, marriage, family growth and in the senior years.  Walking side by side like the disciples on the road to Emmaus in the ups and downs of life

Father Mark summed it up so well saying that we want a community that welcomes everyone like Christ welcomed – in an accepting, loving way with open arms.

We will be able to welcome in this way only if all of us are working together!  We will have many opportunities in these next two to three years to join sub committees; but more importantly we will need people for all the stages of life.

We will need people for the standard ministries of lectors, the choir and children’s liturgy, and people to visit the sick, but we may also need people in things that are totally new – to help young families with parenting or young widows and widowers as they cope in crisis.

We may need gifts and talents to help our older parishioners – the ones on whose shoulders we stand as we build anew – to help them to feel a part of the “people of God” even though they may not always be able to physically make it here.

So over these next few week, months and years, I would ask you to really pray that God will tell you what gift or talent you can contribute to our parish

And if you worry that it isn’t good enough, or strong enough, or you are not sure you can do it – remember this: “Everything you need is already in there”

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