unity
Peace Be With You
Pentecost 2024
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: May 19, 2024
Someone told me a story recently. His grandmother is in a nursing home and he had not seen her for many months. He was feeling guilty about this and kept delaying going to visit because he felt bad. Finally, he went to see her, as he got to the door he was expecting a look of disapproval or snide remark. Instead, she greeted him with sincere warmth, “How lovely to see you.” There was no resentment, no “where have you been?” In that forgiving gesture, he felt peace in his whole being.
Forgiveness has the power to set each other free and bring peace.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, in John’s Gospel we see the Risen Lord Jesus enter the room where the disciples are staying. His first words are “Peace be with you.” They really needed peace. They were lost, fearful, sad, grieving, uncertain about the future. Jesus brings peace. In fact, any room that Jesus enters, he brings peace. It might be the room of our hearts, it might room of a church like this where we are gathered. “Peace be with you.”
This is the mission of the church as the body of Christ. We should bring peace wherever we go. We are to be an instrument of peace in our world, in our families, in our communities. Our world is desperately in need of peace. We see it in our news everyday, in Gaza and the Middle East, in the Ukraine, in Sudan, and so many others places of our world. We see the need for peace in so many of our families and even in our churches.
The rooms you enter, do people experience a word and feeling of peace? When you enter your home, when you enter your place of work or study. Do you bring that word of Jesus into those rooms? “Peace be with you.” Do others experience peace when they encounter you? Your mission is to be an instrument of peace, this is the sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in and through you.
The Holy Spirit is at work when unity is being created. We see the first Pentecost, the sign of the Holy Spirit was the unity of the disciples despite their differences. Coming from nations all across the world, speaking different languages, yet united. Our Catholic Church is truly a world church today. Seen even in our parish where we come from every continent on the planet and speak many languages, yet form one church in faith.
After Jesus spoke that word of peace to his disciples, he sends them out with the power to forgive. “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.” Forgiveness is a powerful spiritual force that opens the door to peace. In our world the problem is the constant cycle of violence. One side does something, so the other side says that have to react. So, the violence continues endlessly. Only forgiveness has the power to end the cycle of violence and give peace an opportunity to exist.
When Jesus enters a room he brings peace. Each of us are sent out by Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit to bring peace into the rooms we enter. The spiritual power we have to bring peace is forgiveness. Go out and bring forgiveness, be instruments of peace. Wherever you go, let others experience the words of Jesus touching them, “Peace be with you.”
Instruments Of Unity
Feast Of Pentecost
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: June 5, 2022
God has a plan, a vision for all creation, in particular, God has a plan or vision for humanity. This was revealed in Jesus and it is expressed in the image of the Kingdom of God. Knowing the vision of God helps us to know how we are to live, what we are to be doing in this life. What is the mission we have as Christians, what is the mission of the Church?
An important aspect of that vision of God is seen in the Feast of Pentecost, as we see it described in the Acts of the Apostle Chapter two, that we heard as our first reading today. It was a mystical experience described as tongues of fire and a violent wind. This experience of the Spirit gave the first disciples courage and overcame their fear.
But, an important underlying event was that there were people there from many different nations and places. Yet, they were all able to understand in their different languages. It symbolizes the re-uniting of humanity. All diverse peoples were now able to be united in one human family. This is the plan or vision of God for humanity. That we be united, that we live as brothers and sisters, no longer divided into separate groups who exclude or reject those who are “other.”
The peace that Jesus brings us allows us to overcome fear that divides us, that separates us, that cuts us off from one another. Our mission as disciples, our mission as a church, is to be instruments of unity. To bring forgiveness, to work for reconciliation, to overcome differences. The purpose of Christianity is not to form a separate group apart from everyone else. We are not to be an elite group superior to others. We are to be working to bring about the vision of God that sees humanity as united rather than divided against each other.
The church should not be focused on excluding or rejecting, rather we should be focused on how to include and to gather together. It would be a good exercise for us to look at those who feel excluded or cut off by the church. This is a failure of the church and each of us need to allow the Holy Spirit to move us to be instruments of unity and peace.
That mission is reflected in a Catholic parish in that each person should matter. The smallest little baby, that senior who has been in the parish for years but is now away in a nursing home unable to be here. For those who are married, divorced, single. Young and old, men and women. People of all nations, those who have been here for years and those of you who have joined the parish yesterday. This is the power of Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit. The vision of God for the unity of humanity.
You and I are called to be instruments of peace, instruments of unity, empowered by the Spirit.
Brothers And Sisters All
29th Sunday In Ordinary Time
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: October 18, 2020
There are certain lines from Scripture that are very familiar to almost everyone, even people who are not religious or who have never opened a Bible. Today we have one line spoken by Jesus that most people have heard before, even if they do not realize it comes from the Bible.
“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God”
This one statement by Jesus has been discussed and debated for the past 2000 years. It has been argued about with people using it to justify many different positions. Issues such as the relation between religion and politics, church and state, and so on.
Jesus was not interested in those debates. The Pharisees were trying to get him caught up in their battles, Jesus moved the issue beyond all of that. They divided and Jesus was interested in uniting.
The question they confront Jesus with would be similar to someone asking you as a Catholic about Patriotism. If someone asked you, do you love Canada or do you love God? How would you answer? Most of us as Catholics would see that such a question is wrong in itself. It creates a division that is not required by true Faith. It is possible to be patriotic and to love God. In fact, true Faith and love of God will help us to have a healthier patriotism, a patriotism that makes room for solidarity with people from other countries.
In fact, at times, it is a good and necessary thing to see the failures of our own country, to challenge our own country when it is following a path that is harmful to the human family or to fundamental moral issues.
St. Thomas More expressed the way of Jesus in his life. He was a man who deeply loved his country but he was convicted of treason for refusing to acknowledge the king as the supreme head of the church in England. His words were, “I am the king’s good servant, but God’s first.”
Pope Francis has just published a new Encyclical called Fratelli Tutti, which is Italian for the first words in a letter from St. Francis of Assisi, which means Brothers and Sisters All. It is a call not just to all Catholics, it is a call to all humanity, to see each other as brothers and sisters. To strive for social unity.
It points out that in our world today we are seeing once again age-old divisions between peoples, racism, nationalistic populism that excludes and separates human beings. Enormous economic inequalities that leave some parts of the world in poverty, and even within our rich nations, sees certain segments of society left on the margins.
This Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis points to one of the basic principles of Catholic social Teaching. This is the call to the Common Good. Governments, politicians, religious leaders, and each one of us within society, are called to reflect on the common good. The common good versus private individual goods. When we analyze issues, look at social circumstances, we need to see it in light of the common good.
During this Covid Pandemic, it has brought to light the extreme ways in which the Common Good has been ignored for many years in certain areas. Seniors have often suffered most during this time. One reason has been a long term neglect, failing to provide proper resources to nursing homes and to supports for seniors to be able to remain at home. The common good does not allow us to neglect people who are not seen as productive or useful.
In the past few months we have seen visible and public ways in which racism continues to be a reality within the human family. Even something like white supremacist groups are coming into the open. Our societies at times have long histories and structural roots maintaining racism.
Forgiveness is not enough, we also need to face honestly any ways in which racism is within the structures of our society, our church and within my own heart.
In writing this letter, the Pope was in dialogue with others, including with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar in Egypt, Sheik Ahmed El-Tayeb. Our church needs to lead in efforts for good relations between all religions. Pope Francis is inspired by the way of St. Francis of Assisi. We are reminded of the dialogue that St. Francis of Assisi attempted with the Sultan in his time when the Crusades were in place and Muslims and Christians were seeing each other as enemies.
Last week a mosque in Toronto had to be closed due to violent threats being received. We as Catholics are called to be instruments of peace and dialogue with all people and reject any hatred based on religious identity. We need to actively oppose any hatred in the name of religion.
“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God”
Jesus is not interested in our ways that create divisions. That separate people in the name ofreligion or in the name of God.
An important mission of the Catholic Church today is to be an instrument of unity, focused on the common good and solidarity among all humanity.
The Church should be a home among homes, for all peoples, of all races, of all countries, of all religions, of all generations, rich and poor. All Catholics are to strive for social friendship across borders and boundaries.
Our vision should see one human family, brothers and sisters all, living in one common home.