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Homily – October 10, 2021

There’s a poem titled Maud Miller. It’s about a young couple from both sides of the track. They never got together but years later they met. Maud ended their meeting with this thought; ‘of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these – it might have been.

What might have been if this enthusiastic young man had accepted the invitation of Jesus, ‘Come follow me’ the young man couldn’t do it for he had many possessions that in reality possessed him. We’ll never what might have been.

This is the weekend of Thanksgiving. Hopefully because so many people have the double vaccination we’ll feel safe getting together with family to celebrate Thanksgiving. Hopefully we’ll have a deeper appreciation of the gifts by which our lives are blessed.

There is a Canadian authoress Miriam Twoes. She wrote a book a few years ago titled, ’A Complicated Kindness’ it tells of a young girl growing up on the prairies on a dirt poor farm. Her family belonged to an old German Mennonite Church. A joyless chuch.

Her father was a strict man, so much so that her mother and her older sister just took off. She got into drugs and was sleeping around. One day she was musing on her life and came to this amazing conclusion…

My life has been an embarrassment of blessings. An embarrassment of blessings.

Can any of us here say, my life has been such, an embarrassment of blessings?

I think I can. For all the years serving in this parish of St, Gabriels, celebrating feasts and funerals with you good people, my life, my ministry has been an embarrassment of blessing.

I’ve often suggested we develop an attitude of gratitude, a mindset of thankfulness.

We’re here today to celebrate this Mass, this Eucharist. We’re here to say to God, ’thank you.’ Eucharist is Greek for thanks. I’ll be saying the second Eucharist prayer,the second prayer of thanksgiving. You good people will be making this prayer your own when you sing ‘Amen’ at the end of if. We thank God for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus

I hope and pray we all have a great Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends. I hope and pray that God gift us all with a deep and abiding attitude of gratitude.

This Homily entry was posted on Sunday, October 10th, 2021.