Memorial of St. Martin of Tours<\/em><\/p>\n (Titus 1:1-9; Ps 24; Lk 17:1-6)<\/p>\n *************************************** This motto from the Christopher Leadership Course connects with the message from today\u2019s Gospel Acclamation: \u201cShine on the world like bright stars; you are offering it the word of life.\u201d<\/p>\n That is what we are called to do: express our faith by shining on the world like bright stars and offer it the word of life!<\/p>\n In the readings today, both St. Paul and Jesus make it clear it is the light of faith and the Word of God we are to radiate in the world. St. Paul speaks of the faith of God\u2019s elect, and the revelation of God\u2019s Word in Jesus. In the gospel, the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith, and he replies that faith even as small as a mustard seed can move mountains, especially the mountain of anger and the inability to forgive.<\/p>\n We are called to shine our light in a dark world. That darkness is evident in abortion on one end of the spectrum, physician-assisted death on the other, and an epidemic of addiction, corruption, war, poverty, homelessness, unemployment and especially suicides, etc. in between.<\/p>\n In all of this, we are to have faith, shine like stars and offer the world a word of life and hope.<\/p>\n A Lenten mission in an elders\u2019 lodge in Edmonton a few years ago offered me an opportunity to be a shining star and offer a word of hope and life to the elders. In one talk, I spoke about radical discipleship. Radical disciple comes to us when we can no longer do anything, and everything is done to us \u2013 usually because of illness, or when there is something in our lives over which we have no control.<\/p>\n The model for this is Jesus, who from the time he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane to the time he died on the cross did not really do anything. Everything was done to him, the real meaning of the word passio. <\/em><\/p>\n What is key is the way that Jesus went through that suffering \u2013 without bitterness or resentment, just forgiveness: \u201cFather, forgive them, they know not what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n In doing so, Jesus modeled for us both radical discipleship and redemptive suffering. If we can accept some suffering and inconvenience in our lives as he did, without bitterness or resentment, then we are already in the kingdom of God, and our suffering can have profound meaning and purpose. That meaning can give us the strength to accept the pain of suffering.<\/p>\n This is what the world does not understand. A psychologist in Ottawa was quoted in Maclean\u2019s Magazine stating, \u201cWe used to think the enemy was death. Now we know that the enemy is suffering.\u201d The world does not understand redemptive suffering, thus the temptation to avoid suffering through physician assisted death.<\/p>\n My brother Louis was an example of redemptive suffering. His journey through a four-year battle with cancer was marked by grace, faith and patience. He was grateful for friends, family and all the help he received. Even as he lost his abilities, he would say continually, \u201cThank you Jesus.\u201d His funeral was truly a celebration of faith. He was like a star shining on the world, offering it a word of life.<\/p>\n Blood and water flowed from Jesus\u2019 side as he hung on the cross. That symbolizes the eternal life that he wants to share with us through the Holy Spirit. Blood and water were flowing from Louis\u2019 side as he lay in the casket. Both his life and his death were an optimal blessing to all who knew him. People went away from his funeral sad because of our loss, but inspired and energized to both live, and die, the way he did. Like Louis, we are called to live, and die, in such a way that both are an optimal blessing to all who know us.<\/p>\n After I explained this to the elders at that elder\u2019s lodge, and shared his story, one elderly lady came up to me to share that she was thinking of putting her name on the list for assisted death, but now she had changed her mind. I was deeply moved, and felt like I was a star shining on her world and offering her a word of life and hope.<\/p>\n We are all called to be like stars shining on a dark world, offering it a word of life and hope.<\/p>\n In 360, Martin settled in Gaul and was soon joined by disciples; together they founded the first monastery in Gaul. In 371 Martin was proclaimed bishop of Tours by the people. He served as a bishop-monk and converted pagans to the faith until his death in 397. His biography, written by his friend Sulpicius Severus, related the many good works and wondrous deeds Martin performed. In art, he is usually depicted on horseback, handing his cloak to a poor man. Martin is patron of France, soldiers and vintners, and a fitting saint for this Remembrance Day, as a reminder for all of us to move towards an end to all war and conflict.<\/p>\n The Eucharist is itself like a star shining on us, offering us the word of life and hope. On top of that, we share in the fruit of the redemptive suffering of Jesus for us on the cross \u2013 his body and blood.<\/p>\n May our celebration empower us to be like stars shining on the world, offering it a word of life and hope.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WEEK 32 01- Year II Shine Like Stars Offering the Word of Life: Memorial of St. Martin of Tours (Titus 1:1-9; Ps 24; Lk 17:1-6) *************************************** \u201cIt is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.\u201d This motto from the Christopher Leadership Course connects with the message from today\u2019s Gospel Acclamation: \u201cShine on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies","category-ordinary-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9001"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9003,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9001\/revisions\/9003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cIt is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/St-Martin-Tours-horse.jpeg\")
Today the church invites us to honor St. Martin of Tours. Martin was born about 316 in Panonnia, Hungary. The son of an army officer, Marti was conscripted into military service. His parents were pagans, but Martin became a Christian catechumen and was baptized at 18. Subsequently, he decided he should not be a solider and became what could be called a conscientious objector. When the ensuing charges against Martin were dropped, he pursued his vocation as a monk.<\/p>\n