Letters from Canada 10 – November 2013
Father Mark:
A return from a Retreat is very much like a return from a vacation. It’s back to
work to face the responsibilities that did not go away while I was absent. But
at least this time, I return a little smarter about how people myself included
function in everyday life. I found the most meaningful productive talks and
discussions at the Retreat, centered on dealing with Personal Burdens and
feeling Special about oneself. Both influence our behavior and attitude towards the challenges of everyday life. All of us are saddled with burdens and don’t always see ourselves as important or special. Our faith in God can help us better manage our burdens and realize a more positive image of ourselves.
As a priest, I know a lot of people not only from my church but also other churches and communities. Being a good listener, many share their life burdens with me. The most painful are when someone is told they have a terminal illness, or have just lost a love one. Even more painful is comforting grieving parents whose child died from an accident or illness. In the category of illnesses, I include drug overdoses and suicides in addition to medical illnesses. When I recognize problems of addictions or signs of mental illness that is life threatening, I do take immediate steps in finding professional help.
But most burdens are of part of being mature Humans living in a complex society. In the home, at work and in many of our socials settings, things just go wrong, sometimes due to misfortunes, other times to misunderstandings, mistakes, and poor decisions sometimes by us and sometimes by the people we interact with. Add to this mix our vulnerabilities, weaknesses and
limitations, and we carry serious burdens on our shoulders.
Taking the advice of my friends in Psychiatry, I try to steer people with serious but non-critical life threating burdens in the direction of coming up with their own personal solutions. Many times I regret not having better academic training to deal with people’s burdens. Today, I would have easily trade the “The Ultimate Reducibility of Essence to Existence in Existential Metaphysics” course (a real sleeper) for a basic class in sociology and psychology. From the perspective of Metaphysics, telling people that things will be great in Heaven, sometimes works, a lot of times it does not.
One of the antidotes to life’s burden is being aware that all of us are Special
People. We are endowed by the Almighty with a Divine Spark in our brains and hearts to solve problems and accomplish great things. In reality that Divine Spark is sometimes well hidden or forgotten especially when we face criticism, disappointments and occasional failures.
To all of us who were fortunate to have good parents that loved us, cared for us and provided opportunities for us to be successful, the transition to “Special People” is not that distant. But like everything in our world, even “Good Parents” are not perfect. They too must contend with their own burdens and limitations and cannot always meet all their children’s needs.
I plan to address the concept that we are all “Special People” during my Sunday Sermon. In the parable of the “Lost Sheep” Jesus tells a story of a Shepherd discovering that one of his sheep is missing. The caring Shepherd leaves his flock in search of the lost sheep. The takeaway here is not that he abandons the flock to find his favorite sheep. The assumption is that the other sheep are safe but the lost sheep is not and needs to be rescued.
The parable is a metaphor to illustrate that everyone is equally important and special. God as the Good Shepherd loves and cares for every person. So why in our mist are there people that are homeless, lonely, unhappy, depress, hungry and I can go on and on listing the many misfortunes that afflict people around the world? Are these people also Special and does God really care for them?
The answer is yes, but it involves all of us. Just as Jesus set the example of
caring for people, we need to the same starting with our family and friends. In our circle of relatives and associates, we will find those that need our comfort, support, help, forgiveness and compassion. From here we move on to Church and Community centers that sponsor food pantries and clothes drives and in some places homeless shelters. In short, we all must take advantage of opportunities that come our way to be nice and helpful to others. Also let’s not forget to vote and elect Political Representatives that see the poor and disadvantage also as Human Being that need assistance befitting a Good Nation.
In kindness and assistance to God’s Family, we will realize how fortunate we are to having good parents, a good education, and lots of good luck, a Country that provided us with opportunities, and the brains and heart to become successful. By helping others to improve their fortune we discover that which is Special in us and them.
After Mass and my “Lost Sheep” sermon, I greeted my congregation in the vestibule. For the children that accompany their parents, I raise my hand high (at an appropriate level) in the air and the children jump to hit it (like a high
five). As the family of William, Alice, and Steven approached me, I sensed
something was wrong. Steven their seven year old son did not jump up to hit my hand.
In a muted sad voice, Steven told me: Mary is lost, Father please find my
Sister!!!
To be continued in “Letters from Canada – 11”
Father Mark:
A return from a Retreat is very much like a return from a vacation. It’s back to
work to face the responsibilities that did not go away while I was absent. But
at least this time, I return a little smarter about how people myself included
function in everyday life. I found the most meaningful productive talks and
discussions at the Retreat, centered on dealing with Personal Burdens and
feeling Special about oneself. Both influence our behavior and attitude towards the challenges of everyday life. All of us are saddled with burdens and don’t always see ourselves as important or special. Our faith in God can help us better manage our burdens and realize a more positive image of ourselves.
As a priest, I know a lot of people not only from my church but also other churches and communities. Being a good listener, many share their life burdens with me. The most painful are when someone is told they have a terminal illness, or have just lost a love one. Even more painful is comforting grieving parents whose child died from an accident or illness. In the category of illnesses, I include drug overdoses and suicides in addition to medical illnesses. When I recognize problems of addictions or signs of mental illness that is life threatening, I do take immediate steps in finding professional help.
But most burdens are of part of being mature Humans living in a complex society. In the home, at work and in many of our socials settings, things just go wrong, sometimes due to misfortunes, other times to misunderstandings, mistakes, and poor decisions sometimes by us and sometimes by the people we interact with. Add to this mix our vulnerabilities, weaknesses and
limitations, and we carry serious burdens on our shoulders.
Taking the advice of my friends in Psychiatry, I try to steer people with serious but non-critical life threating burdens in the direction of coming up with their own personal solutions. Many times I regret not having better academic training to deal with people’s burdens. Today, I would have easily trade the “The Ultimate Reducibility of Essence to Existence in Existential Metaphysics” course (a real sleeper) for a basic class in sociology and psychology. From the perspective of Metaphysics, telling people that things will be great in Heaven, sometimes works, a lot of times it does not.
One of the antidotes to life’s burden is being aware that all of us are Special
People. We are endowed by the Almighty with a Divine Spark in our brains and hearts to solve problems and accomplish great things. In reality that Divine Spark is sometimes well hidden or forgotten especially when we face criticism, disappointments and occasional failures.
To all of us who were fortunate to have good parents that loved us, cared for us and provided opportunities for us to be successful, the transition to “Special People” is not that distant. But like everything in our world, even “Good Parents” are not perfect. They too must contend with their own burdens and limitations and cannot always meet all their children’s needs.
I plan to address the concept that we are all “Special People” during my Sunday Sermon. In the parable of the “Lost Sheep” Jesus tells a story of a Shepherd discovering that one of his sheep is missing. The caring Shepherd leaves his flock in search of the lost sheep. The takeaway here is not that he abandons the flock to find his favorite sheep. The assumption is that the other sheep are safe but the lost sheep is not and needs to be rescued.
The parable is a metaphor to illustrate that everyone is equally important and special. God as the Good Shepherd loves and cares for every person. So why in our mist are there people that are homeless, lonely, unhappy, depress, hungry and I can go on and on listing the many misfortunes that afflict people around the world? Are these people also Special and does God really care for them?
The answer is yes, but it involves all of us. Just as Jesus set the example of
caring for people, we need to the same starting with our family and friends. In our circle of relatives and associates, we will find those that need our comfort, support, help, forgiveness and compassion. From here we move on to Church and Community centers that sponsor food pantries and clothes drives and in some places homeless shelters. In short, we all must take advantage of opportunities that come our way to be nice and helpful to others. Also let’s not forget to vote and elect Political Representatives that see the poor and disadvantage also as Human Being that need assistance befitting a Good Nation.
In kindness and assistance to God’s Family, we will realize how fortunate we are to having good parents, a good education, and lots of good luck, a Country that provided us with opportunities, and the brains and heart to become successful. By helping others to improve their fortune we discover that which is Special in us and them.
After Mass and my “Lost Sheep” sermon, I greeted my congregation in the vestibule. For the children that accompany their parents, I raise my hand high (at an appropriate level) in the air and the children jump to hit it (like a high
five). As the family of William, Alice, and Steven approached me, I sensed
something was wrong. Steven their seven year old son did not jump up to hit my hand.
In a muted sad voice, Steven told me: Mary is lost, Father please find my
Sister!!!
To be continued in “Letters from Canada – 11”
