Sermon Cloud

This week, as many of you know, tragedy struck at Pioneer Manor here in Sudbury. Fire destroyed a portion of the Boreal wing and twenty-five of the residents from that wing have been displaced.

Since Friday morning, family members, crisis counsellors and clergy have been allowed to visit, to speak with the residents and to help them cope with the reality that all of them have been removed from their homes, and some of them have lost most of their posessions. I had the opportunity to visit with some of the residents on Friday afternoon and as I spoke with them, I was reminded that this is the people who long to see the face of God (Ps 24).

It sometimes takes experiences such as tragedy to remind us that God is in our midst. Even Jesus, surrounded by vast crowds in today's gospel, needed to 'stand still' so that he couuld tend to the needs of Bartimaeus who was calling out to him. (Mk 10:49)

The world we live in is increasingly fast-paced. In order to keep up with the advances in technology, or even with the current events of the day, we sometimes find ourselves on a seemingly never-ending treadmill, but it is imperative that we take the time to stand still once in awhile so we can take stock of ourselves, and hear the call of the Master which reassures us that especially because of our blindness, our stubbornness, our weaknesses, he wants to bring us back to himself (see Jeremiah 31:7-9).

Encounters with the elderly in our nursing homes can be occasions of grace, where we catch a glimse of the face of God, but it's very easy to leave and simply return to the regular routine of life. The challenge is to take heed of such experiences and to grow from them.

When he realized that he had regained his sight, Bartimaeus followed Jesus. We too might be encouraged to follow Christ more faithfully once we have been awakened to the presence of God, either in the midst of tragedy, or because we have had a grace-filled moment where we have seen God's face - in the quiet of the early morning as the sun is rising, or in the beauty of the first snowfall.

Since we are all disciples of Jesus, may we be committed with renewed vigour to following in his footsteps, counting on the intercession of our High Priest (see Hebrews 5;1-6) and his Blessed Mother who intercedes for us and draws us ever-closer to him.