Sermon Cloud

Since my arrival here, I have been learning about the history of this parish, the life of faith that has been shared and celebrated since the day we began the story of faith that has woven us together.  I’ve discovered that Christ the King parish was founded in 1917.  Fourteen pastors and countless other priests who were associates or who had special ministries to various ethnic groups and other associations have come and gone, and throughout our history, the parishioners have been a constant source of inspiration. 

Christ the King has a long history of prayer and devotion, but we also have a long history of being a place of welcome.  The social structures which were built between parishioners have resulted in friendships that endure to this day.  Among the pioneers of the parish were a group of ladies who quickly got organized under the auspices of the Catholic Women’s League of Canada.  Along with other groups such as sodalities, the Knights of Columbus and others, the CWL has been a source of networking and support for many who might otherwise have found it difficult to contribute constructively to the life of the parish.

A few months ago, some of the ladies who have most recently been instrumental in the Executive of the CWL came to me to voice their concern that this long-standing organization might not be able to continue because there were some major problems, including the fact that many of those who are CWL members don’t even know each other.  For the moment, we have found solutions to the most pressing challenges but the truth of the matter is that given the changing focus of life these days, there is very little opportunity for some people to get to know one another, to share struggles and successes with someone who will lend a listening ear, a compassionate heart or a helping hand.

There are perhaps some people here right now who are new to this parish, or who have been here for a short time, or who have been here for many years, and still do not know too many others.  In a real sense, we can all find ourselves at times thirsting like the Israelites in today’s first reading (Ex 17:3-7).  Having followed Moses out of Egypt, they found themselves wandering through the parched wilderness and grumbling about their situation.

We too thirst from time to time for friendship, for acceptance, for God.  The funny thing is that sometimes we don’t even recognize this thirst because we are too busy concentrating on our own plans, and have little if any energy left for truly realizing that our thirst can easily be quenched if we accept the gift that is being offered.

The woman at Sychar (Jn 4:5-42) came to the well to draw water, but she was oblivious to the gift that she would be given that day.  She had no idea that she herself was thirsting for love, for acceptance, for joy, for life – and that a stranger would invite her to discover a deeply hidden truth about herself that day.  Jesus met her at the well, and invited her to draw living water, the gift of God for the life of his people.  He meets us too at the moments when our souls are most in need of living water, and invites us to draw from the well of his tender heart.

God’s gift of the Eucharist is our living water.  It has the power to restore hope even to the most desperate of situations.  Indeed as Paul explained to the Romans (Rom 5:1-8), it was in our weakness that God came in Christ to restore us to himself.

Hope and life are restored when strangers are welcomed, when we take the time to greet people who are sitting around us, when we take time to get to know one another, and to share a bit of our story.  Whether we share a bowl of soup after the Saturday evening masses during Lent, or perhaps we stop for a moment after Mass to meet and speak with a CWL member, or to introduce ourselves to someone we haven’t yet met, each of us can do our part to continue the long tradition of hospitality for which this parish has been so well known.