I hopethat all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! These moments are so important to stop and give thanks to God for all of his bounty – the earth, our lives, and our loved ones. We continually see troubling images from the Middle East and so we continue to pray for the people of Israel, Lebanon, those living in Gaza, and also the Ukraine.
James and John portray to us in the Gospel the very human attitude of seeking glory and power – places of honour before others. There are all sorts of reasons to seek prestige and honour, many lie from sinful motives. Jesus reminds the apostles, that among His followers there will be no such “competition.” “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” Jesus reminds us that he is our model of servant discipleship, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Have a wonderful week!
PS – The last two weeks I was at the Springbank Family of Parishes – St. George and St. John the Divine Parishes. For the time being, usually I will be at St. George’s the first weekend of the month and St. John the Divine the second weekend of the month.
Espero que todos hayan tenido un maravilloso fin de semana de Acción de Gracias. Estos momentos son muy importantes para detenernos y dar gracias a Dios por toda su generosidad: la tierra, nuestras vidas y nuestros seres queridos. Continuamente vemos imágenes preocupantes de Medio Oriente y por eso seguimos orando por el pueblo de Israel, Líbano, los que viven en Gaza y también Ucrania.
Santiago y Juan nos retratan en el Evangelio la actitud muy humana de buscar gloria y poder, lugares de honor antes que otros. Hay todo tipo de razones para buscar prestigio y honor, muchas de ellas por motivos pecaminosos. Jesús les recuerda a los apóstoles que entre sus seguidores no habrá tal “competencia”. “El que quiera ser grande entre ustedes, que sea su servidor, y el que quiera ser el primero entre ustedes, que sea esclavo de todos”. Jesús nos recuerda que él es nuestro modelo de discipulado de servicio: “Porque el Hijo del Hombre no vino para ser servido, sino para servir y dar su vida en rescate por muchos”.
¡Que tengan una maravillosa semana!
PD: Las últimas dos semanas estuve en la familia de parroquias de Springbank: las parroquias de St. George y St. John the Divine. Por el momento, normalmente estaré en St. George el primer fin de semana del mes y en St. John the Divine el segundo fin de semana del mes.
Nadam se da ste svi proveli prekrasan vikend za Dan zahvalnosti! Ovi trenuci su toliko važni da zastanemo i zahvalimo Bogu za svu njegovu dobrotu – zemlju, naše živote i naše voljene. Stalno gledamo uznemirujuće slike s Bliskog istoka i stoga nastavljamo moliti za narod Izraela, Libanona, one koji žive u Gazi, a također i Ukrajine.
Jakov i Ivan nam u Evanđelju prikazuju sam ljudski stav traženja slave i moći – mjesta časti ispred drugih. Postoje razni razlozi za traženje prestiža i časti, mnogi lažu iz grešnih pobuda. Isus podsjeća apostole da među Njegovim sljedbenicima neće biti takvog "natjecanja". “Tko hoće među vama biti velik, neka vam bude sluga, a tko hoće među vama biti prvi, neka svima bude rob.” Isus nas podsjeća da je on naš model učeništva sluge: "Jer Sin Čovječji nije došao da bude služen, nego da služi i da svoj život da kao otkupninu za mnoge."
Želimo vam prekrasan tjedan!
PS – Posljednja dva tjedna bio sam u obitelji župa Springbank – St. George i St. John the Divine parishes. Za sada, obično ću prvi vikend u mjesecu biti na Jurjevo, a drugi vikend u mjesecu na Svetog Ivana Bogoslovskog.
Fr. Christopher
Pastor