Canada before Beer

Memorial of Saint John de Brébeuf and
Saint Isaac Jogues, priests and martyrs

Biographical Information about St. John Brébeuf
Biographical Information about St. Isaac Jogues

Readings for Thursday

Reading 1 Eph 1:1-10

Responsorial Psalm Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.

Gospel Lk 11:47-54

Homily:

Today we should start with Jesus in the Gospel and go backward with scripture but forward in time. We begin with Jesus really laying into the Scribes and Pharisees because they refuse to see the spirit of God and cling only to their traditions and the trappings of the Law. It would be as if one who professed Christianity were to drive past a person injured or persecuted at the side of the road because they were late for Mass.

We follow the Lord’s attempt to move these misguided temple leaders with Paul’s opening profession to the Ephesians. This wonderful prayer is one of Paul’s gems.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him.
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ,
in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace
that he granted us in the beloved.

Here is the message that Jesus was trying to get the Scribes and Pharisees to listen to. Here the love God has for us is realized and the groundwork for our salvation laid bare. The gifts the Lord brings us are enumerated – the spiritual blessings, our adoption by Christ, the grace and peace he offers us.

It is this intense love for us, recognized by the Communion of Saints throughout our history that gives us encouragement and hope. Today we remember two of the holy ones who have gone before us in faith; St. John de Brébeuf and St. Isaac Jogues. These two French Jesuit missionaries to the Canadian wilds took that message of love were it had never been. In the end they gave their lives for that message and in doing so, forged one more rung in our ladder that leads us to the Father. That is what the saints do for us, the live the message the Lord left for us as examples for us to follow.


Of course the difficult part is that we to are expected to take that message and do our best to put it into practice so those who follow us will see our example and follow. Indeed our prayer today should be the one Paul wrote to the Ephesians and in our hearts let us feel the hope and peace that prayer brings.

Pax