Before Mass, a parishioner wanted to share his findings after walking through the school. A retired engineer, I asked this humble man to share his expertise. The school was abandoned for many years and the parish has just installed a new furnace, but it was leaking cold air like a sieve. Needless to say, our engineer was a blessing for he found lots of holes that needed to be plugged.
His
suggestions were very practical, like discovering holes on the first floor where
the cold air was coming from the basement. Also, a back door had an opening so
large that you could see straight to Buffalo!
Now
I’m trying to get ready for Mass and lead the Advent Penance Service. This man
is passionate and wants me to find 3 or 4 people after Mass to plug some of the
holes or he fears the water pipes will freeze and the furnace will die.
During
the Penance service, I shared a statement from Pope Francis. He shared that there
is darkness in each of us. For we are all sinners. Hold on, the Pope is not
talking about Catholic guilt. He says, “Walking in darkness means being overly
pleased with ourselves, believing that we do not need salvation. That is
darkness! When we continue on this road of darkness, it is not easy to turn
back.” St. John wrote: ‘If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is
not in us”. Look to your sins, we are all sinners, all of us … this is the
starting point.
“When the Lord forgives us, He
does justice” – continued the Pope – first to himself, “because
He came to save
and forgive“, welcoming us with the tenderness of a Father for
his children: “The
Lord is tender towards those who fear, fear not in the sense of
being scolded but mentored to those who humbly come to Him “and with
tenderness,” He always understand us”. He wants to gift us the peace that only
He gives. ”
But
let’s get real and be honest, many of us are too busy to look within ourselves,
we are often
ashamed to tell the truth: ‘I did this, I thought this’. But “shame” is a true Christian
virtue, and even human and to be ashamed is a virtue of the
humble.
Pope
Francis continued: “ we must have trust, because when we sin we have an
advocate with the Father, “Jesus Christ the righteous.” And He “supports us
before the Father” and defends us in front of our weaknesses. But you need to stand in
front of the Lord with confidence, even with joy, without masquerading… We must
never masquerade before God. And shame is a virtue: ‘blessed shame.’
This is the virtue that Jesus asks of us: humility and meekness”.
In
other words, there are lots of cold drafts in our lives that need to be
plugged. I witnessed humility in our church today as peoples’ cheeks were
cradled and I told, “ to let go of their shame and walk in humility.” Yes, we
are all sinners, yet we all came to receive the Lord’s mercy to restore the
warmth of our hearts that have been made bitter cold by the sin in our lives.
At the
end of mass, we made the announcement for volunteers and a dozen people walked
over to church to plug some holes and promised to return to repair the many
doors and windows that need to be readjusted to keep the cold air out and warm
air in.
Lord,
I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that “to be ashamed” is a virtue that will
bring us out of the cold into the warm embrace of our loving God. Believe and
celebrate this blessing.
