Message from Fr. Eslin Pereira...

27 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

…IMPERFECTLY, BUT TOGETHER

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, greetings to all! Hope and wish things are going well with all our day to day needs and responsibilities. A thought for this week I suggest the following about the “IMPERFECTION”. The spirituality of imperfection was taught by Thérèse of Lisieux as an ideal of human perfection in the opinion of Richard Rohr on the topic ‘Accepting our Imperfections’. Thérèse is one of the favorite saints, for those perhaps because of being an Enneagram Type One. The trap for the One is self- created perfectionism, which makes us dissatisfied and disappointed by nearly everything, starting with ourselves.

Thérèse guides us to embrace imperfection—our own and that of others. When her sister Céline was upset with her own faults, Thérèse instructed, “If you want to bear in peace the trial of not pleasing yourself, you will give [the Virgin Mary] a sweet home.” If we pay attention even for an hour, we observe how hard it is to be “displeasing” to ourselves! Often, this is the emotional snag that sends us into terribly bad moods without even realizing the origins of these moods. To resolve this problem, Thérèse teaches us to let go of the very need to “think well of yourself” to begin with! That’s our ego talking, not God.

Worthiness is not the issue; the issue is trust and surrender. As Thérèse understood, “Jesus does not demand great actions from us but simply surrender and gratitude.” Let’s resolve this once and for all: You’re not worthy! None of us are. Don’t even go down that worthiness road. It’s a game of denial and pretend. We’re all saved by grace. We’re all being loved despite ourselves. That’s why I can alsosay, “You’re all worthy!" But your worthiness has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with the goodness of God.

Brené Brown, a contemporary teacher who extols the gifts of imperfection, writes: “It is in the process of embracing our imperfections that we find our truest gifts: courage, compassion, and connection.”

When we can let go of what other people think and own our story, we gain access to our worthiness—the feeling that we are enough just as we are and that we are worthy of love and belonging. When we spend a lifetime trying to distance ourselves from the parts of our lives that don’t fit with who we think we’re supposed to be, we stand outside of our story and hustle for our worthiness by constantly performing, perfecting, pleasing, and proving.

There is a line from Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem” that serves as a reminder to us when we are trying to control everything and make it perfect. The line is, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” This line helps us remember the beauty of the cracks. It reminds us that our imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together. Imperfectly, but together.

Fr. Eslin Pereira CMF

Message from Fr. Eslin Pereira...
SPIRITUAL MATURITY

Dear parishioners, We have come to the part of the year that can depress many if not strong in mind and heart, the FALL. I remember while in Germany this would be the saddest part of the year when many elderly and sick people would not withstand the harshness or the imbalance of the temperatures and would find their way to their origins. I find the thoughts of James Finley so consoling and spiritual that I would like to share them with you. We ripen in holiness and spiritual fulfillment as we learn to sit in the sun of God’s mysterious, sustaining presence that energizes and guides our efforts, bringing us to realms of grace that are beyond, way beyond, anything we can achieve by our own efforts alone.

The lifelong process of ripening brings about a corresponding ripening of our ability to understand the fundamentals in a wiser, peace-giving manner. As a person ripens in unsayable intimacies in God, they ripen in a paradoxical wisdom. They come to understand God as a presence that protects us from nothing, even as God unexplainably sustains us in all things. This is the Mystery of the Cross that reveals whatever it means that God watches over us; it does not mean that God prevents the tragic thing, the cruel thing, the unfair thing, from happening. Rather, it means that God is intimately hidden as a kind of profound, tender sweetness that flows and carries us along in the intimate depths of the tragic thing itself—and will continue to do so in every moment of our lives up to and through death, and beyond.

As fruit ripens, it fulfills itself in reaching its full potential to nurture us and give us pleasure. Then too, there is the fruit that, in remaining unharvested, falls onto the ground and dies. The lesson here is in Jesus’ words, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it brings forth fruit a hundred-fold, a thousand-fold” (John 12:24). We believers in the Lord of Resurrection, who died (FALL) for us, find our part in the falling, rising, and giving life for others.

God bless. Fr. Eslin Pereira CMF

Message from Fr. Eslin Pereira...
25 th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“MOST PROFOUND PRODUCT OF THIS WORLD IS TEARS”

Greetings and special appreciation to all parishioners for the rightful and joyful Parochial Feast the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. May the suffering of Christ on the Cross bring all of us salvation grace to imitate Him in patience, love and forgiveness. Special appreciation to all who worked for the fulfillment of the plan. I found the following reflection on God’s love made manifest by Cynthia Bourgeault so toughing and worth sharing.

CAC teacher emerita Cynthia Bourgeault suggests that the Divine attributes of love, mercy, and forgiveness are most clearly called forth in our earthly existence. She begins with the Sufi phrase “I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known,” a mystical description of why God created the universe.

Notice that there is a subtle double meaning at work in this phrase. In order to become known to another, we must take the risk of loving that person, and this includes the real possibility of rejection and the even more painful prospect of heartbreak if the beloved is lost
to us.

Could it be like this for God as well? Could it be that this earthly realm, not despite but because of its very density and jagged edges, offers precisely the conditions for the expression of certain aspects of divine love that could become real in no other way?

Let me be very clear here. I am not saying that suffering exists for God to reveal himself. I am only saying that where suffering exists and is consciously accepted, there divine love shines
forth brightly.

Bourgeault invites us to examine this phenomenon in their own lives: The principle can be tested. Pay attention to the quality of human character that emerges from constriction accepted with conscious forgiveness as compared to what emerges from rage and violence and draw your own conclusions.

At any rate, I have often suspected that the most profound product of this world is tears. Tears express that vulnerability in which we can endure having our heart broken and go right on loving. In the tears flows a sweetness not of our own making, which has been known in our tradition as the Divine Mercy. Our jagged and hard-edged earth plane is the realm in which this mercy is the most deeply, excruciatingly, and beautifully released. That’s our business down here. That’s what we’re here for.

Fr. Eslin Pereira CMF

Message from Fr. Eslin Pereira...

EXPERIENCE OF A GRAIL IN LIFE

Soul thirst for a purpose in life is our own Grail experience.
Our lives are characterized by some measure of perpetual dissatisfaction. Nothing lives up to our standards: not the church, not ourselves, not our country. There is a radical, aching longing: Ordinary life will never again be good enough for those who go through a grail experience, yet it is not
meaningless either. In my opinion, it is true; not just for a few human beings, but for most of us or all of us.

After such a Grail experience, the ordinary forever becomes extraordinary. God is both perfectly hidden and perfectly revealed in everything. A peak experience can be disconcerting. Sometimes we might even be ungrateful for it. We do not fit in anymore. We live the rest of our lives at a tilt, wandering. We might feel a bit off-centre. We cannot get excited about things most people get excited about. We just do not believe they are important anymore.

Life’s not about being perfect. It is about getting involved in this great wrestling match. Once we have experienced the purpose in life, that is the Grail—our soul, our True Self, God- in-us—we still fall short. We betray others and ourselves. We fail to live our own truth. We act contrary to our values and beliefs. We are hypocritical, lazy, lustful, and all the rest. But we are also trapped in the truth. As Jeremiah says, it burns within us (20:9). We know it is the truth, even though we can never live up to it. Henceforth the only sin would be to deny that it is the truth. Trying to live up to the soul thirst of our lives, the ‘purpose’ is the rest of the Grail journey. Let us peep in to reality with the purpose God has put into human history, a harmonious life.

I wish all of you, your families, and children a blessed Parish Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross!

God bless.
Fr. Eslin Pereira CMF

Start of New School Year!
What do I look for?
Dear Parents! Dear Children! It is a new school year. What can we expect of it? Or how should we go about it? We do not know; it will
likely bring us its usual times of work and play, experiences of learning, newness, success and challenges, all things that are part of school life. Parents and your parish community is not out of its realms. This message in the parish bulletin brings you all, dear Children, dear parents the message that Jesus loves children in a special way and is there for each of them in all situations. It is a new beginning; the planting of a seed that will grow for a year,
the seed of fruit that will blossom in times to come. It offers new hope; Hope for good work, for successful results, For friendship, for fun, for learning. In this coming year, may there be learning, prayer, and fun. May there be hard work, faith, and friendship. May no one in school be lonely; may no one be left out in class; May no one suffer because of how others treat them. The Church with its entire force, finds itself backing up all our children to have their formal preparation for the First Communion (grade 2) and Confirmation (grade 6) with the help of their parents and the respective schools. As we begin this new school year in hope, in prayer and friendship, May God begin it with us, be with us during it, and successfully bring it to its conclusion
God bless you all.
Fr. Eslin Pereira cmf.

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

PLEASE BE SEATED….

Dear Brothers, Sisters, and loving children, I’m pleased to share with you few reflections on the 22ndSunday of the Ordinary Time. If we go to the cinema or theatre, we are often asked if want VIP or premier seats and if we do want to sit in the most comfortable seats, it will cost us extra. Wealthy people, those who consider themselves to be celebrities and famous never sit at the back. They always sit where they will be seen, heard, and noticed.

Jesus very clearly warns us about this attitude of self –importance. Being a follower of Jesus, we are all invited to the table of the Lord as equals. None of us can really demand the best seat, as if such a thing exists or to expect special treatment; we all come before God just as we are.

When we gather around the table of the Lord, it is not only as invited guests, but as the family of God, as brothers and sisters of Jesus and as each other’s brother and sister. Being a follower of Jesus is about humility. This is not to be confused with weakness or meekness. Humility speaks of an inner quality of recognizing and appreciating who we are, the place of God in our lives and our relationship to other people.

Jesus uses the symbol of the meal to teach something about the true ‘place of honour’ at his ‘wedding banquet.’ This place of honour is not reserved for the select few. We are all invited to sit at the table with Jesus as his honoured guests.

Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, we are not only fed and nourished ourselves, we are also called to share the richness of God’s life by reaching out to others, especially those in need. We sit at the table with Jesus so we can be generous and gracious to others. This week, whose needs can I put before my own? Who can I serve this week?

God bless, Fr. Eslin Pereira CMF