Lose Life in Order to Gain Life - stfrancisfrankford.com

5th Lent Pastor’s Weekly Newsletter

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1) Jeremiah 31:31-34

2) Hebrews 5:7-9

3) John 12:20-33

Lose Life in Order to Gain Life Few sights are as beautiful as that of a field filled with young stalks of wheat. To watch them swaying in the wind and dancing in the sun brings joy to the heart, but the process by which these stocks come into being is counter-intuitive: The grain of wheat has first to be buried in the cold damp earth as in a tomb, then it has to die. Were it not to die, no new life would emerge. Yet when it dies, from the tomb of the old grain a shoot of new wheat miraculously springs forth. It is an amazing paradox - life emerging from death. Just as the grain of wheat has to die in order to bear fruit, so too must we die to self in order to live our full potential as human beings and as children of God. You see, my Friend, death is a part of life. We are born to die, to die that we may live more fully - born to die a little each day to selfishness, to pretence, and to sin. Every time that we pass from one stage of life to another, something within us dies and something within us is born. We taste death in moments of loneliness, rejection, sorrow, disappointment, and failure. And we are sadly dying before our time whenever we live in bitterness, hatred, isolation; each day we are creating death by the way in which we (fail to) live. When Jesus says, whoever loves his life loses it, and the person who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (Jn 12:25), He is not telling us to hate ourselves or our lives literally – our life is a gift from God! Why would He want us to hate it? God wants us to be merciful with ourselves, so we must first learn to love ourselves. You cannot love another until you love yourself: Nemo dat quod non habet, no one gives what he does not have. Unless we first love ourselves, we will be incapable of loving another. Of course, we have to distinguish between selfless love and selfishness, between altruism and narcissism. To forget self, to transcend self, that is what Jesus means to lose oneself, to deny oneself, to die to self. It is when we forget ourselves that we are most free and most happy. It is in dedicating ourselves to causes beyond ourselves that we grow and bear fruit. To be sure, we may live longer if we take things easy, if we sit by the fireside and sequester ourselves from the world. To be sure, we may exist longer, but are we alive? What a poor world it would be if everyone put his own personal safety, security, and selfish advancement first and last, if no one was prepared to go beyond himself. It is only when people are prepared to die to self-interest that the most precious things which humanity possesses come to life. Jesus set the example for us to follow. He gave His life in the service of His heavenly Father and of us, yet even He did not find that easy. When the approaching time to die drew near even


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Jesus was filled with fear, (cf. Lk 22:42). Yet the life of Jesus was not stolen from Him; He gave it freely. He gave His life out of love of God and of us. To love is to accept that one might first be called to die figuratively before literally taking one’s last breath. The path of a life well-trodden is inevitably the Way of the Cross, and the Way of the Cross which Jesus blazed leads to eternal life. Only when you die to self in this life will you find the moment of death easier to embrace; your hour of death will become your hour of glory, and you will be able like to claim as did St Paul, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:7).

Knowing the Rules

I once read a story about a bicycle race in India.1 The object of the race was to go the shortest distance possible within a specified time. At the start of the race, everyone cued up at the line, and when the gun sounded all the bicycles, as best they could, stayed put. Racers were disqualified if they tipped over or one of their feet touched the ground. And so they would inch forward just enough to keep the bike balanced. When the time was up and another gun sounded, the person who had gone the farthest was the loser and the person closest to the starting line was the winner.

Imagine getting into that race and not understanding how the race works. When the race starts, you pedal as hard and fast as you possibly can. You're out of breath. You're sweating. You're delighted because the other racers are back there at the starting line. You're going to break the record. You think, this is fantastic. Don't let up. Push harder and faster and longer and stronger.

At last you hear the gun that ends the race, and you are delighted because you are unquestionably the winner. Except you are unquestionably the loser because you misunderstood how the race is run. Jesus gives us the rules to the eternal race of life. The finish line is painted on the other side of our deaths, right in front of the throne of God Himself. There you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. The winning strategy for this life and for all eternity is caring about others and not about

ourselves. It is letting others go first and not pushing to the front. It is giving without the expectation of getting in return. It is to be humble, like Jesus.

1 Citation: Leith Anderson, author and pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota; from sermon "The Height of Humility" (September 12, 1999)


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The Year of Saint Joseph

As practicing Catholics, we understand the power of prayer and petition. Since the start of Wednesday, 10th March and continuing until 8th December 2021, you will find in each of our three churches a container close to the statue of St Joseph into which you can place your prayer petition. During each Mass the Universal Prayer will include a general intercession that Saint Joseph intercede on behalf of all supplicants whose petitions are placed in his care. Please bring your prayer petition to church in person and deposit it directly into the container provided beside the statue. You may deposit petitions for yourself and for others. To respect the privacy of the petitions submitted, they will be

destroyed at the close of the Year of Saint Joseph. Cut out the following to prepare your prayer petition or pick up a copy in church next to the statue of St Joseph:

Every 19th March the Universal Church celebrates a Solemn Mass in honour of Saint Joseph. Please join us this Year of Saint Joseph on Friday 19th March at 9am in the church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Frankford!

Loving Saint Joseph, faithful foster father of Jesus Christ, I raise my heart to you to implore your powerful intercession

in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly

the grace of a happy death, and the special grace I now implore:

(insert your petition)


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Parish Financial Support Thank you for continuing to help our Parish through these difficult times with both your prayers and generous donations. Your contribution will help to ensure that the Parish can cover its present financial obligations until we are able to resume offering full capacity seating at all our Masses and liturgies.

Here are now 6 ways to donate:

1. Set up an automatic deposit to the Parish bank account – this can be done by calling the Parish at 613-398-6745.

2. Bring your weekly donation envelope (cheque only!) to the Office at 288 Riverside

Parkway, Frankford, and leave it in the small black mailbox to the right of the door.

3. Bring your weekly donation envelope (cheque only!) to the St James Church at 236 Edward Street, Stirling, and leave it in the black mailbox to the left of the main door.

4. Send an e-transfer from your account to St Francis of Assisi Parish at email [email protected]. Then email us at [email protected] to let us know (a) the password which you have chosen for us to access the donation, (b) your first and family names, address, telephone number, and the number on your regular Sunday donation envelope (if you do not have one, let us know that, too).

5. Mail your donation to St Francis of Assisi Parish, PO Box 339, Frankford, ON K0K

2C0

6. At Mass in the Collection Box

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Lose Life in Order to Gain Life - stfrancisfrankford.com