Christ Is Our Light

Deacon Kevin Gingras

June 14th, 2026

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061426.cfm

Exodus 19:2-6a     Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 5 

Romans 5:6-11     Matthew 9:36—10:8  

Jesus looked upon the crowds and: 

His heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus does not look at the crowd with annoyance, judgment, or indifference. He looks at them with compassion. He sees their struggles, their fears, their wounds, and their longing for God. Jesus indeed loves us the same way and understands we all live in difficult times. He sees our struggles, our hurts, and our longings - His heart is still moved with pity for all of us.  

It’s good to have him on our side for sure because, oftentimes, we are too hard on ourselves.  For example, when I receive the Eucharist, I expect that warm feeling inside, to be overwhelmed that I just consumed My God and the God of my ancestors.  If we receive in good standing, without mortal sin, then why don’t we have those Jesus feelings, all warm inside and all that!  Why don’t we return to our pews weeping with joy for what we just consumed?  I know for me, I start to doubt my faith, and I begin to think I might be doing something wrong!  I’m not receiving Jesus correctly! We mustn’t be so hard on ourselves!  Remember who Jesus picked to be his closest followers while on Earth. They are listed in today’s Gospel. Jesus picked a tax collector, somebody who would betray him, another who denied Him 3 times, and who Jesus even called Satan, and two fella’s who fought over who was the greatest!  Ok, so that probably doesn’t make you feel much better thinking about how bad they might have been!  Maybe just remember that Jesus is indeed on our side!

One thing we must remember when we don’t have that magical feeling after receiving the Eucharist is that our spiritual DNA has been damaged by the sin of Adam and Eve at the very start of Sacred Scripture.  Today we must remember that:

God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

We are sinners, yes, sin is darkness, yes. Satan tries to twist our thoughts to make us think that our sins define us.  Sin does not define us! Sin is darkness, and we are not meant to live in the dark; we are meant to live in the light, the light of Christ! Christ in the Eucharist! It’s confession that shines the light of God’s grace on sin so we can see sin for what it is and remove it from our lives and be brought back fully into the light of Christ.  The more we go to confession, the easier it becomes to see that sin and even the near occasions of sin, and avoid them!

Our first reading tells us that:

if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession … You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”

Because of Adam and Eve, we were born into sin.  By our baptism, we are brought into the light of Christ and become priests, prophets, and kings!  That doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?

Jesus looks upon His church members, upon us, and sees people searching for meaning, he sees families facing challenges, young people seeking direction, and many who feel lost or forgotten. He sees us exactly where we are, and His response is not condemnation but mercy and love.

This week, through prayer and adoration, thank Jesus for bringing us out of darkness and into the light by our baptism, by our reception of the Eucharist, and by the sacrament of confession.

I’ll leave you with these words from St. Maximus of Turin

The light of Christ is eternally glowing with luminous radiance and can never be extinguished by the darkness of sin.” 

Pray humbly and persistantly

 

Deacon Kevin Gingras

August 20th, 2023

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082023.cfm

Is 56:1, 6-7    Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8

Rom 11:13-15, 29-32   Mt 15:21-28

God is love.  Jesus is love.  When we hear today’s Gospel it doesn’t sound like that’s true, Jesus is using harsh language talking to the Canaanite woman.   As a parent, I love my kids but when they are constantly asking me for things, I can get a little irritated.

We were in bible study many years ago, talking about sin and someone said “Well, when we sin and we are in good company because even Jesus sinned.”  Let me pause to add a VERY important Side note here: Jesus NEVER sinned.  My friend was referring to the time Jesus flipped the money changers table.  That was righteous anger and certainly not a sin.  Let me reiterate, Jesus NEVER sinned.  We have to dig deeper into these questionable parts of scripture.

Let’s do that with today’s Gospel.   A demon is tormenting this poor Canaanite woman’s daughter and Jesus appears to brush her off, even seemingly insulting her so let’s analyze this more.  Let’s take some of the important lines and dig right in.

#1 Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon

Tyre and Sidon are important as these are Gentile cities in the southern part of Phoenicia bordering the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea.  Jewish people didn’t live there.  Keep that in mind: Jewish people didn’t live there!

#2 And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.”

A Canaanite woman would be a Gentile, someone who is not Jewish and whose daughter is in a terrible situation.  She seems to know that Jesus can do something to help and even calls him “Lord, Son of David.”  The title she uses is an earthly title of power so she’s not fully there yet with who Jesus really is.  Neither are Jesus’ disciples for that matter!  She persists with her pleas and the disciples seem to get aggravated that this Gentile woman is bugging them asking Jesus to send her away.

#3 Jesus said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

All throughout the Old Testament it’s about the Israelites, God’s chosen nation.  Now God has sent His only begotten Son to the lost sheep of Israel - the Jewish people - they are the lost sheep;  NOT the Gentiles!  Yet the woman persists.  “Lord help me!”  Jump back to #1 and remember, Jesus is in a Gentile city.  He knew what he was doing.

#4 Jesus said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”

There it is, the line we hardly expect from Jesus!  Remember, Jesus is in a Gentile area.  Who did He expect to encounter here, Jews?  No - Gentiles!  

Jesus didn’t come here to reprimand this woman and tell her He didn’t come to help her because she isn’t Jewish.  No, it’s the exact opposite!  Jesus was teaching His disciples that the ministry is going to open up to far more than the lost sheep of Israel!  The ministry will be for everyone eventually.  He intentionally came to a Gentile area, He knew He would encounter Gentiles!  We see that in our second reading today when Paul tells the Romans how he wants to make his race, the Jewish people jealous:

I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them.

Much like the Woman at the Well, this was an expected encounter of Jesus with the Canaanite woman.  

#5  Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.

The teaching moment for his disciples is over and Jesus does as the woman requests, he heals her daughter.

Ok, so the disciples were supposed to learn Jesus came down from Heaven for everyone on Earth.  As St. Paul said today:

For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.

Now what can we learn from this?  Let us focus on the Canaanite woman.  The definition of a gentile is “not Jewish.”  That’s us, so what can she teach us?

She can teach us faith:

"Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters."

Her faith is so strong that she knows that she doesn’t need the whole Jesus but just a scrap will be enough to help her.

She can teach us to be humble and persistent when we pray: 

But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, "Lord, help me."

She got on her knees in the dust and dirt and gave Jesus the respect and honor he is worthy of.  When we pray are we humble or do we think Jesus owes us what we are asking?  We need to remain humble and realize it’s Jesus who’s in charge, not us.  That’s where the persistence comes in.  Our prayers may take a bit to be answered, don’t give up!  Keep at it - even if it takes years!

As St. Padre Pio tells us:

“You must always humble yourself lovingly before God and before men because God speaks only to those who are truly humble and He enriches them with His gifts.“

Low Hanging Fruit

Satan attacks the low hanging fruit in our lives.  We have to be very careful and watchful of that!  What is our low hanging fruit?  Sin.  And more importantly, it is our sins that we always turn to.  The ones we find ourselves confessing time and time again.          

Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God!  But there isn't much hope in that unless you keep on reading!

Romans 3:24-26 gives us hope: 

They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of God—to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

What are your apples?  How do you find them?  There are millions of ways but one that has helped me is a daily reflection just before going to bed.  It's important for me to do this just before bed because it doesn't take much for me to add another sin to my day unless I'm asleep! 

We definitely need to know what our sins are!

Proverbs 28:13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and forsake them obtain mercy.

Colossians 3:5-6   Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.

Because of these the wrath of God is coming

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

At first it was difficult to even remember what my sins throughout the day were.  I don't practice sorcery or orgies or drinking bouts (well...maybe I best be more cautious about that last one!).  I do have moments of envy, selfishness, fury, rivalry.

Still, with all my daily sins I'd lay in bed wondering if perhaps I'm perfect after all!  Far from the truth.  As I continued doing this it became clearer what my sins are and what sins I seem to constantly repeat. Now I have become more aware of when I sin in the reflection at night and even when I sin during the day.  This has also helped to avoid sin before it happens.  I am realizing what situations lead me to sin and avoiding those traps throughout the day.

Our pastor Fr. Cook said in a homily recently we must not dialogue with our sin.  I thought that was fascinating since sometimes I do that!  He likened it to our not eating meat on Friday's.  We could go days without eating any meat without issue but once we realize we can't have it we begin to think about it more.  That gets us into the dialogue and could eventually lead to us just throwing up our hands and giving in to that steak!


As I have become more aware of my sins and what things lead me to those sins it can be tougher to avoid them. When I begin to have that dialogue in my head about them!  Why shouldn't I be able to do that?  Why did God create that rule?  Society says it's ok to do that.  I need to become more aware of what leads me to sin.  If it's gossip is there a way I can avoid that sin?  Do I need to go to the extreme of avoiding people I gossip with? Satan won't help us here.  If gossip is a low hanging apple Satan will make sure that it's difficult for me to avoid. Satan has many traps and temptations!

1 Timothy 6:9 Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.

And most importantly:

Romans 8:1 Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Jesus and the leper

Mark 1:40-45 A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.


When I read this again it donned on me that Jesus, in a sense, took on this man's leprosy, this man was banished, he could not go to temple, he was unclean. Based on the reading from Leviticus 13 1-2, 44-46 he would have had to live on the outskirts of town.  He would have to declare "unclean" loudly if anybody came near him and live apart from others.  If you continue to read on in Leviticus 13:3 and following a person had to go through an extensive round of testing and sacrifices to be declared clean again but once declared clean by the high priest they could now live a normal life.


Jesus, in healing this man allowed it so he could now go into town, go to temple and live a normal life again.  Once others found out about this it became impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.  Jesus could not go to temple.  Jesus now remained outside in deserted places much like the leper had to do.  The only difference, of course, is that people still sought out Jesus instead of avoiding him.


I wonder what it must have been like for Jesus to take on my sin, to suffer for me.  This leper's healing forced Jesus to avoid the towns and temples where he would go to worship.  What does my healing cause to happen to Jesus?  What suffering did he endure because of my wrongs?


I hope with this thought in mind I'll be less likely to sin and when I do sin I will be quicker with remorse.  Jesus, who never sinned, took on all our wrongdoing and sin so the less of these we commit the lesser the burden is on Him.