Don't Take the Easy Way Out - Reflection

Homily of Fr. Herbert Nicholls, Diocese of Fall River, bi-ritual faculties in the Maronite Church, chaplain at Mother of the Light Convent.

Luke 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put

out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

As we look at today’s Gospel we find in Simon Peter’s personality this reticence, caution, even resistance. St. Ambrose tells us that it reflects both the difficulties of the early Church and her later fruitfulness.

Each one of us should see ourselves as this boat which Christ enters. Externally no change is evident; but there is an interior change in our soul. Now that Christ has come aboard, just as He came aboard Peter’s boat, we feel a greater ambition to serve and an irrepressible desire to announce the marvelous works of the Lord.

In St. Paul’s letter to the Church at Thessalonica, which derives from the ancient Greek word, ekklesia, meaning assembly or gathering of people. From apostolic times it was used to describe the new people of God or the developing Church.

In Vatican II’s “Constitution on the Church”, Lumen Gentium, we read: All those who in faith look towards Jesus , the author of salvation and the principle of unity and peace, God has gathered together and established as His Church, that it may be for each and everyone a visible sacrament of this saving unity [9].

Returning to the First Reading, St. Paul says in verse 3: Remember before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love and your steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we have seen several times this faith needs to be reflected in our conduct. St. John Chrysostom teaches: belief and faith are proved by works; not simply by what one believes, but by real actions that are lived and fostered by a heart burning with love. This service of others for God’s sake is proof of charity or love.

St. Thomas Aquinas says: All are beloved by God, not just in the ordinary sense of having received natural existence from Him, but particularly because He has called us to eternal good.

Pope St. Pius X in a commentary on today’s Gospel says: Christ is addressing each one of us, urging us to be daring. Throw aside the pessimism that makes a coward of you. Throw out your nets for the catch. Don’t you see that like Peter, you can say, “If you say so Jesus, I will search for souls”.

Christ is telling you and begging you: The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Don’t take the easy way out. Do not say, I am no good at this sort of thing; there are others who can do it better. No! For this sort of thing there is no one else—He has called you. Each and every Christian has his/her calling. No one can claim an exemption of age, health or occupation. There are no excuses. Either we produce a fruitful apostolate or a barren one.

I began these reflections from 1 Thessalonians, verse 3 on faith and love. I will now conclude with steadfast hope. St. Paul encourages us to rejoice in hope and be patient in tribulation (Rom 12:12). St. Thomas tells us that hope is the virtue which enables one to endure adversity. Hope fills the soul with joy and gives it the strength to bear every difficulty for the love of God.

If you are to fall into temptation of wondering or even deeper into doubt, recall that the Gospel is preached not only in word but in power…in the power of the Holy Spirit who is the principal agent for evangelization; it is the Holy Spirit who impels each individual to proclaim the Gospel by his/her life. It is the Holy Spirit who in the depths of conscience causes the word of salvation to be accepted and understood (Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 75).

St. Paul concludes today’s lesson saying: you have become imitators of the Lord because you have received His word in much affliction, and with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you have become an example to all who believe.

A feature of the joy of the Holy Spirit is an uncontainable happiness that grows even out of affliction and sorrow. In the natural course of events afflictions do not produce joy. Joy is the privilege of those who accept suffering for Jesus’ sake. It is one of the fruits bestowed by the Holy Spirit.

     

Learning from Saint Sharbel

By Sister Marla Marie Lucas

(An excerpt from a reflection given at Our Lady of Purgatory during the visit of the Relics of Saint Sharbel.)


The Church is so good to give us saints to be our companions on the journey to heaven -- our journey of becoming saints.  They are our encouragers, our inspiration, our role models for holiness.  Saint Sharbel can teach us many lessons by his life example, and I will focus on a few to to help us to be more intentional Christians.

St. Sharbel was devoted to:  prayer, eucharist, and humility.  Let’s look briefly at each of these.

Prayer  

There is a saying, “show me a man who is favored, and I will show you a man of prayer.”  We easily see that St. Sharbel is favored. Through this Saint’s intercession, God has worked many signs and blessings.

Even while Sharbel was a monk, he was known for miracles: he saved his brothers from a poisonous snake by ordering it to vanish; he recited his prayers by the light of a lamp, which a brother monk purposely filled with water instead of oil, and it gave light; he obeyed his superiors and saved several fields from a plague of grasshoppers, by sprinkling them with holy water; he cast out demons, and healed sick people. 

Sr. Natalie Sayde venerating the relics at
Our Lady of Purgatory Church. 

God has and continues to work great blessings through the hermit monk St. Sharbel. This January when these relics were at the Maronite parish in Phoenix AZ, a young Mexican mother of four was healed of her blindness.    

So well loved in his lifetime and even more after his death.  Why? How? The answer is prayer.  “show me a person who is favored, and I will show you a person of prayer.”

As a child and young man, Youssef (Sharbel’s name before becoming a monk) would daily pray at a nearby shrine to the Virgin Mary while he tended the sheep in his mountain village of B’aa Kafra in north Lebanon.  After entering the monastery at age 23, he distinguished himself in his faithfulness to prayer, meditating on Scripture each day, offering the rosary, the Divine Liturgy, contemplation. And 16 years later, Sharbel desiring deeper prayer entered the life of a hermit living austere penances and prayer. 

We learn how to pray from this holy Saint.

Often times when we come before God to pray, and ask him to remove from our life circumstances we don’t like.  When God doesn’t, we get upset, frustrated.  We may begin to think that “God doesn’t care about what is happening to me.”  The truth is, God does care and he always hears our prayers.  Prayer is less about changing things and more about changing us.

When we spend time in prayer, the one thing that should be changing is us.  In faith, we enter the presence of God when we pray, and in his presence we are changed. As we spend time with God, we find rest from our trials and a strength to continue on.

St. Sharbel, teach us how to pray.

Eucharist

St. Sharbel was devoted to the Eucharist.  It is said that he would awake early and spend those hours preparing himself to offer Divine Liturgy (the Mass), then after Divine Liturgy he would spend the rest of the day in prayerful thanksgiving for receiving communion. Saint Sharbel followed the path of the hermit fathers by kneeling austerely before Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, praying quietly to Jesus day and during the night. 

While celebrating Divine Liturgy on December 16, 1898, he suffered a stroke saying the words: “Father of truth, behold your Son, the sacrifice in whom you are well pleased.  Accept him who died for me…” 

He then kept repeating these words until he died eight days later on Christmas Eve at the age of 70. 

What do we learn from St. Sharbel? He prayed the Divine Liturgy with devotion, affection and attention that he truly became what he offered: communion with Jesus in sacrifice and in new life.

St. Sharbel, teach us to love the Eucharist.

Humility

In the monastery, the monk Sharbel, diligently did hard, manual work in the fields, vineyards and served his priestly duties in an edifying manner.  Later on when Sharbel asked permission to live as a hermit, he continued faithfully in any work his superiors would ask.  A learned and wise man, Sharbel never refused or thought any work was beneath him.  He carried out his duties with joy and generosity always obedient to his superiors. 

Sharbel had a healthy self-knowledge and was in love with God his Creator.   He considered himself a sinner and “the least of all”, as he would often say. He knew he needed a Savior.

Humility is often misunderstood.  People think it’s a sign of weakness, a doormat. 

However, humility is actually a sign of great courage and deep spiritual understanding. In humility there is no fear. In humility there is no timidity. In humility there is only confidence—confidence, not in the self but in God’s loving protection.

I am sure St. Sharbel was inspired by these words in the Scriptures 1 Peter 5:5b-7:

“       And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another,          for: “God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.”         So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.         Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.”             Saint Sharbel, teach us to be humble.

Relics of St. Sharbel -- Brockton and Boston

By Sr. Natalie Sayde

On Thursday and Friday, April 14^th- 15^th, the relics of St. Sharbel, which have been making their way across Maronite parishes throughout the U.S., arrived at the Parish of St. Theresa’s in Brockton, MA. In collaboration with Pastor, Fr. Tony Mouannes, the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light led the faithful in the recitation of the rosary and Ramsho (Evening Prayer).

Mother Marla Marie also gave a presentation on the life and spirituality of St. Sharbel; helping the faithful to reflect on and apply some of the virtues that characterized St. Sharbel in their own lives, such as his simplicity and deep thirst for prayer.

On Saturday, April 16^th, the relics were transferred to the Parish of Our Lady of the Cedars in Boston, MA, where Mother Marla Marie was invited by Pastor, Msgr. Georges El-Khali to speak on the life and spirituality of St. Sharbel.

A highlight during our visit to Boston was that both Mother Marla Marie and I had the opportunity of holding the relics for the faithful to venerate. It was a beautiful sight to see people of all nationalities and ages, making their way down the aisle to venerate the relics of this holy hermit who only loved and yearned for one thing in his life and the next – Christ Crucified.

St. Sharbel, pray for us!

Retreat with Star of the East Parish - Dartmouth MA

By Sister Natalie Sayde

During weekend of April 8-10^th, the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light facilitated a retreat for 12 ladies from the Maronite parish of Our Lady, Star of the East at the Mother of Light Convent. The ladies journeyed on Thursday night (April 7) from Pleasantville, New Jersey and journeyed back to their homes on Sunday, April 10^th.  The theme of the weekend’s retreat was the life and spirituality of Our Blessed Mother, Mary, depicted vividly in the four different mysteries of the Rosary.

Our Blessed Mother holds a special place of significance in our Maronite Tradition, and she is dear to the heart of every Maronite. Mother Marla Marie set the tone of the retreat by asking the ladies to reflect on what Mary means to them and why is she special in their lives. Many of them replied with a beautiful faith and simplicity that she is our Mother who holds our hands and leads us to her Son.

During the retreat, Mother Marla Marie gave presentations on the Joyful and Luminous Mysteries to help the ladies to meditate while praying the rosary. Mother Marla Marie emphasized that the Rosary is first and foremost a meditation, a means of contemplating the life of Christ while journeying with Mary. The women were guided in a holy hour of adoration before the Holy Mysteries in our convent chapel.  On the second day, the holy hour of adoration was one centered on the prayer of healing and forgiveness, as each lady was encouraged to lay their burdens at the feet of Jesus.

Each evening, we watched the movie, “Mary of Nazareth” which depicts the life of Mary from her childhood through the Resurrection of Jesus. The film vividly captures the essence of Mary’s profound faith and trust in God amidst the great mysteries that she lived with as the Mother of the Messiah. Many of the ladies were deeply moved, as they each shared on what captured them in the film.

The days of retreat were interspersed with prayer, presentations, recreation and relaxation, Divine Liturgy and confession. All of the women had a wonderful, rejuvenating time, and thanked us for helping them in their prayer life and spirituality. Some said that their lives had been changed by this retreat and they are returning to their homes as new women. Praise God!

“Mary of Nazareth is the woman of a full and total ‘Here I am’ to the Divine Will. In her ‘yes’, even when faced with the loss of her Son, we find complete and profound beatitude.” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

If any are interested in holding a similar weekend retreat for the ladies of their parish, please contact Mother Marla Marie at 508/996-1753 or at sister@maroniteservants.org