By Most Rev. Richard W. Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton

Monday, September 29, 2014

A Matter of Translation

Like many others in this country, the Archdiocese of Edmonton is blessed with parishioners from a variety of cultures and languages. It is a particular joy for me to visit a parish and hear the people praying and singing in their native tongue (Cree, Vietnamese, Croatian, for example, and many more). Often, I don't understand a word of it. It sounds beautiful, but the meaning escapes me. To understand, translation is required. By means of a translator, sound becomes word, and perplexity is transformed into comprehension.

The Gospel passage for last Sunday (cf. Matthew 21: 28-32) is all about the need for clear translation. Jesus speaks of the need not only to say we will do the will of God, but also to accomplish that word in action. As Christians, we proclaim that Jesus is our Lord. For others to understand these words, they need to be translated clearly into not other words but actions.

By what acts, then, do we show clearly what is meant by the words we profess? The first, and font of all others, is the act of faith. We say that Jesus is Lord and Saviour. This translates into act when we place all of our hopes in him, surrendering with trust in his love and wisdom to the truth of who he is and what he reveals. It translates further into conversion. By changing our lives to live more in conformity with the teaching of Christ and his Church we make visible in act what we say in speech.

Because we believe, we pray. Recognizing that all comes from the goodness of God, we offer prayers daily in thanksgiving and petition, recognizing peacefully that God is our loving Father who will never leave us forsaken. The act of prayer embraces and flows from a reflective reading of the Word of God, undertaken that we might obey what we hear. This obedience leads us to participate in the life of the Church, since Christ gave his life to form us into a communion, which is his mystical Body on earth. This participation reaches its peak in the sacraments, especially in the frequent celebration of Eucharist and Penance.

A particularly clear action that translates our Christian words is service of others, especially of those in need. Pope Francis is demonstrating this to great effect. Our relationships in general will translate the faith we profess when they are marked by truth, honesty and respect.

Our actions will also translate back to us the degree to which we are allowing the Word of God to transform us. It is important to examine our actions daily and allow them to instruct us. In golf we say, "the ball doesn't lie." In other words, I might feel that my swing is good, but a slice or hook will tell me truthfully that there is something I have to do differently. Similarly, I might think I am a faithful Christian, but my actions don't lie. If I am not praying, meditating upon God's Word, participating in the sacraments, serving others, or dealing honestly in relationships, then those same actions are telling me I have to change. Let's pray this week for the grace to examine our lives, and ask God for the help we need to make sure that our words of faith find clear translation in our deeds.

Monday, September 22, 2014

What Really Matters


It was a remarkable phenomenon. Watching the news the other evening I saw a report about people - hundreds and hundreds of people in many cities - camped outside a store for as much as twenty-four hours in order to acquire a brand new version of a smartphone. Now, I like technology as much as the next guy, and I confess to being a little tempted to see what this new phone can do, but really! All that time wasted in a mall, all that energy spent in excited anticipation, for a phone! Moreover, for a phone that we know will soon be set aside in favour of the next upgrade to come along.

The perspective is distorted. This applies to all of us anytime we set our sights on what is passing, when we seek to fulfill our desires with what cannot for long satisfy. It need not be a smartphone; anytime our attention and energy are focused on things like money, possessions, prestige, reputation, the right location and so on, our outlook on what really matters has become terribly skewed.

The Scripture readings proclaimed Sunday serve to refocus our vision, purify our desires, and get our priorities back in correct order (cf. Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1: 20-24, 27; Matthew 20:1-16). Isaiah cries out: "Seek the Lord!!" Seek not some worldly satisfaction that will leave us wanting. Seek, instead, to live in right relationship with God. St. Paul makes this very concrete by speaking of the desires of his own heart. His longing is to be with Christ. As long as the Lord has a purpose for him in this world, he will be content to live in the world and fulfill God's will. But his desire is to be with Christ forever. That's it! To be with Christ forever! For this we have been created; only in this, therefore, will our deepest desire find fulfillment.

How do we pursue the desire? Certainly not by camping out in a shopping mall. To be with Christ forever, living in him in the unity of the Trinity for all eternity, is what we mean by salvation. What Jesus makes clear in his parable of the vineyard labourers is that salvation is God's gift, pure and simple, offered to us out of the infinite depths of his  generosity. It matters not if we come to faith only "late in the day". When one is awakened to the joy of a life of faith is all part of the mystery of God's grace interacting with human freedom. What matters is that God holds out his gift to all equally. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn it.

What is required is that our lives be open to the working of God's grace within us, so that he can bring about in us the accomplishment of his saving will.


The one thing necessary is to live in union with Christ. May this truth so possess us that our hearts will always be set upon what truly matters, and open to receive his saving grace.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Retreat Time

Tonight the priests of the Archdiocese of Edmonton begin a week of retreat. It is always a great blessing to set aside some time simply to be with and listen to the Lord.

What about retreat in your own life? I know it can be very difficult to set aside a number of days in succession to be on retreat, but it is very possible to set aside some time daily for this sacred purpose. Lives are busy and fragmented, yes, but at the same time there always seems to be time to watch a favourite TV program, listen to music and so on. If we can make time for these, we can certainly set aside some time for what is infinitely more important: spending time with the Word of God.

The importance of this is underscored by the liturgical feast day of today, September 8th. On this day each year the Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In God's plan to save the world, she was chosen of old to be the mother of the Saviour and was prepared by God's grace for this unique role. The Gospel assigned for the day highlights how God has also worked in the lives of countless other persons in history to bring about his saving purpose (cf. Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23). From this we know that God is at work in our own lives also. Do we take time to ponder this? God is at work in our lives, carrying us, loving us, and speaking to us through Scripture and the voice of His Church. If we don't make time to pray with this wondrous truth and instead focus only on comparatively unimportant things, we lose sight of the deepest meaning of our lives.

This, in turn, can give rise to heartache and despair. Trials and hardship come to all of us, but if we don't place these against the backdrop of the mystery of God and his working in the lives of his people, they can leave us without hope and struggling for understanding. When we are mindful of God and his love, however, then we come to the conviction expressed today by St. Paul: "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." God is at work in our lives to turn all things to the good. All things! This is the source of real hope and, yes, joy. We are not alone; we are never abandoned. Faith is letting God carry us. He will never disappoint.

So I recommend finding time today, and every day, for retreat. This might be just a few moments. That's okay. Beginning with even a little will surely lead to more. Ponder his love, listen to his voice, and rest in the knowledge that he is at work, bringing all together for our good and for the unfolding of his purpose for us and for the world.

Monday, September 1, 2014

"Back to School"

Students are heading back to the classroom this week. As I watch the children head off for school, and as I reflect upon an event in which I participated last week, a question arises: "is it time for all of us to go 'back to school' with respect to our faith?"

On Wednesday of last week the Archdiocese hosted a special Mass for Peace in the Middle East. Earlier that day a press conference was held, in which a number of Christians with roots in the Middle East, including Iraq, spoke about the terrible situation in their homelands and their own response to it. Speaker after speaker spoke movingly about the anguish they are experiencing at the suffering of family and friends. Particularly moving were the testimonies of Iraqi Christians, whose compatriots still living in Iraq are, together with other religious minorities, victims of unspeakable atrocities. One after the other they spoke of their resolve to respond to hatred with love and to vengeance with forgiveness. As I listened, I could not help but think, "These people get it! They understand, and they live, what it means to be a Christian!"

Can we say the same about ourselves? Is it time to go "back to school" to relearn what it really means to live the Christian life? The Scripture readings for last Sunday underscore just how radically different God's ways are from ours, and how it is easy to fall into the trap of becoming worldly and allowing human logic to guide our ways of thinking, acting, and living; how easy it is, in other words, to drift away from living our Christian faith authentically. This was behind the famous rebuke Jesus leveled at St. Peter: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are thinking not as God does, but as humans do." (Matthew 16: 23) Since this is a temptation to which all of us can succumb - and there is great pressure upon us from all sides to do so - it is always good to heed the call of St.Paul, recalled in Sunday's second reading (cf. Romans 12:1-2), to be "transformed by the renewing of your minds." To be conformed to the world, to think only in terms of human reason and emotion, weakened by original sin, is to become - in the words of Pope Francis - "watered-down Christians" (Sunday Angelus message, Aug 31, 2014).




In truth, the Christian must always be "in school", since conversion to our Lord and ever deeper immersion in his ways is a life-long process. We are always learning. It is sad when children drop out of school, because we know the missed opportunities this represents. Have we dropped out of the school of Christian life? If so, it is time to go back and learn once again from Sacred Scripture and the Christian Tradition the joy of being in a living relationship with Jesus Christ in the communion of his Church.