Sunday, November 01, 2009

Thanking the God of Surprises

This morning, I went to the 11 a.m. Mass at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Manhattan's Upper East Side at which Fr. James Martin, S.J., professed his final vows as a member of the Society of Jesus (the "Jesuits").

The Mass was beautiful. And, it was quite fitting that the author of the bestseller "My Life with the Saints" professed his final vows on the Solemnity of All Saints.

Fr. Jim gave an excellent homily on today's Gospel. He concluded it by reminding us that the Greek word for "blessed" (as used repeatedly in the passage) can also be translated "happy" -- and how happiness and joy are important for a life pointed toward sainthood.

At the end of Mass, as Fr. Jim concluded his remarks of appreciation by thanking "the God of surprises." (I need to do that more often.)

In case you're not familiar with Fr. Jim from his appearances on The Colbert Report, check out this clip:

1 comment:

Fran said...

How great that you got to go! I have long admired Fr. Jim - he is such a great face of our church in these times.

I have not met him, but when I was doing interviews for my article, which you recall, because I interviewed you, he was both quick and generous in letting me talk to him.

Yesterday must have been very wonderful... I was certainly praying for him during the day.

PS - I just loaned "My Life With the Saints" to Sue. Since she did not grow up with the saints, I thought it would be a good book for her to try.