SEPTEMBER 7, 2026 DEACON MICHAEL CARRERA
Today, we celebrate Labour Day. It’s a national holiday in Canada and the United States when we pause. We pause to remember and to honour all the social and the economic achievements that gave workers better wages, and some-some proper time for rest and just some time to spend time with their families.
It’s such an important day, because for years, workers were treated unfairly, and it was time for a change. They fought for better wages, for better work conditions, those that we honour today, they tossed out the old yeast of malice, and evil, and jealousy, and unfairness, and they brought in a new batch, a new and improved workforce.
Yes, it’s such an important day, because this day gives us an opportunity to think back from where we came. It’s an opportunity to celebrate where we currently are, at the end of summer. And it’s also an opportunity to look forward to what is to come.
And, friends, what better way to look forward to what is to come than to allow this beautiful psalm we just heard to go from our mind into our hearts? “Lead me in Your justice, Lord. Let those who take refuge in You rejoice. Let them sing for joy. Yes, let them sing for joy.”
Now, friends, we all know that life can sometimes be really tough. But we also know that when we work to better ourselves, yes, when we make some uncomfortable decisions, when we push through the fear, when we push through discouragement, life can sometimes become easier to manage.
No one will deny that our lives are not filled with pitfalls and potholes. There are pitfalls in our physical and mental health, physical and mental health challenges, and there are potholes in our personal issues and familial issues, and sometimes we wanna do nothing more than to toss out the old yeast of sin, and distraction, and discord. Yes, nothing more than that than to simply have some form of a change in our lives.
Well, I think a good start is always the sacrament of confession. You know, I once heard it said that “We don’t need to be great to start, but we do need to start to be great.” And the sacrament of confession is a– –is a beautiful act of response where we’re able to lighten our loads, unburden ourselves, and step into the healing power of God’s grace where He can help us change the way we look at things.
And when we change the way we look at things, we are able to grow in our human potential, nurture our interpersonal relationships, and, yes, yes, we’re able, more importantly than anything, to look at life differently. And that is so important, friends, ’cause that is what we see in the power of God’s healing grace to toss out the old yeast.
In our gospel passage today, Jesus was trying to inspire the Pharisees and the scribes to change the way they look at things, saying to them, “Do you not see? I have not come to abolish the law, or to abolish the scriptures, but to bring them to fulfilment.”
And, of course, as they’re hearing this, and they’re struggling with this, Jesus doubles down. He takes the hand of a man, then He heals it on the Sabbath, a day that He should be doing no work, as if to say to them, “Please, will you not open your eyes to see who is standing before you? I am the Messiah. And will you not also open your ears to what the Lord is calling you to, to toss out the old yeast, the malice, and evil, and discord, and confusion, and become a new batch, a new un-leavened batch?”
Well, friends, we can all afford to toss out some yeast at times in our lives. Yeast, the stale yeast that stops us from living in our full potential in Christ. And, sometimes, help comes in the most unexpected ways.
There was a young man who had gotten involved in the wrong crowd, and had done some not-so-good things. He wasn’t proud of these things, similar things that we read about in our first reading from the letter of Saint Paul. But even though time had gone on, and he had made some amends for these things, each time he looked in the mirror he saw fear, and regret, and guilt, and shame staring back at him. You could say that he carried a lot of old wounded yeast that stopped him from seeing himself in a positive life.
But, nonetheless, he moved on with his life. He graduated from university. He worked a couple of years, and then, he went back to graduate school. While as part of his internship program that he had at the end of his first year, he was able to work at a local business. He did that throughout the entire summer.
At the end, he asked his supervisor for a letter of reference. She said “Sure, no problem. I’ll E-mail it to you.” A week later, he opened up his inbox and there was the letter. He read it, but he didn’t recognize the person in this letter. This letter talked about someone who had an amazing work ethic, had great potential, character, integrity, always showed up on time, and he was taken aback ‘because those are not the qualities he would give to himself, so he called her up.
First, he thanked his supervisor for the letter, and then he half-jokingly said to her, “Are you sure you sent the letter to the right person? ‘Cause I don’t recognize the person in that letter.” To which she responded, “Well, you see, I did not write that letter based on the person you are today. Because we all are in need of growth. We all have challenges we have to overcome. No, I wrote that letter based on the person that I know you have the potential to become.”
Friends, talk about being inspired to toss out the old yeast and become a new batch. Well, this young man went for his final year of graduate school. He had his best academic year that he ever had because this supervisor saw in him something that he failed to see in himself.
And then, because of the sacraments of the church, he was able to slowly look in the mirror, and no longer see so much fear, and regret, and guilt. No, he looked in the mirror and now he saw his positive qualities, that he can better contribute to society.
And so, that is what we see in our first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, where in essence he is saying to them, “Do you not want to live from the full potential that was given to you because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross?”
If that is the case, do not settle for mediocre faith. Do not settle for mediocre commitment. No, no, because, friends, you are no longer bound by the slavery of sin. No, no, we have been set free. Yes, we have been set free because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
So, do not settle for mediocre faith. Do not settle for mediocre commitment. Rise up. Toss out the old yeast. Become a new batch. Become a new creation. Friend, become the Christian that you want to see in the world.
And like Saint Paul tells us in our first reading, the Christian that we want to see in the world is a Christian that walks in sincerity and he walks in truth. The Christian that is willing to step out into the brightness of truth is willing to unburden himself, unburden herself, and truly rise up to the potential that Christ is calling us to. A potential that has been given to us from the freedom that was awarded to us because of His sacrifice on the cross.
