MAY 4, 2026 FATHER HAIG CHAHINIAN
My dear friends. Often there are certain periods in our lives where we may feel excited or inspired to do even more, to do greater things. Perhaps in our personal lives pertaining to a particular art or a hobby, sometimes in our professional lives, I’m sure we can all think about those particular moments where we just feel compelled. Maybe we learn something new, maybe we discovered a new skill or something, a passion, and we feel particularly inspired to do more.
It is the same with our liturgical calendar. There are certain points I’m sure we can all agree during the liturgical year, where we may feel a little bit more inspired than other moments, particularly in the month of May, dedicated to our Blessed Mother. In this season of Easter, this could be one of those moments where we feel a little bit more joyful, a little bit more inspired, to give a little more.
But the question then becomes, how do we channel that inspiration? How do we do a little bit more? What do we do with that inspiration and that joy that is brewing that has been ignited in our hearts?Well, particularly today in the gospel, we hear Christ having a serious conversation with his disciples, but leaving them with a particular thought. The advocate, the Holy Spirit, who the father will send in my name, our Lord and Savior says, will teach you everything. But what is that everything? What is that everything that the Holy Spirit has given us, has taught us.
Of course, there are many different aspects of the beauty of the graces of our faith, but one particular teaching that we are for certain that Christ has taught us is embodied ever so beautifully in one of our three Canadian Canadian born saints whom we celebrate today. Saint Mary’s Paradise. For those of us that may not be as familiar with this saint, who we commonly referred to as the mother of all needs.
Is the idea that stems from. What does it mean to be humble in our faith? Saint Mary was born in 1840, in Lacaze, Quebec, and she entered the order of the marionettes of the Holy Cross at the age of 14. And she taught, and she served in Montreal and New York and Indiana across Canada, and it was in 1880, while she was on mission in New Brunswick, where she felt called to give a little bit more, where she founded the order of la Petite de la famille, the Little Sisters of the Holy Family, and the heart, the heart of that call, the heart of that order today is still rooted in the gospel that we just heard today.
The world today, my dear friends, tends to measure greatness by looking at the bottom line when it comes to finances, perhaps the number of subscribers, likes, etc.. How big an impact can we make that is visible is how the earth today, how the world today, how society today measures success.
But what the Holy Spirit has taught, what Saint Mary was able to embody is that greatness lies more so in the hidden. Fidelity. To our Lord and Savior. In humility is how heaven is, how our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ measures greatness. And when we have this inspiration and this joy, and we ask ourselves, how can we channel this? How do we do something big?
The thought I leave you with today, my dear friends, and allow me to conclude. Let us ask ourselves that joy, that inspiration that we have, rather than thinking of how we can project it on a grand scale. How can we follow Sainte Marie Paradies example and perform beautiful good deeds? Perhaps helping others, perhaps helping ourselves within our spiritual lives in ways that are hidden in ways that are humble and we know very well, whenever we are able to channel that joy in our faith and that inspiration that we have in moments or tasks or in deeds as such, there is something special.
There is something special that we feel in our hearts, and we truly feel the presence of the Holy Spirit that our Lord and Savior promised would teach us these virtues. May God bless you all, and may we find joy and peace in great moments that are hidden, that are humble. Just as Saint Mary Paradis taught and we continue to celebrate today. Amen.
