 Fr.
Tom's Tomes January 22, 2006
This past Friday, January 20, 2006, the 8th grade class and sponsors left for the Right to Life March in Washington, D. C. I would invite all parishioners to first of all pray for the safety of the students and their sponsors. It is also an opportunity for all of us to reflect upon the importance of life from the moment of conception until death. In our culture more and more there are people who challenge the dignity of human life. Each person is given life by God for us to know, love and serve God. Each person to the best of their ability needs to work to the fullest of their potential to return to God thanks for the lives we have.
As people we can question the quality and quantity of life. We may ask ourselves why some people have difficulties and others don’t. We may question why a person may live a long life and not have a "quality" of life they want. But when we stop to think about our lives we need to remember we can all thank God and love God for who God is. Each person is created in the image and likeness of God. The image is not a certain stereotype of a "normal" person but rather an individual who is capable of loving.
There are many different challenges people experience. Challenges can include physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, addictive, pain, abuse, and the list can go on. As human beings we need to look at our own lives and see where we can love. In the midst of the personal suffering each individual experiences there is the ability to love as God calls us to do. We can remember Jesus hanging upon the cross in the time before he died where he showed us the gift of love when he prayed to God to forgive those who crucified him because they did not know what they were doing. In life we need to look beyond our own personal pain to love. The more we love as Jesus did the more we can transform our world into a place where each person can live and love to the fullest of their potential.
Last Sunday I mentioned in my homily I would like to talk about where we as a parish can continue to grow in God’s presence. In this weekend’s Gospel Jesus proclaimed the message to repent and believe in the Gospel. He is also recorded as beginning to call his apostles to come and follow him. The first challenge of parish life is to make the sacraments a vital part of the lives of the parishioners and an invitation to others to come and follow Jesus Christ. What we do as a community of believers in common prayer is very important. When we come to celebrate the sacraments we need to realize that in the sacraments when we participate we meet Jesus in a special way. Since this is so, how do we gather in prayer. Do we give fully of ourselves to God and make each time we gather for the sacraments the best prayer we can. We should be able to raise the roof off of the Church when we gather to pray. In song, response and presence we need to pray with the fullness of our hearts.
The sacraments are the most important ministry we do as a parish. We need people to help us out. We need people to volunteer to be Eucharistic Ministers, to read the Word of God at Mass, to play the keyboard at the 8:00 am Mass, to sing in the choir, to take an active part at Mass. We need each person to know what to do during Mass. I invite all parishioners to actively take part in the sacraments of our Church and to make it inviting to others to come to experience the love and presence of God in our communal prayer.
God bless you this week.
|