SIT AT THE FEET OF JESUS, THE BETTER PART 
July 21, 2019
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

Now we turn to chapter 10, the final paragraph, verses 38-42 this is a unique portion only in
Luke that fits wonderfully into the purpose of the great historian as he writes the history of the
life and ministry of Jesus Christ. This passage occupies a very important place in all of our lives;
it is all about “The Christian's Priority." In the Old Testament, David had this perspective. In Psalm 27:4 he said, "One thing have I asked of the Lord, one thing shall I seek." In the New Testament in Philippians 3:13 Paul said, "This one thing I do." Now the Old Testament saint, David, had reduced his life to one thing, one single priority, and he said it was to behold the beauty of the Lord. And Paul said his one single priority was to know Him and then to be conformed to His likeness. Here in this text we have a statement from the lips of the Lord Himself. Verse 42 is about that priority.

This visit to Martha and Mary in Bethany happens in the last 6 weeks of Jesus’ life. Bethany was
so near to Jerusalem it was just a brief walk. He is on the way to Jerusalem for the last week of
His life; He's already been on the road for a number of months, since He ended His ministry in Galilee. He even sent advance disciples in teams to get the town and the village ready for His arrival. Sometimes they were received; sometimes they were not. These last days’ focus of His ministry is on His teaching ministry; not so much focus on miracles. And the students are primarily His apostles and disciples. This is their final semester in preparation for taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

In the Gospel, we see Mary is seated at His feet to listen to what He teaches. And He's is on this mission to teach us about prayer, about divine judgment and about hypocrisy, persecution and about suffering , about the Holy Spirit. He's warning us about greed. He's instructing us about contentment, about how to use money, how to give, how to be a steward. There are lessons on unity, lessons on righteousness and holiness. There is instruction on divine justice, humility, pride, on the cost of loyalty to Christ, on the kingdom of God and how to enter it. He's teaching us about how heaven rejoices when sinners are converted. He's even going to teach us about divorce, about hell, about penitence, about forgiveness and a lot about faith. And His teaching is totally unique not like other rabbi’s teaching.

Dear brothers and sisters, there is only one posture for us to learn all these beautiful lessons
that Jesus teaches and that's to be there at His feet like Mary was: because that is a priority to every other spiritual duty, which is motivated by, informed by, and defined by Scripture. His teaching is radical. It is powerful. It is urgent. It is and will be life changing. In John 8:26 Jesus said, "I have many things to say but He who sent Me is true and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak." John 8:28, "When you lift up the Son of Man then you will know that I am He and I do nothing on My own initiative but I speak these things as the Father taught Me."

What a privilege this is for Mary to hear the absolute truth from the very mouth of God
incarnate. Her position indicated her intense interest in His teaching. She got as close as she
could get not to miss a word. She was so happy to listen to the most powerful, clear, truthful
teacher who ever spoke. At the time of Jesus women didn't have that privilege. Some rabbis said it was useless to teach a woman. She was there listening to the Lord's words, the closer the better. And she demonstrates the attitude of a true believer. Dear friends, what a privilege for us for us as His followers to listen from this wonderful teacher who is the Son of God Himself. In Luke 8, His mother and brothers came to Him and they couldn't find Him because of the crowd, they came to find Jesus. In verse 20, somebody in the crowd said, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, they want to see You." He said, "My mother and My brother are those who hear the Word of God and do it." Martha loved Jesus too, she believed in Jesus. We heard in today’s Gospel that she is addressing Jesus as “Lord”, she was a close friend of Jesus too. She missed the priority that daywhich was His last visit to them, which Martha or Mary did not know. She was focused on preparing dinner for their best friend, Jesus, and His apostles. Martha was distracted with all her preparations, that is why she came to Jesus, to get her sister to kitchen. She was all caught
up with much serving. There is nothing wrong with hospitality, of course, she was doing it for
the Lord. Now before we condemn Martha, it helps us to think about what is it that keeps us
away from being present to hear the Word of God, going for Sunday Holy Eucharist. There are
some Martha’s and some Mary’s among us. We get preoccupied with things that make us miss
the opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus hearing His Word. Nothing is as important as divine
truth. Chapter 11:28 says, "Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and do it."

A SET OF RULE OF AN‘INTUITION OF DIGNITY’?
July 14, 2019
Deacon Dennis Walters

A story recently circulated on the Catholic blogosphere about a priest who admonished a
young woman for wearing a blouse that was immodest. Upset, the woman complained on her
Twitter account, “Why can’t men keep their eyes in their own heads? It’s not up to me to control
their voyeuristic imaginations!” The tweet ignited a firestorm on social media, most of it in her
favor. Of course, the woman was right on one point — men do need to keep control over their
eyes — but she’s wrong on another. She does have some responsibility — in charity — for how
she presents herself.
To say anything about modesty from the pulpit is to step into a minefield. Explosions are
sure to follow. Yet, in a culture that recognizes no restrictions on personal freedom, some
teaching on this subject is called for. So I’d like to offer a short catechesis on what the
Catechism of the Catholic Church says about modesty. And, for the record, this homily is not
directed at any person or group. It’s summertime, and the livin’ is easy; so a little refresher on
looking good in a Christian context is appropriate right now.
The Catechism devotes four short paragraphs to the virtue of modesty. I will quote each
one and comment briefly on it.
“2521 Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the
intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is
ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others
and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity.”
This paragraph refers to three virtues related to modesty: temperance (one of the four
cardinal virtues), chastity, and solidarity. The first two virtues are pretty obvious. Temperance
moderates our appetites, and chastity helps us to control their sexual expression. The paragraph
says that modesty “guides how one looks at others.” There’s a difference between seeing and
looking. An acquaintance of mine was once asked how long a man could look at a woman
without committing adultery with her in his heart. His answer: “Two seconds.” The third virtue
mentioned in the paragraph is solidarity. That is a virtue for the community. Modesty protects
not only the intimate center of the individual, but also unity among Christians. Since unchastity
can tear a community apart, solidarity in maintaining standards for chastity holds it together.
“2522 Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and
moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving
and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It
inspires one’s choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of
unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.”
The implication here is that modesty protects marriages — both those that already exist
and those that may exist in the future. The idea that modesty “encourages patience and
moderation in loving relationships” suggests that what should remain unveiled outside of
marriage will be unveiled within it when the time is right — hence, the virtue of patience.
Because most of us think of modesty in terms of clothing, the Catechism points out that
our choice of clothing is modest when it seeks to quell unhealthy curiosity. If modesty inspires
one’s choice of clothing, we need to ask what message we’re sending by the clothes we choose.

Clothing communicates not only what we who wear it think of ourselves, but it also
communicates to others how we want them to see us. A woman should select clothing and
makeup that enhances her natural beauty, just as a man should select clothing that highlights his
best features —both without going too far. If the virtue of modesty is supposed to protect “the
intimate center of the person,” one’s choice of clothing should reflect that protection.
Clothing should also fit the occasion. If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, you might
know that both men and women of that era changed clothing up to six times a day. To wear the
wrong dress or the wrong tie to a dinner sent the message that one was ignorant or disrespectful
of the occasion. Standards today might not be that strict, but people’s dress still communicates
their attitude toward the occasion. Mass is an important occasion. Here, you are meeting with
God, the Most Important Person in the Universe. It’s respectful to dress accordingly.
“2523 There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests … against the
voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements, or against the
solicitations of certain media that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty
inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the
pressures of prevailing ideologies.”
The best example I can think of what the Catechism protests here is television ads for
women’s perfumes or men’s colognes. The key sentence is the last one: Modesty inspires an
approach to life such that visible offenses against modesty in fashion or ideology cause a certain
revulsion to take place. It allows one to turn away from acts, opinions, or fashions that attack the
inner dignity of the persons engaged in them or viewing them.
“2524 The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere,
however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man….
Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the
human person.” (Emphasis added.)
Standards of modesty vary from place to place, and even within the same culture. We
don’t expect women to wear burkas or men to wear blinders, but we do expect that everyone
cultivate the intuition that the Catechism speaks of: the intuition of people’s innate spiritual
dignity. Our children need to learn to develop that same intuition.
As the Catechism says, modesty needs to be taught — not as a set of rules to obey, but as
a “means [of] awakening in [children] respect for the human person.” When I was raising my
children, my wife and I had them wear their most presentable clothes to church. They could take
them off immediately after Mass, but they had to “dress up,” not “dress down,” out of respect for
others and for God. At least two of my children are currently teaching their children the same
thing. If there is a rule to obey, dressing up for God should be it.
There’s much more to say. But in sum: A commitment to modesty is a commitment to
virtue, to temperance, chastity, and solidarity; a commitment not to a set of rules but to the
protection of the intimate center of yourself and others. Modesty protects the family and Church
community by keeping veiled what should remain hidden except when it’s appropriate to reveal
it. It inspires a way of life that treasures what is sexually clean and spurns what is not.
As St. Paul would say, by behaving modestly we glorify God with our bodies.

BE MOVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
July 7, 2019.
Praise and worship committee

Have you been hungry for more? Do you feel the Holy Spirit calling you to a deeper relationship with Jesus? Are you struggling with something in your life and would like the support of others praying for you? Perhaps you haven’t give much thought to the Holy Spirit since your confirmation. Then St. Mary’s Praise and Worship service is the place for you.

St. Mary’s has begun a monthly Praise and Worship service to deepen our relationship with God. It is a Holy Spirit led service that allows us to encounter the Holy Spirit in a way that perhaps we have not done before. It is a service that welcomes people of all ages to worship in an individualized way. We come together under the leadership of the Holy Spirit to pour our hearts out before the Lord, and together, receive the rich blessings that Jesus offers us through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In John 14:26 Jesus says, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” Jesus is telling us here that the Holy Spirit is a gift given to us to guide us in our relationship with Jesus,
Jude 1:20-21 says, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” This verse seems to imply that the Holy Spirit is essential to our faith.

Can the Holy Spirit keep us in love with God? Can the Holy Spirit be the tool that Jesus uses to pour His mercy upon us?

St. Pope John Paul II says in his Dominum Et Vivificantem (On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the  Church and the World; 18 May 1986) that, “The supreme and most complete revelation of God to humanity is Jesus Christ Himself, and the witness of the Spirit inspires, guarantees and convalidates the faithful transmission of this revelation in the preaching and writing of the Apostles while the witness of the Apostles ensures its human expression in the Church and in
the history of humanity. St. Pope John Paul II recognized the important and ongoing role the Holy Spirit has in the life of the Church and humanity as a whole. This teaching goes on to say, “For through the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son come to Him and take up their abode with Him. In the communion of grace with the Trinity, man’s ‘living area’ is broadened and raised up to the supernatural level of divine life. Man lives in God and by God he lives ‘according to the Spirit,’ and ‘sets his mind on the things of the Spirit.’

Finally, in his address to Catholic Fraternity of the Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowship on October 31, 2014, Pope Francis said, “No one can live without breathing. It is the same for the Christian: without praise and mission there is not Christian life. And with praise, worship. We rarely speak about worship. What do we do when we pray? We ask things of God, we give thanks … But worshipping and adoring God is part of breathing—praise and worship.”
So please join us for our next Praise and Worship service Saturday, July 13th at 7:30 pm. Experience the Holy Spirit through worship and allow God to breath upon you. A time of fellowship and refreshments will follow the service in the Fr. Fisher Hall.

BE A MISSIONARY OF MERCY
June 30, 2019.
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

Luke 9:51-56 draws our attention. It is a “A Lesson on Mercy.” Even though the word "mercy" does not appear here, mercy itself appears. And here in this village of Samaria, He finds a perfect opportunity to teach His disciples a very short  but unforgettable lesson about mercy. Mercy is exalted in Scripture and in reality. Mercy is godlike. Mercy is required to be a good missionary disciple. St. Paul, in Colossians 3:12 said, "Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies." This is a command. Another thing about mercy is that it is reciprocal. In Matthew 5:7, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy." You want mercy, give it and you'll get it back. You'll get it back from the Lord and you'll also get it back from the people to whom you show mercy. We are to be known as a people of mercy.  And it's always been at the heart of Christ’s mission and our Christian ministry.

In the Bible we see many passages that the Jewish leaders had no mercy for children. They had little mercy for women. They had no mercy for Gentiles and they hated Samaritans. Jews  going from Galilee down to Judea, Jerusalem, generally wouldn't even walk through Samaria; they'd go all the way around just to avoid going through there because it was a defiled, unclean place. If someone went through that territory they went at some risk, carrying their own food so they wouldn't have to eat from the hands of the Samaritans. Samaritans were a mixed race, semi-pagan offspring of Israelites from the northern kingdom who were left behind when the northern kingdom was taken into Assyrian captivity. They were left there. They intermarried with pagans who were loyal to the Assyrian king so they were a mixed race. They had abandoned their Jewish roots and heritage. They had absorbed paganism. They feared the Lord, 2 Kings 17:33 says they feared the Lord, yet served their own gods. But It was to a Samaritan woman that Jesus first revealed His messiahship in John 4, the woman at the well. And you know that Jesus made a Samaritan the hero of one of His most wonderful stories, the story called, "The Good Samaritan.” This was a rebuke to the Jewish leaders, because, you remember, the rabbis and the Jewish leaders passed by and didn't help the wounded man. And later in the Gospel they were commissioned to go to Samaria, Acts 1:8,“Go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria.”

The Lord Jesus never had a problem with extending the borders of mercy.  And so He sent messengers on ahead of Him. He had to arrange a place at least for thirteen of them. He is asking to go where Jewish religion will not go. Go where hatred exists. He went to the most socially despised group and He showed them mercy. In verse 53, they didn't receive Him. The village said, "We don't want Him here. We don't want you in this village." I’m sure that the messengers of the apostles, whoever they were, went “bringing God to town.” The Samaritans didn't know anything about Jesus Christ. They knew only whatever the apostles may have told them, they remained unimpressed. And so they rejected Him. That would be typical of the way they would have treated Jews anyway. They didn't receive Him because He was going toward Jerusalem. They hated the fact that He was going down to worship at that temple which they despised. And they were so jealous because their temple had been destroyed; the rejection was more of a racial thing and religious jealousy. Old feelings ran deep and were steadfast. That is why they said they were not going to let you have an easy journey down to your place and help you on your way. And verse 54, when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” These two are called the sons of thunder, Boanerges. Well, what made them think they could do that? They knew where they were and they were thinking back to 2 Kings 1. Elijah was in the same area, the same region. And some of the enemies of God got in a situation with Elijah and he called down fire from heaven and burned them up. And these disciples are sort of Elijah-like, because they've been called to be the prophets of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Verse 55: "He turned and rebuked them." Jesus was telling His apostles and us, You can't go through ministry with that kind of an attitude, every time you make a simple proclamation of Jesus Christ and somebody doesn’t accept Him and you want to burn them to death or curse them? This is not sensible evangelization. Instead this is the time of mercy. Verse 56: "For the Son of Man didn't come to destroy men's lives but to save them.” The Son of Man, Luke 19:10, has come to seek and to save the lost. And what's the point here? He gives mercy to the ignorant. They didn't reject Jesus because He claimed to be God. They rejected Him because He was Jewish and He was going to the temple, which means they didn't even understand who He was. Dear brothers and sisters, there's always mercy extended to those who may be deeply religious but are ignorant of the truth. Verse 56: "They went on to another village." That is not the end of preaching to the Samaritans. But on that day they did whatever they needed to do to find a place somewhere else. A few years after this, the early church began to grow and a man named Philip, it says in Acts 8, went down to Samaria and preached Christ to them. Acts 8:6-8, "The multitudes were of one accord...with one accord accepted the things spoken by Philip." "They were hearing and seeing the miracles which Philip did. Unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed, many who were paralyzed and lame were healed and there was great joy in that city."  

Dear friends, this is a mission of mercy and we must take the message of the mercy of God in Christ to the people outside our borders, outside our comfort zone, outside our religious system and give them compassion and sympathy and tenderheartedness and patience to hear and believe the message. Mercy is at the heart of redemptive ministry. Mercy is to extend to all without regard for race, or status, or gender, or age. And mercy is to be offered patiently toward those who are ignorant in unbelief.

DON'T SQUANDER THE GIFT
June 23, 2019
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

The last two precious gifts given to us by Jesus are the Holy Eucharist as our spiritual food on
Holy Thursday and Jesus’ mother Mary as our spiritual mother on Good Friday. First of all
Corpus Christi is the celebration of the abiding presence of a loving God as Emmanuel – God
with us – in order to give collective thanks to our Lord for His living with us in the Eucharist.
Secondly, the feast also gives us an occasion to learn more about the importance and value of
the “Real Presence” so that we may appreciate the Sacrament better and receive maximum
benefit from the Eucharist.
We believe in the “Real Presence” of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist because 1) Jesus promised it
after miraculously feeding the 5000. 2) Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist during His Last
Supper. 3) Jesus commanded His disciples to repeat it in His memory. 4) “Nothing is impossible for God.” We explain the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist by: “transubstantiation” which means that the substance of the consecrated bread and wine is changed to the substance of the risen Jesus’ glorified Body and Blood by the action of the Holy Spirit, and itsaccidents (like color, shape, taste etc.), remain the same.
Today’s first reading describes how Moses, by sprinkling the blood of a sacrificed animal on the
altar and on the people, accepted the Covenant Yahweh proposed and made with His People.
In the second reading, St. Paul affirms that Jesus sealed the New Covenant with His own Blood,
thereby putting an end to animal sacrifices. Today’s Gospel details how Jesus converted this
ancient ritual into a Sacrament and sacrifice. Instead of the lamb’s blood, Jesus offered His own
Divine/human Body and Blood, and instead of sprinkling us with blood, Jesus put it into our
hands as food and drink: "Take … eat … this IS My Body which will be given up for you" (He did not say "This represents My body”), and  "Take … drink …This is … My Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many….”
The Church gives us this feast 1) Let us appreciate the “Real Presence” of Jesus in the Holy
Eucharist, by receiving Him with true repentance for our sins, due preparation and reverence.
2) Let us be Christ-bearers and conveyers: By receiving Holy Communion, we become Christ-
bearers as Mary was, with the duty of conveying Christ to others at home and in the workplace,
through love, mercy, forgiveness and humble and sacrificial service. 3) Let us offer our lives on
the altar along with Jesus’ sacrifice, asking pardon for our sins, expressing gratitude for the
blessings we have received and presenting our needs and petitions on the altar.
Let me conclude this with a story of Communion on the Moon. Apollo 11 landed on the moon
on Sunday, July 20, 1969. Most remember astronaut Neil Armstrong's first words as he stepped onto the moon's surface: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." But few know about the first meal eaten on the moon. There was another astronaut with him, Buzz

Aldrin who was an altar server at St. Martin’s in la Mesa California, had taken aboard the
spacecraft a tiny pyx provided by his pastor Fr. Dennis Barry. Buzz took the Body of Christ to the Moon with him and that was his first 'meal on the moon' Aldrin sent a radio broadcast to earth Aldrin read from the Bible, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit." Then, silently, he gave thanks for their successful journey to the moonand received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Next, he descended on the moon and walked on it with Neil Armstrong. His actions remind us that in the Lord's Supper, God's children can share the life of Jesus from any place on Earth and even from the moon. God is everywhere If Buzz Aldrin celebrated that experience on the surface of the moon. Thousands of miles from earth, he took time to commune with the One who created, redeemed, and established fellowship with him. Dear Brothers and sisters, our busy life should not be an obstacle to come and receive Jesus in the Eucharist every Sunday.

LIVE A TRINITARIAN LIFE
June 16, 2019.
Fr. Bosco Padamattumma

We believe in this Mystery of Holy Trinity because Jesus who is God taught it clearly, the
Evangelists recorded it, the Fathers of the Church tried to explain it and the Councils of Nicaea
and Constantinople defined it as a dogma of Christian Faith.
At the Annunciation: God the Father sends His angel to Mary, God the Holy Spirit comes upon
her, the Power of the Most High overshadows her and God the Son becomes incarnate in her
womb. At the baptism of Jesus: When the Son receives baptism from John the Baptist, the
Father’s Voice is heard, and the Holy Spirit appears as a dove. At the Ascension: Jesus gives the
missionary command to his disciples to baptize those who believe, in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In John, chapters 15—18 there is a detailed account of
Jesus’ teaching of the role of each Person of the Holy Trinity: a) God the Father creates and
provides for His creatures. b) God the Son redeems us and reconciles us with God. c) God the
Holy Spirit sanctifies us, strengthens us, teaches us and guides us to God.
“Our God is far beyond the grasp of our intellect. All we can say is: God, the Father, our Father,
is Omnipresent and so I live in Him because the universe exists in Him. The Son, Jesus is
Emmanuel – God with us -- and so He is always with me; I live with Him. The Holy Spirit is the
One Who inspires us all, from within us and so the Holy Spirit lives in my heart. There is only
one God. We live in Him; He lives with us and He lives in us. Yahweh - “I am Who am” -- He is
all.
As the Triune God is present within us always, it should help us to esteem ourselves as God’s
holy dwelling place, to behave well in His holy presence, and to lead purer and holier lives,
practicing acts of justice and charity.  This Triune Presence should also encourage us to respect
and honor others as "Temples of the Holy Spirit." The awareness and conviction of the presence
of God within us gives us the strength to face the manifold problems of life with Christian
courage.  It was such a conviction that prompted the early Christian martyrs being taken to
their execution to shout the heroic prayer of Faith from Psalm 46: "The Lord of might is with us,
our God is within us, and the God of Jacob is our helper.”  We belong to the Family of the
Triune God.  The love, unity and joy in the relationship among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
should be the supreme model of our relationships within our Christian families.  Our families
become truly Christian when we live in a relationship of love with God and with others.
The Trinitarian life is the choreography of love and it’s happening all the time. In the midst of an
honest, real, and meaningful conversation we’re not thinking about the other person. We are
with them and they are with us. A single life envelops and flows between us. We don’t make
that happen, it just does. That’s Trinitarian life. When we are rolling on the floor, laughing, and
playing with our child or grandchild we are not thinking about them, we are completely open

and present to their life and they to ours. There is only love. That’s Trinitarian life. Sometimes
we see the world through another’s eyes and their joys or sorrows take root in us as if they
were our own. When that happens we are not receiving news or information about another, we
are sharing a common life. We are loving our neighbor as our self. That’s Trinitarian life.
Dear brothers and sisters, The Holy Trinity is not a concept to be explained, numbers to be
calculated, or a problem to be solved. It is a life to be lived, a love to be shared, and a beauty to
be revealed. Stop thinking about God as a subject to deal with but live the life, share the love,
reveal the beauty. Let me conclude with St. Francis Xavier’s favorite prayer: “Most Holy Trinity,
who live in me, I praise You, I worship You, I adore You and I love You.”  Let the Son lead us to
the Father through the Spirit, to live with the Triune God forever and ever. Amen.”

LET IT BREATHE ON ME
June 9, 2019.
Deacon Dennis Walters.

There’s an old Pentecostal hymn that begins: “Let it breathe on me,/ Let it
breathe on me,/ Let the Breath of God now breathe on me.” The Holy Spirit is
that Breath of God.
We need a deep, cleansing breath of God to fill our spiritual lungs.
Breathing is necessary for life. If we don’t breathe, we’re dead. On this Pentecost
weekend, I’d like to orient our view to the activity of the Holy Spirit, focusing on
English variants of the root word from which the word Spirit comes.
Ex-spire means to breathe out. It refers mainly to dying but can also
mean to give up. At his death, Jesus hands over his spirit, only to have the
breath of new life return at his resurrection. Today we see a Christianity that
seems to have run out of breath, a near willingness to quit altogether. Many
Catholics’ faith is all but dead. Jesus wants to revive it.
Re-spire means to breathe again; for example, with a respirator. To the
Galatian church, St. Paul asked, “Have you so quickly ended in the flesh what
you began in the Spirit?” They were trying to do things on their own, leaving the
Holy Spirit out. Paul reminds them that such only brings about the “works of the
flesh”. We get the same result. To paraphrase Paul: No one can do the works of
the Spirit except by the Holy Spirit. He is the respirator that enables us to breathe
again.
A-spire means to breathe on, or breathe at. Jesus breathes on his
disciples to send the Holy Spirit (perhaps St. John’s version of the Pentecost
event?). There’s an Eastern belief that breathing on someone communicates
authority or power. We see the same thing in some liturgical rituals, such as
consecration of the holy oils when the bishop breathes on the Chrism. When the
Spirit breathes on us, we have power to do what Jesus does.
In-spire means to breathe into. At the creation, the Holy Spirit breathes
order into chaos; when He creates man, he breathes life into Adam. Inspiration is
more than merely receiving an idea or a poetic vision. It’s a life-giving move of
the Spirit. Ezekiel invokes the Spirit to breathe life into dry bones. When we feel
that our spiritual lives are dry as dead bones, we ask the Spirit to inspire our
hearts by breathing life into them.
Per-spire means to breathe through, usually used in the sense of
energetic activity causing sweat and heavy breathing. For many people,
Catholicism can look like a set of rules and regulations, hoops to jump through.
That attitude can lead to what I like to call the “principle of minimal commitment”:
what is the least I have to do to be saved? If I attend Mass every Sunday (etc.,
etc.), I’m okay. The opposite assumes that my sanctification is a result of my own
effort. Both are works of the flesh. It’s the attitude Paul was challenging in
Galatians. With the Spirit, we’re to lead active, energetic lives as Christians —
but it’s His breath breathing through us, not our own sweat (which accomplishes
nothing but exhaustion).

Con-spire means to breathe with. The usual meaning is two minds getting
together to plot something, typically something wicked or illegal. But in a religious
sense, conspiring means we breathe with the Holy Spirit, as if one lung were his
and one were ours. God has his will for us; but when we conspire with the Spirit,
his will becomes very much our own will. When the Breath of God becomes our
breath, the result of our actions bears the fruit of the Spirit.
Tran-spire means to breathe across. The usual meaning refers to an
event, or something that develops or is revealed. It can also refer to something
coming out of a body, as water vapor comes out from a leaf. The Old Testament
thought of the Holy Spirit as a force coming out from God, such as His breath or
creative Word: “when you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew
the face of the earth” (Ps. 104). His breath transpires to our breath, and we are
renewed, and new life breathes out from us.
From this root word for breath, we get encouragement to breathe with the
Spirit. So if you feel that your Christian life is on the verge of expiring, pray for
respiration, to be able to breathe again. God wants that for all of us. In various
ways, Jesus breathes his Spirit on you, whether his aspiration comes as a
“strong, driving wind” or as a gentle breeze.
When you receive the Spirit, He is inspired, breathed in to you, and you
find His presence within, not outside, yourself. God is not distant, He is closer to
you than you are to yourself.
Although sometimes the Christian life is difficult, you don’t perspire
through your own efforts. The breath of God needs to breathe through you. Only
so can the fruit of the Spirit grow. Besides, the goal of the spiritual life is to
conspire with God. Breathing with the Holy Spirit is a conspiracy, as if your
breath and his were one breathing. Also, His breath transpires from Him to you,
enabling you to exude the vapor of a renewed life that others can benefit from.
This is intimate, personal union. You can achieve this with Him.
“Receive the Holy Spirit.” Take His deep, cleansing breath.

PRAISE AND WORSHIP AT ST. MARY'S?
June 2, 2019
Deacon Dennis Walters.

Every two weeks, on the second and fourth Fridays of the month, people gather at Christ the King parish in Ann Arbor for a “praise and worship” meeting. Such prayer meetings used to be held in the gym behind the church; but, with more and more people coming, organizers have moved them into the “worship space” — the church itself.

There, the meeting begins with music as people begin to file into church. After a hymn or two, a leader says a few words of welcome, provides a brief overview of what to expect, encourages sharing of prayers and Scripture passages, and then turns the meeting over to the musicians. The music begins, loud and upbeat, song after song, usually punctuated with brief periods of spontaneous prayer before the next one begins. During all this, people still file into pews or find a niche in which to pray. Almost everyone is standing, singing or praying aloud, often with raised hands or arms. Some, mainly teenagers, go into the sanctuary and there behind the altar sit or prostrate themselves in front of the tabernacle. The atmosphere is jubilant but reverential. The first-time visitor takes a while to get used to what looks like organized chaos, but then the rhythm of the prayer and song takes over.

Occasionally, someone will take the microphone to share a prayer or a Scripture passage. Prophecies may occur, usually when the music and the prayer have subsided. Toward the middle of the meeting the leader or an invited speaker may give a short talk. Later, the leader may invite people to come forward for individual prayer; several designated teams will pray with each person for various needs.

Music plays a prominent role in a praise and worship meeting. Some traditional hymns are sung. But most songs are recent compositions that have made the rounds of charismatic groups and have become popular. Partly Gospel, partly Christian rock, the lyrics are either adapted from Scripture (mainly the Psalms) or express an ardent desire for God and joy at his presence.
Melodies are usually easy to catch onto, and the words are projected on the wall for those who don’t know them.

These meetings are called the “Upper Room.” The title refers to the place where Mary, the Twelve, and a hundred or so disciples prayed together for the coming of the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension into heaven. The title is apt.

These meetings are called the “Upper Room.” The title refers to the place where Mary, the Twelve, and a hundred or so disciples prayed together for the coming of the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension into heaven. The title is apt. some members of St. Mary’s have traveled to Upper Room prayer meetings. What may have begun as a curiosity has become something of a passion. They sense a desire to draw closer to the Holy Spirit, and believe that the Lord wants to do something among us. They have requested to have praise and worship meetings at St. Mary’s; and with Fr. Bosco’s approval, the first will take place at 7:30 pm on June 8th , the Vigil of Pentecost. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for adoration, whereupon parishioners and guests will participate in an hour or so of spontaneous prayer and praise.

Even those who decide not to join are encouraged to pray for this event. The Holy Spirit wants to deepen the life of prayer at St. Mary’s, and we want to cooperate with him as best we know how.

SEEK THE PEACE OF JESUS
May 26, 2019.
Fr. Bosco Padamattumma

I want to deal with just one verse, one very wonderful verse, a very important one. John 14:27 says, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled.” Peace appears twice in that brief verse. It is a constant pursuit of what is the turmoil in us, near us and dominating the fallen world. There is an absence of personal peace, family peace national peace and international peace. There are always people trying to come up with solutions of some kind between conflicting parties. People want peace in their lives. They want some tranquility in their lives. Everybody seeks that, law enforcement is trying to keep the peace, and global arbitrators are trying to establish peace until we all finally rest in peace.

But there is a peace that comes only from God, and that’s the peace that is being presented to us in the verse I read. Now in the Old Testament, there’s a familiar word forpeace. It’s the word shalom, and it’s used more than 250 times. In fact, it is the most normal greeting among Jewish people, and has been for centuries: “Shalom.” It means a wish for completeness, a wish for fulfillment, or satisfaction, or blessing; a wish for prosperity on all levels. In other words, it is a desire that all that is good would flow into your life. The New Testament counterpart to that word is the word eirn, from which we get the feminine name Irene, literally describes a tranquil state of the soul, a soul at rest, a satisfied soul. That’s the biblical view of peace. Humanity would define peace mostly in negative terms: to be without trouble; it would be the absence of hostility.

When Jesus says, “I’m giving you My peace,” He says, “it’s not the peace the world gives you.” He says it at the most dramatic, potentially disturbing, distressing moment in His life, at the Last Supper. He is leaving the world in hours through the means of execution on a cross. He also knows that His disciples are profoundly distressed. They had certainly everything they could possibly hope for and more in His presence for three years, but now He is leaving. He has said that to them repeatedly. He’ll say it again in verse 28: “I’m going away.” And He knows that this is troubling to them. As chapter 14 opens, He says, “Stop letting your hearts be troubled.” So He is going to give to them a kind of peace which will put an end to their troubled heart. But this is a supernatural peace. So when we talk about peace, let’s look at verse 27 and see how our Lord gives us “Peace I leave with you.” This is a gift. This is not a command, this is a gift. He is not asking them to find this peace, He is saying, “I’m leaving this peace with you.” I’m depositing this peace. You will possess this peace.” Our Lord grants them this peace and to all who will follow them in loving and serving Him.

When He said, “My peace that I give you,” He was talking about the peace that kept Him calm on that Thursday night knowing what was about to happen; knowing that His disciples would scatter, Peter would deny Him; knowing that He would go to the cross, bear sin. It was the same calm that he exhibited through His whole life when He was treated with mockery, scorn, hostility, hatred and betrayal, all undeserved. Where did that peace come from? Well, essentially, it came from perfect trust in the Father. So just remember: peace is connected to trust. His trust in the Father was so clear, so consummate, and so complete that Hebrews 12:2 says, “He went to the cross for the joy that was set before Him,” even though in the going, in the garden, He was sweating blood in agony.

When Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate was one disturbed person. Pilate was getting more disturbed and disoriented and more disconnected from any kind of reality the longer he had to cope with Jesus. So finally in frustration in John 19:10 Pilate says to Jesus, “You do not speak to me?” He’s literally outraged that Jesus doesn’t get who he is and how important he is. “You do not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” The calm is stunning. Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above.” That’s trust.

St. Paul, in Ephesians 6:15 calls the Gospel, “The Gospel of peace,” because the Gospel brings peace between the sinner and God. On the cross, He paid the penalty for your sin, and that frees God to forgive you and impute the righteousness of Christ to you. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:18, “God, who reconciled us to Himself.” Verse 19, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself by not counting their trespasses against them.” That’s the kind of peace we’re talking about. Since the rebellion of Adam and Eve, the whole human race has been born alienated from God. The whole human race has been born enemies of God. But Christ brought peace between God and humanity through His sacrifice. But that objective peace also provides for us a subjective peace, an internal peace, an experiential peace; a sense of goodness, trust, contentment, tranquility, confidence, well-being; and that is why when we get together, we love to sing, we love to praise together and we wish that peace to each other. When you offer during Mass “Peace be with you” you’re expressing that, experience of the subjective peace that comes from the objective reality of being reconciled to God. That’s the joy that we have in being believers.

Dear brothers and sisters, Romans 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking; the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” These two are really inseparable: if you’re at peace, you’re in joy. It is a peace that not only protects you from anxiety, fear, doubt and despair; but it is a peace that triumphs over everything with courage, confidence, and contentment. It’s a triumphant peace.

ARE YOU KNOWN BY YOUR LOVE?
May 19, 2019.
Fr. Bosco Padamattumma

When we come to John 13-17, we come to a text that is unique because that entire
sweeping section of John’s Gospel takes place on one night. One night. It is Thursday
night of Passion Week. It is the night before He is crucified. We began today’s Gospel
with the word “when He had gone out” that is Christ opens this talk when Judas has
gone out by essentially focusing on His own glory to betray the Lord. So, whatever He
gave to them that evening, He gave to us, and to all believers before us, and after us. It is
the legacy of Jesus. It is His final will and testament to His own.

What marks a true believer is something that happens in the heart. We are known by
our character, by our affection, by the things that are important to us, precious to us. In
a word, we are known by what we love. All the fruit of the Spirit that we’re familiar
with  love, joy, peace, gentleness, long suffering, patience and self-control those are all
attitudes, dominating attitudes that flow out of love. We all know from experience and
from what we’ve read that the last words of dying people are usually a pretty good
indication of what’s in their hearts. There are no words that can come even close to the
promises that our Lord gives. The purest mind, the purest heart, the grandest capacity
to love, divine love pours out its affections in a series of promises to every
believer.  There are no words that could match these. They are at once sweet and
powerful. They are calm and yet urgent. They are supercharged with divine passion and
yet tender with concern, and everything is bathed in this massive expression of divine
love.

Now, we all know verse 36.  “By this, by our love, all men will know that you are My
disciples if you have love for one another.” We are to be known by our love. We are to be
marked by our love. We can be known for our doctrine. We can be known for our
theology. That is what we believe. But what we believe is supposed to transform our lives
so that the final test of who we are is how we live. People don’t want to say anything
against Islam because they’re afraid. People will say anything against Christianity
because they’re not afraid. What they get back from us is love. What they get back from
us is forgiveness. What marks Christianity is our love, and that makes us vulnerable to
all the animosity and the hate because there’s no fear of retaliation. When we love it is
extended even to our enemies. That is the command we follow.

But I want you to look in the passage I read this morning, verses 31-35, at the directions
this love takes, into three ways. First of all, we are marked by love for our Lord’s glory.
Love for our Lord that seeks His glory. Secondly, we are marked by love for our brothers’

well-being. And thirdly, we are marked by loving loyalty, personal loyalty and to prove
his love personally by being loyal and faithful.  

How do I know I’m a genuine believer? It’s about love and where your love goes, where
your love is directed, where your love is focused and how consistent and faithful your
love is even when we do good to others. A believer’s primary preoccupation should be
that the Lord be exalted. St. Paul tells us, “Whatever you do,” 1 Corinthians 10:31,
“whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” Throughout
Scripture, we are told to glorify God because He has loved us first. He gave his life for us
we are loving him back when we glorify God. When the epistles were written by these
Christians, these doxologies were more than the praise of their lips or the praise of their
pen. It is how their heart cried that their Lord be glorified. Look at the words of St. Peter
when Peter was preaching in Acts 3:13, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God
of our fathers has glorified His servant, Jesus. The one whom you delivered and
disowned in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release Him. But you
disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to
you, and put to death the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead.” Again Paul
says in 1 Timothy 1, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” Dear brothers and sisters, let the love and the
desire to glorify the Lord be the driving force behind every activity that we do. Through
our Love the world may know that we are Christians.