Inquiry sessions for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and for Adult Confirmation have begun. Class sessions are offered on Sundays following the 7:30 PM Mass, and repeated on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM in Fatima Gallagher Hall and began June 13th. There is no cost to participate. Sacraments will be received at the Mass of the Easter Vigil in 2019. For more information, please call the Parish Office.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Micah spoke of the expectations of the Lord God that were not only applicable in Old Testament times, but in our times as well. In Micah 6:6-8 it is written: “You have been told, Oh man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” And yet, throughout salvation history there has been a tendency on the part of human beings to ignore God, or at best, be complacent in their relationship with God.
Jesus was often surrounded by crowds. They followed him through the countryside and gathered around him in the cities. They pushed their way into homes where he was staying. In one instance, they even tore away the roof tiles to reach him that he might cure a paralytic.
Do you remember being out a recess during school and teams being picked for baseball or dodgeball or some other game? It could be scary, thinking about how it would turn out. Will I be the last one picked? Will everybody laugh at me? Will I be good enough? Many of us may approach our faith and relationship with Jesus the same way, asking whether or not God will choose us; whether or not we are “good enough.” The Good News for each of us today is that God has already chosen us, and send us out on a mission that we can accomplish through his grace, power, and authority.
Today’s passage from the Gospel of Mark (Mark 6:1-6) is quite revealing. Those who had gathered in the synagogue that was located in Jesus’ “native place” clearly were familiar with Jesus because they began to name his family – Mary, his mother; his brothers, James and Joses, Judas and Simon. They even mention his sisters. It is important to note that this identification as brothers and sisters must be taken within the context of the culture and language in which in which Jesus was living. These “brothers and sisters” would be more like extended family, perhaps cousins. This passage in no way contradicts the truth that Mary conceived Jesus by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit and that she remained ever-virgin, having had no other children.
One important message that we hear in today’s Scripture Readings is that God created all things for good. Still, we cannot deny that there is evil in the world. Illness, poverty, injustice, and war are frequently in the news, but these things do not come from God. Pain, violence, and death came into the world as a result of sin – of man’s disobedience and belief in the lies of the devil.