Today we have a guest blogger from Fr. Arthur F. Rojas, administrator of PRESENTATION OF THE B.V.M CHURCH, PORT EWEN AND SACRED HEART CHURCH, ESOPUS. For more information on this parish, check out their website at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary & Sacred Heart Churches - Port Ewen - Esopus, NY (presentationsacredheart.org)
From the desk of Fr.
Rojas…
As I write this missive to you,
dear reader, the Gregorian chant from my office computer competes with the
diligent hum of the parish’s electric generator outside my office window at
Presentation Rectory.
I
am grateful
for the lived faith of those who attended morning Mass today and those
parishioners who worked to set things up for Mass in a church without electric
power except for our stalwart generator.
May God bless also the parishioners who went to Sacred Heart Church
at Esopus this morning (July 14) to check on its condition and to attend to one
matter of ongoing care there in the midst of the local power outage. Their love for God, His Church, and our
parish was greater than the obstacles caused by the tumult last night
falling from the sky. With echoes of Back
to the Future as New York City airs a “public service announcement” with
guidance in the event of a nuclear attack (Kyrie eleison), with echoes
of the Soviet quack Trofim Lysenko - look him up - through “Professor”
Khiara Bridges and her fanatical insistence at a recent U.S. Senate
hearing that men can get pregnant, and with echoes of our dependency today
on fragile wires, posts, and routers for the conveniences and even
necessities of American culture, I hope and pray that the children and
grandchildren of these quiet, down-to-earth, and personally selfless
parishioners will learn from their example of Christian fortitude.
As I salute the Martha and Mary
Ladies (our sodality of ladies at Sacred Heart Church) in the month of
their patronesses Ss. Martha and Mary and the reflection of these saints in the
Gospel reading of today (Lk 10:38-42), notice that the virtues of prayer and
contemplation demonstrated by St. Mary and the values of charitable
service and hospitality incarnated in St. Martha are meant to be found in
the daily lives of all of us committed Christians. Certainly, each person’s call to holiness will
reflect different mixtures and emphases of these combined values. Nevertheless, in light of the Responsorial
Psalm today from Psalm 15, all of these virtues reflect justice,
that is, giving each person what is his due (from the Latin suum
cuique of ancient times). Prayer to
God and contemplation/study of His presence, His things, His teachings, and His
ways are part of what we owe God, for He is our Maker, Lord, and
Redeemer.
By
giving time and making real effort for these doings personally and
with our families and parishes, particularly as God teaches us to do these
things in and through His Church, we start to live justly before Almighty
God. As our Christian identity is meant
for body as well as soul, however, in good times and in bad, amidst tears,
trembling, laughter, and thanksgiving, the Letter of Saint James reminds
us that God seeks faith and works from us (Jas 2:14-26). We are called to start as Mary and move to
Martha, to let our being in a state of grace (i.e., right
relationship with God) bring forth fruits pleasing to the Lord with the Corporal
and Spiritual Works of Mercy (also worth looking up if you do not know of
or recall these). Could you imagine
living in a world where we live as both Mary and Martha? Our Lord Jesus does, Our Lady does, and the
saints – both known and not yet known – strove for such a world, starting with
themselves. With God’s grace and seeking
His blessing and healing, so may you and so may I.
All Rights Reserved (c) by Fr. Arthur F. Rojas
A few decades ago I attended a one woman play by Roberta Nobleman on St. Teresa of Avila's INTERIOR CASTLE in which she stated that in the higher stages "MARTHA & MARY ARE TOGETHER". From what you have written I presume you would agree!
ReplyDeleteIdeally our good works in our active lives should flow from our prayer & our spiritual lives, we then go and do whatever GOD has called us to do & then return to be replenished by the LORD.
Poor Martha tried her best in providing hospitality & working hard with the best of intentions, but she wore herself out & needed to be replenished by what only spending time in the LORD'S Presence could give.
She definitely would have been helped by some modern conveniences like a microwave oven & attractive disposable plastic plates & plastic cups!