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Thainese
A WORD FROM THE PASTOR

You Are Not Sugar Of The World !

    The story of EWTN is the story of a brave woman who had the courage of her conviction that she should be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. She is Mother Angelica who, in 1981, started broadcasting Catholic TV for just a few hours a day from the garage of her Poor Clare Monastery in Irondale, Alabama. Initially she earned some money to run her shows by selling peanuts! The project grew and grew, and now, after more than forty years, the Eternal Word Television Network is available twenty-four hours a day all over the world by cable and satellite. She specifically took the Eucharist and Mother Mary to the homes of TV watchers and the people welcomed it lovingly.

    Mother Angelica is an example of a true Christian who lived out her faith as salt to preserve Christian values in this modern world. She kept putting her lamp on the lampstand, so that Christ's light will shine for everyone in the modern global village. Though she died on March 27, 2016, she continues to be an instrument to shine Christ's light on everyone.

    Like Mother Angelica, every baptized Christian is commissioned by Christ to shed light on others and preserve Christian values. If you doubt that your "light" matters to others, take this little quiz:

  1. Who fed and clothed you when you were helpless?
  2. What was the name of your 1st grade teacher?
  3. Who is the first friend you would call in an emergency?
  4. Who was your faith formation teacher?
  5. Who advised you when you went wrong?
If you know the answers to these questions, they are the salt and light to you - to your life. You need to be like that.

    Today, there is a new view of Christianity that is non-irritating nor offensive to others. Wanting to be a nice person among some nice guys is not effective. Sometimes their mind voice is: "I don't want to hurt them; religion is a private matter; I don't have time; it's not my business." Ah, but dear friends, Jesus didn't call us to be the "sugar of the world." He called us to be the "salt of the earth."

    Someone whispered into my ears long ago: "The greatest threat to Christianity is not communism, atheism, materialism, or humanism. It is Christians trying to sneak into heaven by concealing their true identity as Christians and avoiding their mission to share Christ to others. Without ever sharing their faith, without ever living out the Christian life as salt of the earth and light of the world, they wish to go to heaven." I am sure you will agree with me that this is the real threat to Christianity. Let us be salt and light, not choosing to be sugar!

In the Service of the Lord,
  Fr Thainese Alphonse

 

     
       
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St. Bernadette Catholic Church