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A WORD FROM THE PASTOR

It is a Feeling of Mattering…

Little Anita had a very busy father. He was a dot-com engineer who made a lot of money but had little time to be with his family. Every night, however, Anita insisted that her father read a story before she would go to sleep. This continued for some time till the man found a ‘solution.’ He bought Anita a colorful kid’s tape player and made a tape of her favorite stories in the story book. Whenever the child asked him to read her a story, he would simply push the button and play back the tape-recorded stories.
 
Mary with ElizabethAnita took that for a few days and then revolted and refused to accept the stories on tape. “Why” asked her father, “the tape reads the stories as good as I do!” “Ya,” replied the little girl, “But I can’t sit on its lap.” Remember, Christmas celebrates the gift of God’s presence in our lives. Let us be present to the people who need us, especially to the “little ones.” It is a feeling of mattering…

Jack, a Catholic who was being treated in the hospital for terminal cancer, was estranged from the Church. He had a long list of things to tell anyone for his indictment. A priest walked in - not invited, he just walked in. The priest asked him, "Jack, Do you want to be anointed? This is the Catholic rite for the sick.” Jack said, "Yes."

Then Jack wrote this: "Lying on my narrow, hospital bed, I knew I had little time. What the priest give me was a feeling of gladness and healing. More importantly though, I felt by a wondrous grace that this was the first time in my memory that the Church was paying attention to me, individually, by name, naming me, praying for me to deal with my painful circumstances and my suffering, the suffering that is uniquely mine. All of a sudden I realized that I matter, I really matter. I still can't get over the power of this feeling of mattering, of being an irreplaceable individual."

The Gospel describes the scene of Visitation of Mother Mary with her cousin Elizabeth - two insignificant women realizing how they matter by being selected the mothers of the Messiah and the Messiah’s precursor.  Any little work that you do for others is a feeling of mattering…

In the Service of the Lord,
   Father Thainese Alphonse

 

 

     
       
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