From time to time, someone will say to me, “After the Vatican Council everyone talks only about love and how God loves us. We don’t hear much about sin or God’s justice. All this talk about love is diluting our religion.” There may be some justification for their concerns. However, if we look closely at the Gospel message we cannot deny that love is at the heart of our faith. The first commandment demands that we love God with all our hearts, with all our mind, and with all our strength.
I can’t believe that in a few weeks I will complete a decade among you as your pastor. Every day I thank God for giving me this privilege of tending God’s vineyard in this part of the world. The Lord has been gracious to me and I have so many blessings to count. It is strange that just a few years earlier I didn’t even know that St Paul of the Cross Parish even existed. Together we have done much over the last ten years. The parish has been a great blessing to me. I hope these years have brought you some blessings also.
As I sit at my computer writing my weekly column, I am thinking of a story in the gospel that speaks of two sisters. It tells us how Martha and Mary entertained Jesus in their home. Martha was anxious about many things because she wanted everything to be “perfect” for Jesus. In certain circles she has been unjustly belittled because Mary had “chosen the better part.” I do not believe Jesus intended to dismiss Martha’s place in the Kingdom. I am sure the Lord enjoyed Martha’s hospitality and culinary prowess as well as Mary’s undivided attention and devotion. We too need to acknowledge the Marthas that serve among us. Where will our parishes be without the numerous Marthas – both men and women – who forget themselves and occupy themselves with a million details to serve others?
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Born in India to deeply-committed Catholic parents, Fr Britto is one of seven children. He joined the Salesians of Don Bosco as a young man and was ordained a priest in 1981.
After he completed his priestly formation and his early education in India, he came to the US for his graduate degree in Journalism at...Read more...
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