My friends, "being Catholic" is not simply about making Sunday Mass. "Being Catholic" is not simply about making the Easter duty. "Being Catholic" is not simply a question of "doing" this or that devotion. "Being Catholic" is all about living abundantly, living fruitfully, according to God's plan and purpose. "Being Catholic" is about living the life of the Lord Jesus 24/7, knowing that he has opened up the heart of God for us. "Being Catholic" means that we have accepted the Lord's invitation, to new life, to holiness. Love is that new Way of being human!
"Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13.10)." St. Paul spoke of the supernatural power of love in his letter to the Christian community living in Rome. He hoped to instruct that community, of how the Lord God had brought Jew and gentile together in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The great Torah of God, the way of the commandments of life, was seen as perfected in the paschal mystery of Lord Jesus, God's anointing for all of humanity; and the power of that love lived in discipleship allows us to experience the Presence of the Lord in every facet of our own lives. To live a disciplined life (the new Way of being human), according to the commandments of the Lord, is to make oneself available... to be a carrier of God's love for all. This is our vocation, the holiness of life each of us is being called to through our baptismal "yes" to the call of the Lord.My friends, "being Catholic" is not simply about making Sunday Mass. "Being Catholic" is not simply about making the Easter duty. "Being Catholic" is not simply a question of "doing" this or that devotion. "Being Catholic" is all about living abundantly, living fruitfully, according to God's plan and purpose. "Being Catholic" is about living the life of the Lord Jesus 24/7, knowing that he has opened up the heart of God for us. "Being Catholic" means that we have accepted the Lord's invitation, to new life, to holiness. Love is that new Way of being human!
How do you live the new Way of life apart from your attendance at Sunday Mass? That is, after you leave Mass each Sunday, how do you consciously strive to live according to the teachings of the Lord Jesus? How are you striving to be a man or a woman of God, to live justly, to be a font of mercy? How do I live the life? How are we as a parish family living within the new humanity that the Lord Jesus offers us…a humanity that seeks to live love for the sake of others?
One way we live the life is in our devotion to and study of sacred scripture. The revealed Word of God is foundational for our faith-life as Catholics. Here at SJN, the Women's Catholic Bible Study serves a community of women seeking to live the life. Our WCBS offers the joy of fellowship and the spiritual fire of God's Word. Please contact Judy Butterick ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) for more information. There is also an adult evening Bible study available for you. Please contact Ann Hayes ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) to find out more about this evening study at our parish. For the brothers seeking the same kind of study and prayer for men, Ken Fehner can assist you ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). For our parishioners that have Spanish as their first language, there is another study group. Please call Carmen Neris at the parish office, for more information.
Another way we live the life of the Lord Jesus is by passing on what we have been given. Our catechists assist the moms and dads of the parish, by offering on-going catechesis and formation for our children and our teens. Our PSR and EDGE programs are looking for a few more men and woman willing to assist in this effort. If you might be able to assist us in assisting the families of the parish, please call the Religious Ed. Office (770-923-6633, x118). Our Life Teen core group is always looking for the involvement of more adults. Please contact Linda Koerner for more information ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).
Starting next Sunday (the 14th), we will offer a new kind of catechesis at SJN, with our Children's Liturgy of the Word, at the 9:30 AM Mass. Children, from the ages of 4 through the 2nd grade, will be invited to attend a "child-friendly" proclamation of sacred scripture. The children will be dismissed from the main assembly after the opening prayer, and will return to us during the offertory. This CLW seeks to offer the young children an appreciation of God's Word. I invite all young families to think about this new parish catechesis for your young children.
We live the life, each day: at home and at work, and in all we do and say. Let us begin again, seeking the Kingdom of God, in each moment of life!
AMDG
Msgr. David Talley
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