Pastor’s Letter: February 12, 2023

Pastor’s Letter: February 12, 2023

10 Feb 2023 | Posted by: chadmin

The February 12 bulletin is available online.

Dear friends,

This week the Church celebrated the Feast Day for St. Josephine Bakhita. She was born in the late 1800s in Sudan, Africa. She was a member of a fairly prominent and prosperous family. In 1877, Josephina was kidnapped by Arab slave traders. In over 12 years of slavery, she was subject to brutal treatment. Eventually she was sold to an Italian in Turkey who brought her back to Italy to care for his daughter. While her “owners” were away on travel, Josephine stayed with some Italian Canossian Sisters. When the family returned from a trip, Josephine refused to leave the Convent. The Religious Community took the issue to Italian court which declared her free. She joined the Church and received all three Sacraments of Initiation, as one would at the Easter Vigil: Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. She developed a deep prayer life and faith in Jesus Christ. Although she was treated brutally, she often said she would personally thank her kidnappers for it resulted in her meeting Jesus Christ and receiving the Sacraments. St. Josephine Bakhita is quoted as saying, “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!”

One of my favorite lines of Jesus is in the Gospel passage this weekend. “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.” It is very clear what Jesus is communicating. We are to follow through on what we say. The commitment to communication of truth is one of the main promises of Jesus. As he says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” All things flow from God and back to God. God’s invitation for us is to see and focus on the truth. Unfortunately, for us, not everything is clear in life. The right path or the correct choice are not always simple choices of yes or no, right or wrong. The importance of faith, and a strong prayer life, is that the Lord will help us choose between two goods when it’s necessary. What we do need to focus on and truly be concerned about is that we are not purposely choosing something we know ought to be a no or an evil. The gift of faith is a well-formed conscience. Daily we pray the Lord guides us to use our freedom to choose the goods in life that lead us closer to Him and that nothing about us intentionally chooses anything opposed to God’s Will.

Each of the readings this weekend challenge us to reflect on our human freedom. Most things in life we have no control over. There are many things about life we would all control if we could. Certainly, we would remove the evils from the world or sickness from our loved ones. But the Bible clearly shows us that not even God controls the world around him. Jesus was tempted with this very fact. Those present at the crucifixion told him to come down off the cross if he really was the Son of God. Jesus didn’t allow himself to be controlled by those tormenting him and he didn’t allow himself to use his powers in a way that took away the freedom of others. The people freely chose to crucify him and Jesus allowed them to do it. While we can’t control what people do around us and we often can’t control what advantages or disadvantages we get in life, we can control our response. What we say and do flows from our human freedom and relates to our salvation or condemnation. May the Lord help us to consider all our word and actions with appropriate diligence. Have a great week.

God bless,

Father David

Picture of St. Josephine Bakhita is from St. Mary’s Press, The African American Catholic Youth Bible®