Everybody can be great….because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Dear Friends,
As we continue this four week period of Ordinary Time in preparation for the beginning of the holy season of Lent on February 10, we celebrate a rainbow of themes that all tie in with our second reading from 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit” (vs. 7). Another translation tells us that the gifts of the Spirit are given for the “common good.” Monday, January 18 is not only the federal holiday in honor of Dr. King Jr.’s birthday; it is also the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with the theme of, “Called to Proclaim the Mighty Acts of the Lord” (cf.1 Peter 2:9). In the United States, Friday, January 22 is a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.
In a world so divided by war, violence, hatred and religious bigotry, in a society like ours that values individual preference rather than the common good, in a world that, as St. Pope John Paul II would say, promotes a culture of death, today’s readings proclaim a God who calls us to newness and into community. Jesus helped bail out a newly married couple at Cana who ran out of wine. What resulted was a miracle, with at least 120-180 gallons of wine. Trito-Isaiah told Jerusalem, who had experienced the trauma of the exile in Babylon and felt unloved, that you will now be called “My Delight” and “Espoused.” Paul reminded the Corinthians that all of the manifestations of the Spirit were given them for the benefit of the community. God’s glory is revealed when we try to resolve our differences peacefully and share our resources with the poor and needy, when we work for Christian unity, when we work to make the dream of Dr. King a reality where all will live in peace on God’s holy mountain.
Please refer to the bulletin for events going on during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. You are invited to attend a Holy Hour for Life on Friday, January 22 at 7:00 pm at St. Monica’s in Whitefish Bay. Please pray for respect for the dignity of all human life from conception to natural death.
God bless you all.
Fr. Mike Michalski