From the Pastor's Desk | January 25

Prayer for the Legal Protection Protection of Unborn Children
This past week, on Friday, January 23rd, thousands of people descended upon Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life.  I’m sure very little of it was picked up by the media.  I miss those trips with the high school students!  This month is dedicated to prayer for the protection of life from conception to natural death.  So, I encourage everyone to pray for the legal protection of the unborn - the voiceless and the seemingly forgotten - especially in our current political climate.

In the Eucharistic Prayer at every Mass we echo the very words of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, “This is my body which will be given for you…” (Luke 22:19).  On a spiritual level, I don’t think it is a coincidence that the mantra of the Pro-Choice movement is exactly the opposite (a mockery of sorts) of Christ’s words, “My body, my choice.”  I write that, not with the intention of inciting anger, but rather to encourage everyone to take some time to ponder that - to pray with it.  What do Jesus’ words - the words we echo every time we gather to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - mean?  

If you are so moved to get more involved with the Pro-Life movement, to work for the legal protection of the unborn, or even just to support it then I encourage you to look to Protect Life Michigan with whom I work very closely.  It is a great organization doing amazing work building up college and high school students to take on this important work.

Catholic Schools Week 
This week we kick off Catholic Schools Week!  I am incredibly proud of our school!  Our faculty and staff, led by our principal Mrs. Patton, are a phenomenal group of people who work tirelessly not only educating our students but also drawing them into a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ.  At St. Martha School our students are certainly well educated and prepared for high school, but they also experience the goodness, truth, and beauty of the God who created them by love and for love.  Please pray for our students, teachers, staff, and administration particularly this week.  

Given the state of the world and the competing ideologies, I cannot think of a safer environment for our youth than Catholic Schools.  If you have not considered St. Martha School or Lansing Catholic High School, I encourage you to inquire but do so soon.  Demand is high here at St. Martha School.  Mrs. Patton has given many tours and has received even more inquiries already.  Enrollment for registered parishioners begins February 2.  Open enrollment for the general public begins February 16. 
  
CCW and KofC
Thank you to the Council of Catholic Women and the Knights of Columbus for hosting our annual breakfast to kick off Catholic Schools Week.  These groups of women and men are precious to the parish and I cannot convey my gratitude adequately.  They step up time after time and without them this great parish would not be what it is.  If you have not considered joining either of these groups, please do so.   

Disciple Maker Index
As you heard last weekend, Bishop Boyea turns 75 on April 10th.  On that date he will submit his resignation to the Holy Father who can either accept it immediately or delay accepting it for a later date.  Regardless, Bishop Boyea and the curia are trying to put together a report for his eventual successor.  As part of this report, each parish will be taking part in a 95-question survey called the Disciple Maker Index.  This will not only help the curia but also myself and the staff here at St. Martha to help us identify what we are doing effectively and what we can do better.  I look forward to reading the final report as it relates to us here.  There will be more information to come as the survey will open February 17 and remain open through March 31.  Thank you in advance for your participation in this endeavor.

Please also keep Bishop Boyea in your prayers as well as his staff and his priests.  Pray also for his future successor, whoever that may be.    

Looking Ahead
I will be away from the parish beginning February 6-16.  I have a wedding rehearsal and wedding in Ann Arbor February 6-7 and then I fly out for Tampa, FL on February 9.  I will be on an eight day silent retreat with the Institute for Priestly Formation and will return February 16 in time for Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  We priests are required to take an annual retreat and I am looking forward to this very much.  No cell phone, no meetings, no interruptions, no housemates…just prayer and rest.  Please pray for me and the priests who will be on retreat with me.  Know that I will be lifting you up in prayer as well.    


Gospel Reflection
It is interesting where Jesus chose to begin his public ministry.  Rather than head south right away to Jerusalem - the religious and political epicenter of Israel - he heads north toward Capernaum.  Capernaum, a seaside town on the coast of the Sea of Galilee, was once the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali mentioned in our first reading from the prophet Isaiah.  

Isaiah was writing to 8th century B.C. Israelites living in the territories of Zebulun and Naphtali, prophesying the eventual Assyrian invasion and exile of the Jews.  These regions were seen as extremely valuable because of their locations along the border connecting trade routes between Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt.  This also made the regions extremely vulnerable to opposition and invasion.  They were also regions of cultural mixing and intermarrying meaning that pagan practices, rituals, and idolatry had made its way into the lives of the Israelites causing them to turn away from God.  These practices put them at odds, so to speak, with God as they worshiped idols and other deities.

In the 8th century B.C., Assyria invaded the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, exiling many of the Jews and moving into the regions themselves.  These regions were destroyed and the people suffered greatly.  We get a sense of that in our first reading.  But, Isaiah also prophesied that, “In the end he has glorified the seaward road, the land west of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles” and “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.”  

It is here that Jesus chooses to live and begin his public ministry.  Why?  In a sense, to fulfill what the prophet Isaiah wrote.  The “light,” of course, is Jesus himself.  But, think about it a little more.  By beginning his public ministry in Galilee - in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali - he is also saying something else.  He begins his ministry among the unimportant, the forgotten, the oppressed, and those who struggled - spiritually, emotionally, physically.  It was from these that he called his Apostles - not from the religious and politically elite in Jerusalem.  It was there that Jesus began to preach his message of repentance.  

What does this have to do with us today?  Jesus began his public ministry among the seemingly insignificant.  I think most of us can feel insignificant when faced with God.  How many times have we asked ourselves, echoing Job, “God, do you even care?” or “Where are you in the middle of all this mess?”  And, in a very real sense, we are insignificant compared to God himself.  But, in the eyes of God we are everything.  Every one of us is wildly important to God - important enough that if it were just you on the earth, Jesus still would have taken on the Cross just to save you.  You matter!  We matter!  In the eyes of the world we may be seen as insignificant, foolish, or unimportant.  But to God we are everything.    

As we pray today, let’s ponder how much we matter to God and how much we are loved by him.  

Know of my prayers for you all! 

Fr. Ryan