Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
There are few siblings as well known in the faith as the sisters, Martha and Mary. While their brother is known for being one of the few people Jesus raised from the dead in the Gospels, it’s the story and interaction between the two sisters that many of us remember more easily. Martha, anxious and worried, is running around like a maniac, trying to be the consummate host. While Mary, quiet and reserved, sits at the feet of Jesus with other disciples, learning from the Teacher. The two are often cited as representing different aspects of Christian discipleship, with Martha being more active and service oriented, while Mary is more contemplative and prayerful. Such strong distinctions may be missing the mark slightly, but it’s still helpful in our own consideration of how to best follow Christ for ourselves.
Just a few weeks ago, we held a Ministry Fair, highlighting all the many ministries and ways for our parishioners to connect and be involved within the parish. I don’t have the exact number of sign-ups at hand, but I was told that it was over 100 in total. That’s wonderful and I’m very grateful and happy that so many decided to take part and are interested in serving in a variety of different ways. Now, some ministries fared better than others; no one rushed to sign up to help with SCYM, but I didn’t really expect that to be the case, since it’s such a specialized ministry. Others had quite a few people sign up and that’s a good thing, both for the parish and for the individuals involved. But the reality is, something like a Ministry Fair is geared a little bit more towards the Martha mentality; volunteering to serve actively in our community in a variety of ways. But there was a least one ministry that is definitely more Mary-like in nature; that of Eucharistic Adoration.
It’s been a number of years since we’ve made a major push to get more people to be regular adorers for the chapel. It’s a bit of a tricky thing. I strongly believe that Eucharistic Adoration is the quickest and most surefire way to grow in your spiritual life. If you want to deepen your relationship with Christ, you absolutely will if you take part in Adoration. But it also can be an advanced form of prayer and the idea of dedicating an hour of your week to be in the presence of the Eucharist in meditative prayer can also be quite daunting for a lot of people. And so, there’s a balance to asking you to consider doing Adoration and not overwhelming you with the idea of it.
Friends, at the end of the day, I think there are many of us who would greatly benefit from Eucharistic Adoration. And I hope that by writing about here, it might encourage some to pursue it, so that like Mary, we may grow closer to Christ.
Peace and Goodness,
Fr. Dan
Recent Comments