17 - St. Thomas More Boynton Beach

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Parish office at
Saint Thomas More Catholic Church
Tel: 561.737.3095 www.stmbb.org Tel. 561.737.3095
equality with God as something
to cling to. Instead, He gave up
His divine privileges; He took
the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When He appeared in human
form, He humbled Himself in
obedience to God and died a
criminal’s death on a cross.
(Phil 2:5-11) Surely there could
have been no doubt in God’s
mind about His Son’s worthiness
or willingness to take up and
accomplish the great Task of
Salvation set before Him: Do you
see what this means—all these
pioneers who blazed the way, all
these veterans cheering us on? It
means we’d better get on with it.
Strip down, start running—and
never quit! No extra spiritual
fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your
eyes on Jesus, Who both began
and finished this race we’re in.
Study how He did it. Because He
never lost sight of where He was
headed—that exhilarating finish
in and with God—He could
put up with anything along the
way: Cross, shame, whatever.
(Heb 12:2, The Message) But
we’re talking about us, here, and
not about The Messiah. And
there is some doubt in our minds
about God’s will and grace and
loving kindness…when the testing
comes to us! And given our past
performance when tempted, God
has every reason to test us before
entrusting to us the great tasks
and callings of the Kingdom.
The three temptations of
Jesus recall Israel’s failure in the
wilderness and provide the perfect
model for triumphing in testing.
Jesus is our vicarious champion,
relinquishing His own power for
His Task to save us from our sins.
David was Israel’s champion when
he fought Goliath on behalf of and
as a representative of his people.
Christians are destined for testing:
Keep watching and praying
that you may not enter into
temptation; the spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak. (Matt
26:41) Jesus has gone before us
and shown us how to overcome.
The devil tempts Jesus to
abuse His calling and power for
selfish ends. God identifies Jesus
as His Son (Matt 3:16); now, the
devil tries to redefine the nature
of Jesus’ son-ship: If you are the
Son of God, then…do it this
way. The devil invites Jesus not
so much to deny His son-ship
as to act according to various
worldly expectations for that role,
expectations that serve the devil’s
purposes. This is a warning to
all of us whom God has called
not to let the world define the
content of our call or the task to
which we are called. Some priests
would be better suited to the task
of school teacher or social worker
or therapist or cheerleader instead
of preaching the Gospel of Jesus
Christ: You adulterous people,
don’t you know that friendship
with the world is hatred toward
God? Anyone who chooses to be
a friend of the world becomes
an enemy of God. (Jam 4:4)
We must accept with sacrificial
obedience God’s right not only
to determine what to label our
calling but also to refine us for the
task through testing. AMEN.
SACRIFICIAL GIVING
WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY 9-10, 2013
Tithes and Offerings:
$24,176.60
STM Faith Formation Program
$204.00
DSA 2013 Special Envelope
$2,945.60
DIOCESAN SERVICES APPEAL 2013
SAINT THOMAS MORE PARISH GOAL:
$336,000.00
DSA 2013 PLEDGES AND CASH
RECEIVED AS OF FEBRUARY 2, 2013:
$30,071.25
NUMBER OF DONORS:
104
LIVING OUR FAITH, GIVING IN LOVE.
Please note St. Thomas More Parish on
your pledges and checks to the Diocesan
Services Appeal. You may mail your
pledge directly to Bishop Barbarito or
you may drop it off at the Parish Office
or in the Offertory at any time.
Thank you for receiving my message on
the annual appeal with such generosity
and enthusiasm.
Rev. Julian P. Harris, Pastor
Page 4 // First Sunday of Lent // February 17th, 2013