Welcome to St. Anthony of Padua's website. St. Anthony of Padua is a Catholic Community located in Parma, Ohio. We are part of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. Our church and grade school are located at 6750 State Road. This site is updated weekly with information from our church bulletin. Please feel free to browse our site and if you have any questions or concerns about the site please e-mail me at .
June 27, 2009
SUNDAY THOUGHT
Mark 5:21-43
In our Gospel reading this weekend we find Jesus healing a sick woman and raising a little girl from the dead. How can we hope to imitate Jesus in these regards? One way we can is by sharing what we possess with those who lack life sustaining resources. Our acts of sharing our financial and material resources can help those living in inhuman conditions to experience new life. That’s what St. Paul urges us to do in our second reading for this Sunday. He reminds us that it is simply a matter of fairly balancing our present abundance and their need. He is not asking us to empty our bank accounts, sell all of our possessions, or give up our homes; that kind of radical response can be expected by only a very few followers of Jesus. No, we are asked only to share a part of our resources. Today we are often reminded that we cannot have too much money to meet our real or imagined needs. A Christian stands counter-cultural to that belief. If others don’t have what they need, and we have too much of what could help them, then in order to be like Christ, we are to share from our abundance. During this 50th Year of Celebration when we are very much aware of our blessings as a parish, let us also not lose sight of ways to show our gratitude for what we possess. As a parish and as individuals let us show our gratitude by our charity.