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 .
February 04, 2012
SUNDAY THOUGHT
Mark 1:29-39
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is presented by St. Mark as a prophet. As baptized Christians we share in Jesus’ prophetic calling. A prophet is someone who manifests God’s will or intentions by his own words and deeds. He isn’t concerned with what people think about these actions. What is popular doesn’t enter into a prophet’s mind. God’s standard is a prophet’s concern. At our baptisms we were anointed with the intention of being sent by God to continue His Son, Jesus’ prophetic vocation. Because God has commissioned us, it doesn’t really matter whether we feel adequate or inadequate to do the job we have been called to do. God promises to be with us in order for us to carry out His work. Modern day prophets like us face many challenges today. One of the biggest is the moral climate of relativism in our society. Moral relativism is the attitude that all values and beliefs are equally legitimate and therefore we can’t judge one better than the other. This approach not to decide between what may be right or what may be wrong gives everyone permission to do whatever they choose. As today’s prophets we have the obligation to stand up before our world and gently but firmly say “no” to this kind of poor thinking and acting. God promises to be with us if we promise to be His prophet. God promises to give us the courage we need to speak and act for the truth – God’s real truth. Let’s support one another with our prayers as we respond bravely to our prophetic baptismal vocation.