On May 25, 1968, Deacon Frederick J. Nijem, Jr., entered the brand-new Saint John the Evangelist Church in Valdosta, to become the first priest ever ordained there. The church's pastor, Father Thomas J. Payne, waived the privilege of celebrating the first Mass in his new church, commenting, "I think it's the most appropriate thing that could happen to a new church-to launch a new priest. We broke ground last July with this in mind."
And he taught with authority, not like the scribe and Pharisees. What gives a teacher, a parent, a policeman, a priest their authority? They all have external authority, to some extent. They can impose some kind of penalty, some kind of punishment if you don't obey their orders. Let me take that back, with the exception of the priest, we only have some authority if you show up to listen and celebrate, otherwise, we are pretty much irrelevant.
Throughout the Gospels, oftentimes the evangelists describe for us how people react to the words of Jesus. At times, we learn, people felt challenged and flat out rejected Jesus' teachings, such as when he preached his disciples had to eat his body and drink his blood to have eternal life.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
The theme for our Catholic Schools week is Faith, Academics and Service. I am happy to say that our Sacred Heart School lives and offers all three of these realities. Our school promotes faith. There is daily prayer in the class rooms, there is a Mass celebrated weekly with the student body. There are religion classes daily. And beyond all of this our school promotes an atmosphere of faith by the religious symbols in our school and the way we try and treat one another - with Christian respect and reverence.
Let's talk about this Gospel. John's death seems to be some kind of signal to Jesus that now is the time to begin his public ministry. Jesus has to wonder as he begins if John's fate awaits him. Whatever awaits, Jesus says directly, this is the moment of decision, the kingdom of God is upon you.
Please wait...