Year: 2015

Rejoice and Be Glad!

Written by Fr. Ben Hawley, SJ on Easter Sunday

Living a human life is harder than it looks. Young people have the great advantages of youth, idealism, energy, courage, and a sense that no mountain too high, no challenge too great, no barrier too obstructing. As we live, strive and struggle, we can sometimes find that in fact our lives can seem increasingly difficult and even impossible to navigate – friends, family, work, politics, and economics not fulfilling our needs or desires as we had hoped. At this point our Catholic faith, in particular, Jesus’ Resurrection from sin and death, reminds us that God knows our needs, and our ongoing reflection on our experience shows us that God is already acting to help us. God simply asks us to say Yes to God’s invitation to help us.

But is God big enough to handle the challenges we face, and is God’s guidance enough to enrich our lives beyond what we can achieve on our own? These are essential questions. Following Jesus through his public ministry in the gospel readings in Ordinary Time, we are invited to hear the message that, Yes, God’s presence gives us a richness of life we cannot achieve for ourselves. Following Jesus through his Lenten journey to his destiny in Jerusalem, which we relive moment by moment in the Triduum, we are invited to experience the reality that, Yes, God’s action can lift us through life’s challenges, privations, and hardships to a better life beyond – both in this life and in the afterlife.

In other words, in the celebrations of the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday we come to experience the reality that God’s life breaks through death, God’s love breaks through opposition or heartache, and that our lives of faith gather their substance from the reality of God’s existence and active pursuit of us. So, I invite you not only into the celebration of this great day but also in the following eight days – the Octave of Easter – and then into the remainder of the Easter Season – up to Pentecost Sunday, May 24 this year. In God’s world there is always more joy than sorrow, more Easter than Lent. Let us all rejoice and be glad.

****************************

Fr. Benjamin Hawley, SJ
Fr. Ben has served as Pastor and Director of Catholic Campus Ministry since August 2010. As pastor his ministry focus is helping the parish be “the field hospital for the wounded,” per Pope Francis, where people discover Jesus’ liberation and healing. Following his ordination in June 2000 Fr. Ben served as President of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School of Indianapolis until 2006. Prior to becoming Catholic in 1988, Fr. Ben worked for the Agency for International Development, the foreign assistance program of the US Government.
Email: pastorstmarys@gmail.com

God Sure is Good

Written by Davis Argersinger on Holy Saturday

Throughout much of my life, I never quite understood the relationship I had with God. I attended Christmas Eve and Easter services with my family at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, but I didn’t spend much time in church outside of those two dates. I knew God was somehow present in my life, but I had no formal way of growing closer to Him. That all changed though when I started dating my girlfriend Molly, whose passionate Catholic faith helped me understand that God was in fact working through her to lead me to the Catholic Church. She was, and is, a continuous example to me of how great life can be when lived with an unending appreciation of God’s grace. Towards the end of my senior year in high school, I had decided that I wanted to join the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) program at St. Mary’s. God had so graciously blessed me with the desire to become Catholic.

I soon realized that God’s blessings during my RCIA faith journey were only beginning to rain down upon me. My loving mom, Sarah, whose desire for faith was so similar to mine, had decided to join RCIA with me. Beginning our journeys together towards closeness to God, side-by-side, will always be one of the greatest blessings of my life. As RCIA I had begun, I was blessed with the fellowship of my sponsor Bart, whose enduring and enthusiastic Catholic faith I could only hope to someday parallel. I was provided with so much love and support. God sure is good.

As I reflect back on my first year in the Catholic Church, I have trouble expressing the thankfulness I have for God, and for all of His children who have helped me seek His closeness. As found in the readings for tonight’s Easter Vigil, “God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior” (IS 12:2-3).

Let us always prayerfully thank God for the wonderful desire He has given us to be Catholic.

Question for Reflection & Suggestion for Prayer:
In thinking about your Lenten journey, in what areas of your life do you desire further closeness to God?
Always thank God for the day that stands ahead of you.

*********************

Davis Argersinger
Davis is a sophomore premedical student majoring in psychology at the University of Michigan. He entered the Catholic Church through St. Mary’s RCIA Program in 2014. Davis is incredibly thankful for the support that St. Mary Student Parish has given him during his first year as a Catholic.
Email: davisarg@umich.edu