ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI CATHOLIC CHURCH WHITESBORO, TEXAS JULY 17, 2016 “MARY HAS CHOSEN THE BETTER PART” by Fr. Jeremy Myers Luke 10:38-42 We meet again the sisters Martha and Mary in the gospel today. They will reappear in John’s gospel with the death of their brother, Lazarus. Here, there is a much more ordinary scene. Jesus has arrived to pay a visit to his friends. Martha has busied herself in the kitchen preparing a meal for their guest. Mary, meanwhile, has stayed in the front room visiting with Jesus. Martha, exasperated by the clock and Mary’s failure to help in the kitchen, finally reaches the boiling point. She says to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?” It is easy enough for us to imagine her tone and her words, since we’ve been there many times also. Jesus, surely accustomed to Martha’s personality, says—with a smile on his face, I’m sure— ”Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” The gospel never tells us if a meal is served that night or if Martha storms out of the kitchen, leaving the casserole in the oven. This familiar story has produced many explanations over the centuries. But the bare truth is just as the Lord tells Martha. She is anxious about many things. Mary, on the other hand, is focused on something more important—the person in front of her. Of course, this is a response that most people don’t like. We much more admire the hard worker and the go-getter, not the one who sits and waits for the food to be put on the table. Still, the Lord’s words—as always—are meant to invite us to look more deeply into our hearts to see if we are on the right path, or if there is room for improvement. We might begin by looking at it from another perspective, this one given to us by the writer Yann Martel in his new book, “The High Mountains of Portugal.” There Martel tells the story of a young man who has just buried his child and the boy’s mother, after both had died suddenly in an epidemic. For the first time, the young man must go into the house in which the two died, the place in which he had made his home. Martel describes beautifully the young man’s feelings as he walks through the empty house: “Love is a house with many rooms, this room to feed the love, this one to entertain it, this one to clean it, this one to dress it, this one to allow it to rest, and each of these rooms can also just as well be the room for laughing or the room for listening or the room for telling one’s secrets or the room for sulking or the room for apologizing or the room for intimate togetherness, and, of course, there are the rooms for the new members of the household. Love is a house in which plumbing brings bubbly new emotions every morning, and sewers flush out disputes, and bright windows open up to admit the fresh air of renewed goodwill. Love is a house with an unshakable foundation and an indestructible roof. He had a house like that once, until it was demolished.” With those elegant words, Martel invites us to see what is really important in a house—it’s not the walls and it’s not the bricks. The more important thing about a house is the people in it, people who love one another and who find there the reason for living in one another. It’s the people that matter, not the house. Martha got distracted in the kitchen and lost sight of what really mattered—the presence of the Lord there in the house with her and her sister—the presence of Love itself. SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C) How often do we let ourselves attend to the present moment? We must admit that, much of the time, we are berating ourselves over what we “should” have done, or anticipating some imagined dreadful future outcome. The present is our, ever-available refuge from our self-imposed tyranny. We allow the love of God, here and now, to heal and refresh us. DECIMOSEXTO DOMINGO DEL TIEMPO ORDINARIO (C) ¿Con qué frecuencia dejamos de ocuparnos del momento actual? Debemos confesar que, la mayor parte del tiempo, reprobamos sobre lo que “deberíamos” haber hecho, o anticipar algunos imaginando terrible resultado future. El presente es nuestro, refugio alguna vez disponible de nuestra tiranía impuesta a sÍ mismo. Permitimos el amor de Dios, aquí y ahora, para curar y refrescarnos. Please join us for coffee and fellowship after Mass today in the Parish Hall. Por favor únase a nosotros para el café y compañerismo después de Misa hoy en el Salón Parroquial. STEWARDSHIP FOR JULY 10, 2016 $1,870.00 Thank you for your gifts. “If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, there is a chance you may contribute to making a better world. That’s your choice.” Noam Chomsky SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Please remember in your prayers all the faithful departed, especially Jim Ware, step-father of Donna Morrell, who died recently. May he rest and rejoice in the peace and joy of God’s kingdom. We want to wish a happy birthday to all in our parish family celebrating a birthday this week, especially Crystal Salas today, July 17th, Sally Goebel and Sharon Hoenig on July 18th, Rhonda Crosby and Luke Jaresh on July 19th, George Kleinert and Juan Villa on July 21st, and Jacob Dobbs and David Terry on July 23rd. The Baptismal Preparation Class in Spanish will be this Wednesday, July 20th, at St. Mary’s Parish in Sherman. La clase de preparación Bautismal se celebrará el miércoles, 20 de julio a las 7 p.m. en el centro parroquial in Sherman. Uno o ambos padres deben proveer una copia de su certificado de bautismo. Los padrinos deben también asistir a una clase de preparación bautismal, aquí en Santa María o en su parroquia. Si son miembros en otra parroquia, una carta del párroco deben proporcionarse indicando que los padrinos están en buenas relaciones con la iglesia católica. Los padrinos deben ser católicos activos, 16 años de edad o más. Los padrinos deben proveer una copia de su certificado de confirmación y, si es casado, debe haber sido casados en la iglesia católica y proporcionar una copia del certificado de matrimonio. Cuando se proporcionan todos los documentos y completan las clase, se puede programar la fecha de bautismo. We want to wish a happy anniversary to all couples celebrating a wedding anniversary this week, especially Juvenal & Veronica Galan on July 22nd. This is a reminder to all St. Francis of Assisi organizations planning any upcoming fundraisers. Contact Mike Crone at mikeorpatcrone@gmail.com so he can check the calendar and get the fundraiser scheduled. Esto es un recordatorio para todas las organizaciones de San Francisco de Asís, planeando cualquier evento próximo para recaudar fondos. Póngase en contacto con Mike Crone en mikeorpatcrone@gmail.com para que él pueda revisar el calendario y programar el evento para recaudar fondos. St. Francis of Assisi Men’s Club is hosting an Annie Oakley-style Skeet Shoot with cash prizes on Saturday, August 13th, beginning at 9 a.m. Please join us at this Family Skeet Shoot in time for Dove Season! Register to get in on the Fun! Contact Andy Mitcheltree at 817-521-5591 or Sonny Croney at 903-815-3480. El Club de Hombres de San Francisco de Club Asís está organizando un Tiro de Plato estilo Annie Oakley con premios en efectivo el sábado, 13 de agosto, comenzando a las 9:00 a.m. Por favor únase a nosotros en esta tiro de plato familiar en tiempo para la temporada de paloma! ¡Regístrese para entrar en la diversión! Póngase en contacto con Andy Mitcheltree al 817-521-5591 o Sonny Croney al 903-815-3480. FOR JULY 24, 2016 †Ted Endres by Elitha Endres LITURGICAL ASSIGNMENTS FOR JULY 24, 2016 Lector Connie Lloyd Servers Eucharistic Ministers Sharon Kirkpatrick Sharon Sandmann Ushers Suzanne Cunningham Austin Sotelo Yolanda Sotelo Jake Lambke Ken Podborny Roger Balak Gift Bearers Ministers to Homebound Tony Labrada Family Deb T and Margaret P 2016 Peanut Festival raffle tickets are available from the Men's Club for this year’s prizes! Be on the lookout for tickets in the Parish Hall each Sunday! ¡El Club de Hombres tiene disponible boletos de rifa para los premios de este año para el Festival del Cacahuete 2016! Este atento a las entradas del salón parroquial cada domingo! The second annual Mass of Remembrance for Children will be celebrated by Bishop Greg Kelly on Saturday, August 13th, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Dallas. A special blessing will be offered for parents of children lost before birth through miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion, or after birth for any reason. Parents will be invited to participate in a white rose procession and to add their child(ren) to a Book of Remembrance to be held in prayer by the Sisters of Life. (Participation in any aspect of the event is voluntary.) For more information, contact Susan Platt at 214-392-7545 or splatt@prolifedallas.org. La segunda misa anual de recuerdo para los niños será celebrada por el Obispo Greg Kelly el sábado 13 de agosto, a las 10 a.m. en la Catedral Santuario de la Virgen de Guadalupe en la ciudad de Dallas. Una bendición especial se ofrecerá a los padres de los niños perdidos antes de nacimiento a través de un aborto espontáneo, muerte fetal o aborto, o después del nacimiento, por cualquier razón. Los padres serán invitados a participar en una procesión de rosas blanca y agregar su(s) hijo(s) a un libro de recuerdo para celebrarse en oración por las Hermanas de Vida. (participación en cualquier aspecto del evento es voluntaria.) Para obtener más información, comuníquese con Susan Platt al 214-392-7545 o splatt@prolifedallas.org. St. Mary’s Catholic School in Sherman is accepting Pre-K through 8th grade registrations for the 2016-2017 school year. For more information, visit www.stmaryssch.org, email Principal Phillip Scheibmeir at pscheibmeir@stmarys-sch.org, or call 903893-2127.