Many of us expect the Church to be a holy place where members are all saintly.  This is because we are all supposed to subscribe to the teachings of Christ in the gospel.  We are to live an upright, holy and virtuous life.  When we are in Church, we expect everyone to be nice, polite, caring, helpful, considerate and forgiving, just like us!  More often than not, we meet very selfish worshippers who would reserve seats for their loved ones or prevent others from sitting on the same bench even if there was a space.  We get impatient drivers who would shout and scold our car park wardens.  Of course, we have equally rude, arrogant and sarcastic ministry members as well, including some priests!  When that happens, they get hurt and leave the Church, calling everyone a hypocrite.

However, the truth is that if we are so perfect, then we should be more exemplary by being polite even when others are rude to us, charitable even when others are selfish, compassionate even when others lack tolerance.  If we are equally self-righteous, impatient, unkind and retaliate against those whom we cannot tolerate, we are in truth no better than them.  Like them, we are also imperfect and have our faults as well.  So as the Lord said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?”  (Mt 7:1-3)

We must be careful that we are not advocating a perfect and exclusive Church only for the saints.  Some Catholics think the Church is only for holy and saintly people, forgetting that we are equally sinners.  If we reserve the Church only for the saints, we will have hardly any members.  At any rate, if we are all so saintly, we do not need Christ or the Church to help us grow in holiness.  We have already canonized ourselves. No Church has perfect members.   Otherwise, we will be like the world, subscribing to spiritual eugenics, that is, only those who have the saintly genes will be allowed to live and those with wicked genes will be eliminated.  We will be on the way to producing a superhuman race without moral defects.   Those who are less than perfect would be deemed to be unfit for the Church.

The parable of the dragnet reminds us that the Church, the Kingdom of God on earth is constituted of all kinds of people.  This is why the Church is called Catholic, universal, and open to all of humanity.  It cuts across genders, races, cultures and languages.  Whether one is poor or rich, educated or uneducated, ordinary or people with status and position, good or bad, saint or sinner, all belong to the Church.  Like the dragnet that catches all kinds of fishes, the Kingdom of God embraces all categories of people without exception.  As such, we can expect to encounter all sorts of people in the Church with their eccentricities, different levels of spiritual growth, diverse backgrounds, temperaments, experiences, prejudices and mindsets.   Being Catholic means being united in diversity; not united in uniformity.  Unless the Church embraces all kinds of people, the Church cannot be said to be a refuge for sinners, a sanctuary for the brokenhearted and a sacrament of love and unity.  The Church is holy and yet the members are sinful.

The only requirement to be a member of the Church is our desire to grow in faith, love and charity.  The only prerequisite is that we recognize we are sinners ourselves.  If we are sincere in wanting to grow in holiness and to become more Christ-like, then we are worthy to be in the Church of Christ, not in spite of but because of our imperfections in faith and charity.  God welcomes us into His Church so that we can be given the right ambience and opportunity to listen to the Word of God and journey with the rest of God’s people in faith.

The Church is a place where each one of us is given the ambience, the opportunity and grace to grow in Christ-likeness.  Through the proclamation of the gospel, the teaching of scriptures, worship and prayers, the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation, reflection on the Word of God, the sharing of the gospel and Christian fellowship, we grow in maturity in Christ.  St Paul says that the gifts of the Spirit are to “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.  We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.”  (Eph 4:12-14)

In the Christian community, since the beginning of the Church, there will always be members who will fall short of the standards of the gospel.  Since the early Church, we read of members who fell into sin like Ananias and Sapphira who lied about the proceeds of a property they sold.  (Acts 5:1-11) We read of the apparent discrimination of the Greek-speaking widows against the Hebrew-speaking widows.  (Acts 6:1-6)   So there will also always be shortcomings in every Christian community, including those living in consecrated life and our clergy.   We are all sinners but we are purifying ourselves in love and faith...

God Bless.Fr.Tom Babu 

Cortesy to Archduocese of Singapore ...

Dear Friends in Christ,
"I am with you until the end of the world. "Matt.28.20
 
As uncertainty, anxiety, and fear grab hold of the world, I want to remind you HOW to regain and retain your PEACE.
 
Jesus Christ.
 
Take a minute - even right now - and remind yourself who God is. Focus on His absolute strength, and His unlimited love for you (and each of His children). Put your trust in Him. You know how the story ends: the light of what’s to come shines in dark times, changing them here and now.
We are in the  Lenten journey: even if the whole congregation would not be present I will be doing the Easter Services the Light that came into this world through Jesus who won the victory over Sin, Death and The Power of Darkness...
 
 Remember that He can handle...anything. For God, all things are possible.
 
Rest in that truth. And remind your loved ones - your family and friends and neighbors - of that reality so they too can rest in that peace.
 
I am praying for all of my people here at St.Teresa's because I have time now to do so  with great hope and confidence.
GOD will protect us ..
Say this prayer slowly .
Lord, help me 
Be prepared, but not anxious.
Be aware, but not desperate.
Be vigilant, but not in fear.
Be joyful, but not clueless. 
Be faithful, but not careless.
Lord, be my hope and strength.

Greetings!
 I am Fr. Tom Babu, Pastor here and welcome to Saint Teresa of Avila Parish!  I am delighted to have you visit our website to learn more about our parish family.  At Saint Teresa of Avila Parish, we are committed to welcoming and supporting every parishioner to become a disciple of Christ, building God’s Kingdom through our prayer, service and outreach to others in faith. We strive to bring to life the words of our mission: “We are called to love one another and to share our gifts of time, talent, and resources to welcome and to bring our faith to all people.”  Working together, we seek to build a strong parish community where all feel welcome and inspired by the Gospel to live Jesus’ mission with faith, hope and love.  I invite and encourage you to connect with the members and ministries of our parish community and look forward to meeting you personally.
 
Saint Teresa of Avila Parish has been in service to the community in the pursuit of serving God since 1860! We try to keep the Parish moving ahead with technology and convenience for our Parishioners, and have just rolled out a brand new OnLine Giving program to make it so very easy to make regular and special offerings to Saint Teresa. We are on Facebook and have the Parish App where you can find us.

If there is anything we can do to help you in your journey with God, please do not hesitate to contact me, or our parish team. You can find many of our contacts on the staff page here on our website.
 
Our parish seeks to offer as many opportunities for parishioners to come together in faith as possible. If there is a personal or family need that arises, please know that our parish staff is always available to assist you in any way we can.  I pray that you may find warmth, encouragement and spiritual growth in our parish here in Carson City and I look forward to getting to know you personally in the weeks and months ahead when we gather around the Altar to celebrate our Faith. Most importantly, please make worship at one of our six weekend masses a regular part of your life. The Holy Eucharist is the lifeblood of the community where are fed by our Lord in Word and Eucharist and where we form deeper bonds with one another and become a family. You are a part of the body of Christ and every part is valued and needed.
 
May God bless you and your family in your journey of Faith.  
 
Sincerely yours in Christ, 
 
Fr. Tom Babu