St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church

May our Risen Lord Jesus give us His peace.

We got Spirit yes we do, we got Spirit how bout you?

Better to suffer, and the St. Anthony's orphanage.

We got Spirit. When you go to a high school rally, perhaps Greenville High School? Yes! You will hear the shouts. We got Spirit yes we do, we got Spirit, how bout you? They shout their school pride to entice the others to yell about their pride.

When the Apostle Phillip went to Samaria, a town of people formerly thought as enemies of God, they listened to him and received the Holy Spirit. We got Spirit yes we do! People were healed, demons were cast out, Phillip gave the gift of God he had received.

We got Spirit, how bout you? This isn't high school, it is the power of God in us. Shout! Heal! Run the demons out - you so loud. Um hmmm.

Better to suffer. St. Peter says that it is better to suffer for doing good than for having done evil. Interesting and deep, but kind of a downer huh? Not exactly "we got spirit how about you?" I figure it like this, I get up and face a day of loving that will be hard, a day that will be long, but I will spend it meeting someone who is lonely, or listening, or waking up at a challenging hour to be with someone in an emergency. But when I am done the sleep is profoundly happy sleep. The other way would be to do selfish things, to take sleep when God gave me heartbeats for love. When I am done with that I just feel empty. Its better to suffer for loving.

The St. Anthony's orphanage. Very few St. Anthony's parishioners have been here all our lives, though some have indeed. The rest of us are orphans from another place. How is it that we all call this our parish home? It is because God leaves no one orphaned. He adopts His children and places them where He knows they will grow. There are no orphans, or else this is St. Anthony's orphanage.

But when people come here they don't seek to adopt us, they seek to adopt the Spirit in this place - the Spirit of Jesus. We got spirit how bout you?

I believe with all my heart that the Spirit of God is felt here because we all bring a brokenness from having tried to love. We have found a steady love in Jesus' brokenness and the companions we enjoy who are dealing with their pain too.

When a people takes the time in the middle of their brokenness

to find in God some light, hope and steady love -

literally a suffering servant way,

we can rejoice that we are following the very way God revealed Himself.

He says, "Because I live, you will live."

No airs, lots of openness to the stranger, feeling given to, we let it well up and spill out. In this, we are not far from the Kingdom of God.