Parish mission to focus on all forms of human suffering

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Dominican Father Antoninus Wall

TAYLORSVILLE — Saint Martin de Porres in Taylorsville will host a parish mission May 11 to May 16, the theme of which is "God’s Love and Human Suffering."

The goal of the mission is to search for the workings of Divine Love in human suffering and to assist those who attend in experiencing God’s love in that part of their life with the most intense pain, said Dominican Father Antoninus Wall, who will host the mission.

Fr. Wall, a member of the Western Dominican Province, will preach at all the Masses prior to the mission. He was ordained in Rome and completed a doctoral degree in theology in three Catholic colleges. He acted as superior in two religious formation communities, providing spiritual direction and serving as president of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, Calif. During the past 20 years, he has pursued the Dominican mission of teaching and preaching through parish missions and retreats.

St. Martin de Porres Parish traditionally has hosted a mission with Dominican priests in honor of their patron saint, who was a Dominican.

Pope Benedict XVI also announced a Year of Faith from Oct. 11, 2012 to Nov. 24, 2013, and it is also the 50th anniversary of the Vatican II Council and "we have to go and evangelize," said Father Jan Bednarz, pastor of St. Martin de Porres Parish. "We have to teach the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his suffering, death, and resurrection and the ascension of the Holy Spirit; the Good News is we have faith in Jesus Christ."

Fr. Wall said, "One of the greatest challenges to the Catholic faith is the reconciliation of human suffering with a God of infinite love and unlimited power."

Among the topics he will cover is the value and purpose, if any, in the variety of human suffering.

On May 11-12, Fr. Wall’s topic will be The Call to Holiness. "Each of us is called by God to become a saint," he said. "The challenge to us is to come to a proper understanding of the nature of holiness and how it relates to our lives."

On May 13, Fr. Wall will discuss ‘Love and Suffering.’ "Love is a source of all the joy in life and all the suffering in life, he said. "No love means no suffering and no joy."

The topic on May 14 will be: At the Foot of the Cross. "Christ on the cross is a man, a creature, giving birth to God, not to the Divine Nature, of course, but to a radically new presence of God’s love at work in this world," said Fr. Wall.

On May 15, the discussion will be: Adoration means drinking the cup of reality that God invites you to drink. "Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross teaches us the true nature of adoration," said Fr. Wall. "It is by prostrating our inner dreams in the embrace of outer reality as God invites us to live it, that we attain union with God."

The final discussion, on Thursday, will be: Love of Life and Love of God. "Christ comes to teach us how to fall in love with life, with a true love," said Fr. Wall. "The more you truly love life, the more you love God."

Fr. Wall will preach at the Saturday Mass at 5 p.m., Sunday Masses at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., and daily Masses at 9 a.m. The Mission will be May 13-16 at 6:30 p.m. For information, call 801-968-2369.