Southern Nebraska Register
St. Mary Parish in downtown Lincoln held its annual “Praise & Pasta” event Saturday, May 2, in anticipation of the Lincoln Marathon, held May 3.
Marathon runners were invited to receive a special blessing at the 4 p.m. parish Mass. After Mass, approximately 700 runners, family members, friends and supporters attended the parish’s pasta feed for a free-will donation. The dinner, served on Centennial Mall, was catered by Yes Chef.
“We host people from all over the country for Mass, prayers, confessions, and other events,” pastor Father Joseph Walsh said in his homily. “This is a match for us.”
His homily continued :
But most of all, the marathon is a human event and the Church considers herself an expert in humanity. These were the words of Pope St. Paul VI, spoken in a speech he gave to the United Nations Assembly in 1965. Here are words from Pope St. John Paul II, some 20 years later: “The Church stands for life,” he wrote. “In each human life she sees the splendor of that ‘Yes,’ that ‘Amen,’ who is Christ Himself.”
I love to think about these words: an imaginary dialogue between the Father and the Son: “Will you go to save them?” the Father asks. “Yes,” the Son replies. “You will have to become one of them.” “Amen,” the Son responds. Let it be done to me according to your will.
And thus, He comes among us, to walk our roads, eat our food, mourn our dead, celebrate our weddings, and enter into relationships of love with us. God is love, and the Son of God has come to show the Father’s personal and permanent love for us. He comes to save us, and the way He has chosen to do this is to join us on our earthly and human journey.
He will be the silent companion of tomorrow’s runners, at mile 22 and 23. He will be the voice of encouragement and the eyes of watchfulness in the thousands of volunteers who make the marathon work. He is the voice in our hearts tonight, praising God from whom all blessings flow. He is the Spirit that unites our community in this human endeavor. He will be our guest tonight at the pasta feed.
One thing I can say for certain. It’s taught us again and again in the pages of the gospel. He loved to gather and eat with His friends. And when they ran out of food, He performed a miracle so that the thousands could be fed. He left us His own memorial meal, the Bread of Life, in which He makes Himself present so that we can feed on Him, and be with Him, and be sustained on our marathon of life until we sit and eat with Him in the wedding banquet of heaven.
Why are we doing the Praise and Pasta? Because this is where Christ is, this weekend, in Lincoln Nebraska. He is among us. ’Come along,’ He says to us. ‘Help me share with them the Father’s love.’
Courtesy photos
