Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 January 2002 — Page 9

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SPORTS

Salt and

Light

By Bishop T. Garrott

Benjamin

St. Rita priest to pursue a new mission Father Clark to begin work in Memphis

The Lord reigneth (King off Kings, Part 3) / The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. 2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, Oh Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. 4 The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. 5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, Oh Lord, for ever. — Psalm 93 ***** It is good to know as we move from gntgear to theneit^t^ bod reigns. As we often sing: “Our God is an awesome God, he rules from heaven above: with wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God.” No matter what you are going through or what you have been through, it is good to know our God reigneth. He is not simply an earthbound monarch with prescribed parameters of geo-politico influence, but the Bible says “that the Earth is his footstool and the heavens are his throne room.” To reign is to rule with royal authority. It is the period that the sovereign occupies the throne. Our God is sovereign — the supreme ruler (supra) of the universe who has everything in his control. You say why then has the world gone mad because as long as Satan is given authority by the choice of those of us who are in flesh, it will appear as if God is not in control but ultimately this is my Father’s world, and we may fail to “do the dishes or take out the garbage,” but the Father is in control. The Lord reigneth — it was God’s purpose to set up a kingdom on Earth and the question was who would be the king. The answer was found in a manger in Bethlehem. You say Christmas is over, let’s move on. Christmas is never over. Christmas is a way of life not a date on the calendar. It is whenever and wherever the Lord reigneth. It is Christmas for whoever would acknowledge his authority and majesty. The Scriptures and the prophets predicted him, the angels announced him, the three wise men, kings, brought him royal gifts, and Herod, the great, bowed down at his feet. A star in the East pointed to his location. He was genealogically, astronomically, and prophetically King of Kings. I want to confirm not only is he King of Kings, but the Lord reigneth. He is almighty, awesome, and active — right now. I. He is our sovereign king. Supreme ruler, only and blessed potentate. The Lord reigneth. He is robed in majesty. The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty: the Lord is 8m SALT, Pag* B3

, By SHANNON WILLIAMS Staff Writer Father Anthony Clark, pastor of St. Rita Catholic Church, conducted his last Mass on Sunday to an overflowing crowd of devoted parishioners before preparing for a new calling. Clark, who has been at St. Rita for 10 years will go on a short sabbatical for six months and than go to Memphis, along with three other priests, to begin mission work at Holy Names of Jesus and Mary parish. “The parish I’ve been assigned to is very poor and is in a very suppressed area. I hope to help the people become self-sufficient and enjoy life and the support of the church and also the people connected with it,” said Father Clark. “I’m really looking forward to doing many things with the poor and less fortunate.” Although the priest is eager to begin his work in Memphis, he speaks fervently about his time at St. Rita. “I have enjoyed my journey here. It has been a journey which had its ups and downs, good times and bad, but through it all, I think we’ve .coKte out on top. I’ve really en- ‘ my semce here as pastor of St. Rita/fe &id. Temporarily stepping into Clark’s shoes is Father Charles Smith. He will serve for three months until Father Tim Donnelly begins his primacy as permanent priest. The relationship between Clark and Smith spans far beyond their years at St. Rita Church. The two met 28 years ago when Smith and his twin brother Chester, also a priest, went to Wisconsin for semi-

nary work. Clark was the dean of students. Thus, began a lifelong relationship. “Father Tony was always there for us, he was like a second father. He’d teach us who we were and about our culture. He disciplined us too. He also modeled what a Black man should be in this world,” said Smith. “I just hope and pray that I can emulate him to that degree so that I can share it with other people, especially African-Ameri-can boys.” During his three-month tenure. Father Smith hopes to spiritually unite the community, make sure that St. Rita members are selfsufficient and accountable to the church and to have a holistic spirituality and liturgical service.

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What a friend I have in Jesus

By MELISSA KITTRELL “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” So says Paul in his letter to the Philippians. What I wanted to do was to lose weight even though I’d pretty much accepted the way I felt ... tired, sluggish, preferring my bed to any other piece of furniture in my house. I’d even accepted the medical problems that often accompany obesity ... diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis. What I wasn’t satisfied or comfortable with was the way I looked. Whenever 1 unexpectedly caught a glimpse of my reflection I felt ashamed and unhappy. “Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.” Or put another way, “Don’t fret about anything. Give thanks and pray about everything.” I’ve known Jesus personally for many years and he has proven to be the most loving, faithful and helpful friend I could ever wish for. So I told him that I wanted to lose weight and I asked him for his help. I waited for him to act I watched fcr divine intervention. I listened for some guiding woixls of wisdom. As far as I could tell, nothing happened except that I gained more weight. I asked again, believing as always that he heard me, that he cared about the things that

made me sad, that he had the answer I needed. Still, nothing that I considered positive happened. t I’ll admit that I thought this was a pretty tall order but I’ve never seen any situation that Jesuscould not handle. Solasked again. Iknew with everything that was in me that he was going to help me because he always helps me, in the biggest things as well as in the smallest. I can’t say for sure how many times I asked but one day something significant did happen. My left knee started to hurt really bad. I heated it up. I iced it down. I massaged it I bound it Nothing helped. Walking became excruciatingly painful. My family doctor ordered x-rays and eventually a MRI. He referred me to a knee replacement specialist. The specialist took more x-rays. He examined my knee thoroughly. His conclusion: I wasn’t a suitable candidate for knee replacement surgery. I was too young and I was diabetic. It was his opinion that if I lost weight, my knee problems would go away. However he sternly advised me not to attempt to lose weight on my own but to get into a medically supervised weight loss program. As it happened, the place where I’d gone for the MRI also housed a weight loss program. When I inquired about the program, it seemed to be well beyond my financial resources. However, if you know my friend Jesus, you know he can make a dollar “holla.” I signed up for the program and amusted the finances to my friend. 'Hie way tins particular weight loss program

works you significantly cut your caloric intake while increasing your physical activity. You see a doctor every week, attend a support group and talk to a health educator at least once a week. The program was challenging. But Jesus gave me the moral support and the supernatural help I needed to succeed. And yes, he completely covered the cost. A year ago I could barely walk an eighth of a mile. Now, I enjoy working out six days a week. I have no pain in my knee. I’ve lost over 75 pounds. My blood sugar and blood pressure are well within normal ranges without any medication. And I really, really like the way I look. Jesus Christ! What a friend!! “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them. With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” — Matthew 19:26. Act* of Faith The Recorder wants to hear your comments about how faith has changed your life. Please send you brief one or two page testimonials to: The Indianapolis Recorder do Acts of Faith 2901 N. Tacoma Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46218 or email them to: newsroom0iodyrecorder.com

Server Raymond Ray asalsts Father Anthony during hia last Mass at St. Rita Catholic Church, before pursuing a new mission in Memphis.

( A day’ in the judgment In the Holy Qur’an Allah (G-d) explains to humanity that he is the master of the Day of Judgment. Believers of many faiths live a conservative life in a manner pleasing to their Lord. During these difficult and challenging times, Al-Islam in America would like to share with our readers an excerpt of a speech delivered by Imam W. Deen Mohammed, the leader of the largest indigenous Muslim community in America. We pray that you enjoy his comments reprinted, with permission, from Muslim Journal. “We are living in times of trouble and sadness but also the time of hope and happiness. But I am aware of the struggle of the people of faith over the centuries behind us, back to the days of Muhammed the Prophet, when he Hived on this Earth as a physical person and carried out his responsibilities to Almighty G-d. “I see great progress for the religious communities on the Earth, even in the days of the Prophet and even in the good days of the 500 year life of Muslim rule in Spain that witnessed intellectual Jews and intellectual Muslims — scientific minded Jews and Muslims — working together to do what the American people have done pn this continent in this part of the world. “It was to improve the material conditions in the lives of the people and to improve the social conditions in the lives of the people, where they could have ‘an abundance’ — as the Christians would say: ‘To have life and to have it abundantly.’ “We thank G-d for these times, a time of trouble for families trying to hold themselves together, a time of trouble for cities to keep civilized behavior on our streets, a troubled time for the world to keep national borders safe. “But also it is a time of great rejoicing, when we see the leaders of Islam and the leaders of Christianity and the leaders of Judaism and Buddhism and of other religions all wanting to sit down and dialogue, to get to know each other better. “G-d says one of the purposes of him creating human beings with his freedom of will, freedom of life that we have, is for us to get to know one another. So this is a good time and a bad time. It is a dreadful time and a time to brighten up your faces and have hope for a better future. “So I call it the small day, if not the big day, of religion. “In our holy book, the day of religion is the Day of Judgment. I believe that this is ‘a day’ of judgment for the whole world. Scriptures before (the) Qur’an, and (also) the Qur'an tells us that this time will be a time of great trouble, of great sadness, of weeping and moaning and groaning, insane behavior. “Scripture told us this hundreds of years before it happened here, and that also it would be a day of rejoicing. It is a great and dreadful