Gulf Pine Catholic

8 Gulf Pine Catholic • December 25, 2020 Priest’s new book offered as guide for reflection, preparation during season of Lent BY TERRY DICKSON BAY ST. LOUIS -- Father Sebastian Myladiyil, SVD, has written a new book that will serve as an excellent resource for daily reflection during Lent as Catholics prepare for Easter celebra- tions. His Instruments: If God Could Use Them...He Can Use Us (Vol. 2) is avail- able through Daphne, AL-based pub- lisher River Birch Press . The first vol- ume, which focuses on characters of the Old Testament, was published in 2012. Father Sebastian’s new book profiles 40 characters from the New Testament. The book’s foreword was written by Bishop Joseph Kopacz of Jackson, MS. “The basic premise of this book is that, if you see a good person, you imi- tate that person, that person’s values and virtues. If you see a person of question- able character or a bad person, you examine your conscience,” said Father Sebastian dur- ing a recent visit to St. Augustine Seminary in Bay St. Louis. “In the Bible, we have so many wonderful men and women of faith whose lives and choices we can cer- tainly relate to for ourselves. At the same time, in the Bible, we also have the questionable characters. Many of them responded to God’s call with great enthusiasm, initially, but when challenges and difficulties came, their enthusiasm diminished and they were attracted to other things. As a result, they fell away from God’s plans and their lives became failures.” Father Sebastian, a former pastor of St. Rose de Lima Parish in Bay St. Louis, said each of the charac- ters in his newest book -- both good and bad -- have valuable lessons to impart. “Their situations are no different than ours,” he said. “The historical context might be a little different, but the human emotions are the same and how we deal with the uncertainties of life, how we deal with unex- pected tragedies in life. Those are all the same. “The important thing is to see God always, and to have the steadfast conviction in our hearts that God is there always and to receive that strength from Him.” Father Sebastian begins the book by examining the lives of the main characters from the Infancy Narrative -- Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, Joseph and Mary. “I also look at the public life of Jesus where some of the prominent apostles come along, such as Peter, Andrew, John, Thomas and Matthew,” he said. “I look at the parables of Jesus Christ where some of those beautiful characters evolve, such as the Good Samaritan, the Rich Man and Lazarus. I also profile characters such as Nicodemus and the Samaritan Woman, Martha and Mary and Lazarus. I look at the Acts of the Apostles and the writings of Paul. We have Stephen the Martyr and Saul of Tarsus, who becomes Paul of Tarsus.” Father Sebastian is a native of India and a naturalized U.S. citizen. He is a Divine Word Missionary priest, serving the Southern Province of USA since 1999, and has been serving in different parishes that are comprised of multi- cultural populations such as African- Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics. Along with his pastoral duties, he obtained his first Master’s Degree in Moral Theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, La., and a second Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Counselling from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Currently, he is serving at Sacred Heart Church in Greenville, Miss.; St. Francis Church in Shaw, Miss.; and Sacred Heart Church in Rosedale, Miss. To date, Father Sebastian has four books published: His Instruments ; His Instruments -- If God Could Use Them He Can Use Us ; and Blown Together -- The Trials and Miracles of Katrina . His fourth book is a translation of His Instruments into Spanish: Sus Instrumentos . Currently, he is working on his next book, A Compendium of Prayers -- Why We Pray . His Instruments -- If God Could Use Them He Can Use Us is available on Amazon for $20 plus shipping; the Kindle edition is available for $9.99. For more information, contact Father Sebastian at sebymy@hot- mail.com or call (228) 324-4927. Fr. Sebastian Myladiyil, SVD “Young people have to take the church out of cata- combs after the pandemic,” said Schonstatt Father AlexandreAwi Mello, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, one of the week’s keynote speakers. “From this crisis, we can get better or worse. Right now, what we need, (Pope Francis) says, is the oppor- tunity to change or innovate,” he said. Unemployment has limited the availability of young people for ministry, Father Mello observed. “We won- der what to do to minister to them ... to give them an encounter with Christ and their church.” They ask, he said, “for a dedicated accompaniment” by older adults, and “if we had to choose one stop to reinforce -- I would suggest we put all our strength into accompaniment.” He pointed to surveys that “say very clearly that young people live this exclusion. They all feel com- pletely alone most of the time. About 40% have no one to talk to and feel left out.” “The church should not hesitate to give them space to be protagonists. To give them space so they can act.” Referencing mission synodality, Pope Francis’ theme for the next World Synod of Bishops in 2022, Father Mello predicted “a better world -- something that’s going to surge after the pandemic. ... As we know, the spirit of the Lord surprises us every time.” Doug Tooke, vice president of ministry advance- ment for ODB Films , based in St. Charles, Illinois, mentioned “a lot of distrust” by young people, in part because of church scandals, and in part because of flawed messaging. He recommended, “Focus on that language of humility and language of reconciliation. Our language and our tone for all of our ministry endeavors can’t be grandiose. It has to be simple.” USCCB Leadership Forum Young Adults From page 7