Bill Zechman, the director of public relations and club administration for Noon Rotary, announced a historical first for the community club on Thursday saying, “I feel as though I can say, with the utmost confidence, that in its 100- year history, this is the first time we have had a Franciscan Friar speak to Noon Rotary.” Upon delivering this welcome, Father Marneni Bala of St. Catherine Catholic Parish took the podium.
Bala opened his address by recounting the Biblical events of Maundy Thursday, the Last Supper and the washing of the disciples’ feet. Bala told this story as it had major significance in the events that happened in his life.
Bala was born in India in 1961, gave his life to God at the age of 15 and joined a seminary. By 1982, he became a Franciscan after five years of preparation. Eight years later, Bala became an ordained priest, and worked in Northern India amongst the natives. “I worked for twelve years there,” he stated. “I saw the poverty which I never saw in South India.” The friar then explained the differences in poverty between the two hemispheres of the country, stating that businesses and politicians control the population’s wealth.
The priest said his heart was moved by the poverty-stricken region and he started to build schools, colleges, houses for the priests and a seminary of their own. “It was a time that I felt God was powerfully using me. I did not have the resources but each time I realized that I was unsure of what to do, I would tell God that I didn’t know. If God wanted it done, it was done.” Bala then stated that he received financial help from some other Franciscan priests who he had never met.
In 2003, in what he referred to as a tremendous and emotional experience, Bala shared a story of a memorable and life-changing Good Friday. “As a child, I went through hard times. My family was lower-middle class,” he stated. “We didn’t have many comforts. We had basic needs, food and small shelter, but God had taken care of my whole family.” He stated that when he started working in the parish, he saw many people who needed financial help, and as he began to help those people God would bless him too. A problem arose for Bala when other members of the parish started asking for the same financial help who did not need it as desperately as others. “Every Sunday, when I went to preach I had to ask ‘What am I preaching? Is it worth preaching?’” he said. One by one, during the week’s Maundy Thursday sermon, Bala called those up who had reservation with him. “It was the people who had made my life hard and difficult. Some came, and I washed the feet of those who came. Some refused. That night, though, something beautiful happened to me. I got no sleep.”
Bala stated that he went into his kitchen and made a cup of coffee with a lot of sugar. “I at least wanted my coffee to be sweet, if not my life.” The priest stated that he could not recall the amount of cups of coffee he consumed. “I said to the Lord, ‘God why is this? What have I done wrong? Tell me.’” Bala stated that as he began to question and shout at God something happened to him. “Suddenly, my body became chilled. I felt calm, serene and I felt something quaint.” Feeling down about his own trials, Bala recalled that his original question was why Jesus did not evade crucifixion despite being privy of Judas’ betrayal, which called back the friar’s opening remarks. “That night, the word of God became a source of life to me. God was speaking.”
Bala stated that God spoke to him saying that he did not choose God, but rather God chose him. He stated that God called him to take up the cross and bear fruit that lasts forever.
“The Bible quotations began to pour into my heart so much that I had to tell the Lord to stop and quit speaking to me. It was so hard and so difficult. I asked myself what I had to do.” Bala remembered St. Francis asking God the same question. Bala noted that losing his pride as a pastor was the first step in the direction God wanted him to go, and said the events of that Good Friday made it the most memorable and meaningful for him.
Bala then encouraged Noon Rotary to keep doing the work they do, however with one caveat. “Continue to do the work you do,” he stated “but do it out of love and not for recognition. This is very important, and what God wants from us.”
Bala will further address his personal path to righteousness and speak on the origins of Good Friday and Easter on 91.3-WCPI McMinnville Public Radio. This radio broadcast will run on Wednesday at 5 a.m., Thursday at 1 p.m. and on Friday at 1 a.m.
