We are reaching the end of this Easter season. These are the challenges we have for homework this week; for homework this season of anticipating the beginning of our Church again at Pentecost next week. If we are Catholic, if we are Church, accept one or more of these challenges in your life.
First: Act like what we have is special, precious, and worthwhile. Invite someone else to join us. Many of your neighbors, come on, many of your family members, used to be Catholic. Invite them to come back. Tell them what we do, show them what we do. If they need assistance coming back, call me. Call any one of the deacons, or priests, we are here to help. Do it BECAUSE WE ARE CATHOLIC.
Second: If your neighbor, your co-worker, is not Catholic, never has been, invite them in. Show them by your example what it means to be Catholic. Tell them how you help the poor, how you companion the suffering, how you pray for all. Be joyful, do it with a smile. Do it BECAUSE WE ARE CATHOLIC.
Third: Try to pray everyday, it makes a difference. Try to be here with us every week, it strengthens and nourishes you for what you need to do. Let God help you. This is hard for any of us who think we can do it all ourselves. The best can happen when we let God do the work. In God’s time, when God wants. Allow for this BECAUSE WE ARE CATHOLIC.
Let us pray together today for the courage to reach out to those who need us, for the strength to help those who need us, and to be an example of a community that makes it obvious that Jesus Christ is Risen, that He lives among us still. The world was changed when Jesus came and lived among us, the world was redeemed when He died and rose from the dead. Go from here today and help the change continue, live like the redeemed people that we are. Let the Easter joy in our hearts show on our faces, it is who we are called to be.