(Listen to this homily here.)
I’d like to share with you some alarming statistics about
our Catholic Church. Did you know
that 10% of the citizens of our country are former
Catholics? One out of ten of every
American has left the Church. A
full one-third of those born into the Catholic faith no longer practice.
I
have been reading some good material on the importance of evangelization to
promote our faith. I have
mentioned one already—Rebuilt—and have
started another good one—Forming Intentional
Disciples by Sherry Weddell.
Their basic argument is that we need to find new ways to bring people to
Jesus. Weddell specifies that for
centuries we relied on catechesis and sacraments to retain Church membership. This no longer works! This isn’t to say catechesis or
sacraments are unimportant—on the contrary they are crucial to living out our
faith. But we first need to invite
people to come to Jesus!
Revelations
describes this process beautifully: “Behold,
I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and
dine with him, and he with me.”
I
have never been more convinced that my holiness matters. Your holiness matters. The more we grow in relationship with
Christ, the better our parish will become. I invite you to continue to open your heart to Jesus. Allow him in to permeate you with his
love and mercy, and then his love will shine through.
We
also heard the story of Zacchaeus, a tax-collector—a thief and sinner. Notice the invite Jesus gave him: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for
today I must stay at your house.” Jesus didn’t give him a theological argument or a
catechetical talk—Jesus invited himself to his house. And this experience led to a great conversion—Zacchaeus made
amends to the poor and those he wronged.
I
have said before that you are the heart and soul of our parish. I encourage you to consider the ways in
which you can bring others to Jesus.
One simple way to do this is by welcoming people who come to us at
Mass. You know far better than I
who our guests are each week—make an effort to reach out to them. Sit with them! Many leave our Church because they don’t
feel like a part of the community and you can make a difference here!
May
we continue to open our hearts to Christ in order to fall more deeply in love
with him and share the Good News he has to offer.
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