The word Mass comes from a Latin word that means "dismissal." In the Mass's concluding rite, we are explicitly told to "Go forth." Unfortunately, many Catholics interpret this as a call to return to their normal, secular lives outside of Sunday Mass. It is as if the priest were a judge granting us God's pardon and sending us on our own way. Not so fast! God does not intend for the Mass to encapsulate our faith life. That is why He pours out His grace unceasingly to us throughout all our endeavors. In return, He wants us to draw our neighbors into His loving embrace so that they too can share in that peace which is attainable only through Him.
When we leave the pew and enter the public forum, we usually bear no markings that indicate our Catholicism. We wear no clerical collar like our priests, no kippah like our Jewish brothers and no hijab like our Muslim sisters. I believe this is not coincidental. God wants us to speak of his love, not primarily through our dress but rather through our words and our actions.
This task is not easy, but it is imperative for the growth of our Church and, most importantly, the conversion of hearts and salvation of souls. Wherever we have ventured from that first encounter we had with the Lord at the baptismal font, we never stopped being children of God. Thus, we are most useful to our Lord when our actions and our words build up His children and His Church. Still, many times we fail to act or speak in a way that glorifies the Father. Rather than help the weak and the lost, we mock and gossip about them. Instead of feeding the poor or spending time with the lonely, we feed our desires and spend time in idleness. Again and again, we shirk our responsibilities to God in order to satisfy our own ego. In so doing, we risk bruising the reputation of the Church through our misdeeds. As Catholics we believe we are on the Earth, but are not of the Earth. Saint Peter tells us we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Pet 2:9), In other words, because we outstanding in God's eyes, we ought to stand out in the eyes of unbelievers.
Saint Paul provides us with a great example of the conversion you and I must undergo, albeit (hopefully) to a lesser degree, in our own lives. Known first as Saul, he began his life as a persecutor of the Early Church. In Tuesday's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 7:51-8:1), we hear that Saul was a member of the group that killed the Church's first martyr, St. Stephen. While we may not be killing others physically, I know I have killed people's reputation through my gossip or killed their joy through my mean spiritedness or killed their motivation for kindness through my lack of gratitude. Despite my failings, I take solace in the conversion of St. Paul, who ultimately came to write a good deal of the New Testament, including this brief yet powerful summation: When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. (1 Cor 13:11) Let us resolve to give up our former ways and work to make the Church an ever more brilliant example of peace, mercy, and love.
When we leave the pew and enter the public forum, we usually bear no markings that indicate our Catholicism. We wear no clerical collar like our priests, no kippah like our Jewish brothers and no hijab like our Muslim sisters. I believe this is not coincidental. God wants us to speak of his love, not primarily through our dress but rather through our words and our actions.
This task is not easy, but it is imperative for the growth of our Church and, most importantly, the conversion of hearts and salvation of souls. Wherever we have ventured from that first encounter we had with the Lord at the baptismal font, we never stopped being children of God. Thus, we are most useful to our Lord when our actions and our words build up His children and His Church. Still, many times we fail to act or speak in a way that glorifies the Father. Rather than help the weak and the lost, we mock and gossip about them. Instead of feeding the poor or spending time with the lonely, we feed our desires and spend time in idleness. Again and again, we shirk our responsibilities to God in order to satisfy our own ego. In so doing, we risk bruising the reputation of the Church through our misdeeds. As Catholics we believe we are on the Earth, but are not of the Earth. Saint Peter tells us we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Pet 2:9), In other words, because we outstanding in God's eyes, we ought to stand out in the eyes of unbelievers.
Saint Paul provides us with a great example of the conversion you and I must undergo, albeit (hopefully) to a lesser degree, in our own lives. Known first as Saul, he began his life as a persecutor of the Early Church. In Tuesday's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 7:51-8:1), we hear that Saul was a member of the group that killed the Church's first martyr, St. Stephen. While we may not be killing others physically, I know I have killed people's reputation through my gossip or killed their joy through my mean spiritedness or killed their motivation for kindness through my lack of gratitude. Despite my failings, I take solace in the conversion of St. Paul, who ultimately came to write a good deal of the New Testament, including this brief yet powerful summation: When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. (1 Cor 13:11) Let us resolve to give up our former ways and work to make the Church an ever more brilliant example of peace, mercy, and love.
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