Daily Mass 10/07/2014 or What to do When Some Jerk Cuts You Off on the Road to Damascus

"And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ;
they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
So they glorified God because of me." -Gal 1:22-24

10/07/2014 Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

How many of us know someone or many someones that we wish would come to the Lord? It may be someone who's fallen away from the faith (insert gratuitous 'Coming Home to Catholicism' plug here, starting Thursday 10/09 at St. Kathryn's in Hudson, NH at 7:00pm) or someone you see struggling and know the peace that Christ could bring them.

They may be a hard case, but how much further from Jesus could they be than St. Paul was? Here was a soldier who persecuted Christians turned into the church's most prolific evangelist. How did it happen? It happened through a revelation from Christ. What does that tell us? It tells us that Jesus is the only one who can make that final push into his peace. We can tell people about Jesus and the joy and peace that he brings to us; the love that we feel surrounded by, but unless they experience it themselves, it's just words.

Yet, like St. Paul, we are called to evangelize. How are we supposed to do that? Well, we may not be able to make people feel that relationship with Jesus, but we can bring them to him and let him finish the job. How do we bring people to Christ? It's simple, we beat them over the heads with our bible, tie up their hands with rosary beads and drag them to adoration.

What?

Don't you think that would work?

Well, I guess we could try just telling them about him.  Tell them what brought you to his cross. If you're a revert, tell your story about why you left and why you came back. But mostly, just love them. With our words and our actions, we can make our lives a witness to Christ's love.

It's not easy. Just ask anyone who has found themselves swearing in traffic fifteen minutes after they have been to Holy Communion (you know I'm guilty of it.....and you know you are too, huh?)

Other than that, the only thing we can do for those hard cases is to bring them to Christ in another way, through prayer. Be persistent in praying for them and you might be amazed at what happens.....to them, and to you.

God Bless,
P.D.O.