Good and Bad all around us!

We have to remember that we were born into this world, into the world of today, with both the good and the bad. Recently I was watching a show on the History channel and they were talking about the Pony Express, and how a letter would take 2 weeks to move from St. Louis to California. Can you imagine all the changes that would have taken place from the time your letter left your hands to the hands of the person that you wanted to inform? Today, it takes just a minute to send off an email to tell our friends what is happening in our lives. Our advancements do have some good points. But we all know that some of the advancements we have made in the world also cause us to be further from what God intended us to be. How do we coincide with all this world has to offer and still live out Jesus message?

In our parishes, we are all intertwined, the good and the bad. I think that sometimes people say that they do not attend mass or participate in church life because they don’t want to BE a hypocrite or they do not want to join the hypocrites. People quit the church because it is not perfect. Remember in the parable this week, the enemy came and scattered the weed seeds while no one was looking, and until it was time to harvest and finally separate, they would grow and be close to the wheat. Sound like your parish life?

We are all called to remember who we were born to be, and one of the aspects in which we were born of this world is of community. After all, the word “catholic” means universal. Can you imagine being a part of a parish, community, town, family in which its members ask themselves what is the good for all of those here, even if that means life is a bit harder for me? It sounds so simple, but it is seldom lived out.  

Let us ask ourselves this week, what can I give to my parish? What is it that they need from me, in order to bring the face of the living God into our community? And then, follow through on it. Consistently. We all have the power to make or break our parishes. Be the first one to live like this – I promise it will be contagious.