Catholics with Colds

Address to Catechists of Immaculate Conception Church

          One of my favorite things to do as a priest is to go over to parishioner’s homes for supper. In fact, I am now making appointments for 2018, so call soon and get on my dance card! When I visit a family I always offer to bless their home. Some people sing for their supper, I bless for my burger. Before the blessing I explain what my presence in their home really means. We read from Luke chapter 10, where Jesus sends seventy-two disciples to bless homes and towns before he himself arrives. In the same spirit, I explain, I’ve come to their home to bless it and announce that Jesus wants to be the King of their homes and their hearts. In other words, I’m just the messenger, but Jesus is the Message. 

          I’d like to invite each of you catechists to see you job as similar to a priest blessing a home. Even though you cannot bless with holy water the same way a priest can – I tell people they are only “firing blanks” when they mimic priests – still, there are many other ways you can be the messenger and announce Jesus as the Message. Your fundamental job as a catechists is to share with people that Jesus wants to be the King of their homes and their hearts. Please don’t sell yourselves short in this role, thinking that you don’t have anything to offer because maybe you don’t have a Ph.D. in theology. One professor told me that “Ph.D.” really means “Piled Higher and Deeper.” (No offence to anyone who actually has a Ph.D., please!) 

          If you don’t believe me about the importance of your role and responsibility, listen to Pope Francis -- I hope you’ll believe him. He wrote, in his first major document called “The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii gaudium),” these challenging words. He said: “Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love” (Evangelii gaudium, 120). In other words, not having a Ph.D. is no excuse for not being a messenger and sharing the Message that is Jesus.

          Let me suggest a sample of simple ways to evangelize, to hear the Message that is Jesus. Cradle Catholics can share the lessons and traditions that our parents taught us. For example, my mom has the habit of always making the Sign of the Cross whenever we drive by a church. Boom.  Evangelization. Some people have the custom of praying a Hail Mary every time they hear the siren of an ambulance or other emergency vehicle. Evangelization. Here at the church office we say a prayer called “the “Angelus” when the church bells ring at noon.  If anyone else happens to be in the office, we invite them to join us. Evangelization. How many of you prayed the rosary at night while you were growing up? Now, how many pray the rosary with your own kids? That is NOT evangelization. Attending Stations of the Cross during Lent, walking in the Corpus Christi procession next Sunday, wearing the brown scapular, making a pilgrimage to Little Rock to pass through the Holy Door, inviting a priest over to bless your home! – these are all very common but also very powerful acts of evangelization.

          Pope Francis never underestimates such popular piety. He wrote in that same document: “Expressions of popular piety have much to teach us; for those who are capable of reading them, they are a locus theologicus which demands our attention, especially at a time when we are looking to the new evangelization” (Evangelii gaudium, 126). By the way, a locus theologicus is just a fancy way of saying a Ph.D. in theology, and the pope is saying each of you has one!  Folks, I am convinced that the faith of many elderly grandmothers praying the rosary on their knees is deeper and more devout than the faith of some cardinals and theologians in the Vatican.  Scott Hahn once said the Catholic faith is better “caught” than it is “taught.” You see, the faith has to be caught like a cold because you’ve gotten too close to a Catholic who is infected with it. I hope every catechist here is infected with the faith, and that you in turn infect everyone you meet, until that faith “goes viral.”

          Praised be Jesus Christ!