Word to the Wise
Thursday, October 1, 2009 - St. Therese of the Child Jesus - virgin and doctor of the church
[Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12 and Luke 10:1-12]Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.....
I may have told this story before, but I think it bears repeating. When I was pastor of an inner-city parish in San Antonio, we decided to do an informal census of certain parts of the large neighborhood(s) in the parish to see if we could get a better picture of how many Catholics were actually living in the parish. We trained parish volunteers on how to approach folks at their front door. Then we had a blessing ceremony and sent them out two by two. When they returned later in the day, there were some marvelous and not so marvelous stories to tell. The sad thing was that almost all of them said they would not want to do it again! I wonder what would have happened if those disciples Jesus sent out came back and said, "There's no way you'll get us to do that again!" ? Evangelization cannot be left to the clergy! It is the duty of every baptized person. I am continually impressed with the zeal and determination of the young Mormon missionaries that are a familiar sight in many communities. They do a two-year term at their own expense! My parishioners in San Antonio would occasionally ask me about the small churches that would spring up in the neighborhoods, often by purchasing church buildings abandoned by "main stream" Protestant congregations. My response was to mention that these folks were very devout and enthusiastic. They would go door to door and invite people to their church. Then I would say to my parishioner, "Why don't you do the same?" The response would be, "Oh no, Father! That's what the Protestants do!" Jesus needs all of us disciples to get the word out! He intends to visit! The training program given in the text for today is still a good one, even if we might have to add a few features to accommodate our 21st century cultural milieu. I'm sure he wouldn't mind as long as we get going and spread the word! AMEN
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