Word to the Wise
Saturday, December 7, 2019 - 1st Week of Advent - Sat
[Isa 30:19-21, 23-26 and Matt 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8]At the sight of the crowds, [Jesus'] hear was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest." Then he summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness Jesus sent our these Twelve after instructing them thus, "Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." [Matthew]
DECEMBER 7 ST. AMBROSE, bishop and doctor of the church
Recent surveys have produced a startling statistic. After Catholics, the next largest Christian denomination in the USA would be former Catholics! This is a sad fact but also a very large challenge! The reasons for this statistic are many. They include poor preaching, poor pastoral care, the sex-abuse crisis, and the constant pressure of secular commitments whose value seems more important than sacramental or devotional faith. I have met more than one former Catholic who has "lost touch" with the church and who feels that the church has "lost touch" with them! This loss is what can give rise to what Jesus refers to as "troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd." The "New Evangeliszation" proclaimed by Pope St. John Paul II and continued by his successors, Benedict XVI and Francis is not a call to evangelize non-Catholics or non-Christians but to evangelize our fellow Catholics, especially those who have "lost touch" with the practice of their faith or have put faith in Christ out of their lives altogether.
The "Twelve" that Jesus sent now number in the tens of thousands, but they are obviously not enough in the face of the challenge. Those who are called to official ministry as priests, deacons, and members of religious orders are not enough. The large "secular movements" like Opus Dei, Schoenstatt, Communione e Liberazione, St. Egidio Community. Focolare, etc. are helping but even they do not seem to be enough. What is really needed is a much wider effort of individual Catholic believers who "put skin on their faith" and share it in all kinds of ways. These are the ones who can give to others the reason for their own hope. {1 Peter 3:15]. Advent offers a particular opportunity to invite those whom we know have "lost touch" with the church to come and experience the beauty and depth of faith, and match that invitation with actions that "put skin on Advent and Christmas." AMEN