Why be a Catholic; and why belong to a parish? This was the question I asked my staff to give me input on in preparation for Sunday's homily. Here's what Michelle, my Director of Religious Education gave me. It's so brilliant, I offer it to you:
There is no place like this on the planet. We gather as a community of people to pray together, care for one another and to remember to whom we belong—God! Where else are we loved completely and unconditionally? Where else can we go and be mercifully and lovingly forgiven for our unkindnesses to each other and be given help (grace) to not repeat these mistakes from the One who created us? Where else can we hear God’s Holy Word spoken to us—directly to us? Life-saving Word. Transforming Word. Where else can we go and hold a stranger’s hand as we pray to the God who loves us beyond our understanding—that’s a powerful thing—and to pray together for world peace, for our leaders, for the sick, for our beloved dead, for the things we hold in our hearts?
Where else can we take our arrogant, prideful selves and be reminded of who we truly are—not who the world says we are—but who we truly are and feel humbled enough to get down on one knee before entering our seats; humbled enough to bow before receiving the Body of Christ. Where else in this world can you give your neighbor the peace of Christ? Where else can you go to be fed the Bread of Heaven that nourishes your soul—the True Food for the soul? Not the junk food our world offers, the food that leaves you hungrier than before, but the Bread of Life. The life sustaining food that transforms you and strengthens you to be that person God created you to be—that person who at baptism was clothed in Christ. That person anointed at baptism as a priest, prophet and king. A person of great dignity—filled with God’s Holy Spirit. A holy and sacred person. Where in this would do you find that? You certainly don’t hear that in our culture—where life is cheap, where our celebrities expose and abuse their precious God-given bodies. Certainly not in our popular music, not in the movies or TV. This place is the last bastion of reverence—reverence for life, reverence for God. Where in our world do you find that? Where else in the world can you find hope? Where else in the world can a disparate group of people gather together united for one purpose: to love God and love one another—even if it’s just for that one hour a week. What we do is so courageous, so counter-cultural. Thank God for our Church—for all of us who gather together—we are the light of Christ.
