JUST SAY IT!

JUST SAY IT!

You worry about your children.  They don’t go to church any more.  Okay, so they don’t go to church anymore.  It’s not the end of the world nor does it guarantee they will not go to heaven.  What matters is, do they know that God is with them?  Do they know that God loves them?  Do they know that God’s forgiveness is absolute? Do they know that when they do good things, they reflect the God in them? If they don’t already know those things, whose fault is that?  Church is where one goes to join others in expressing faith.  Rarely does one come out of church, any church, with newfound faith.  Often they come out with questions. That’s where we, the faithful, come in. 

The old dictate that we should never discuss religion or politics often keeps us from saying the most important things.  We hesitate to bring up these matters for fear of causing a rift.  When Jesus was teaching his disciples about speaking of Him and his mission, he told them not to be afraid or worry about what they should say.  He said that they would know what to say because He would be with them at all times.  Think of the thousands of people that found Christ through the Apostles words.  They were not in churches.  They were in marketplaces and at the well and in the inns and taverns.

 That promise to be always with them was not just for them.  Imagine that you were in the room and Jesus looked right at you and said, “Have no fear about what you should say, I will be with you.”  Would you have believed it?  Would you have gone on to speak of Him without fear?  You bet you would.  So what’s changed?  In your zeal to see that others whom you love, acknowledge Him, you may have lost sight of the fact that Christ expects you to speak for Him.  He then added a very consoling idea. He said, “It will not be you speaking but the Spirit of the Father speaking through you.”  That promise indicates that you need not worry about how much you know.  If that worries you, read the gospel every day.  The answers are there. 

With all that knowledge behind you, you can be fearless.  This is not some meta-physical nonsense, this, as our beloved Fr. Jim used to say, is reality.  Trust the Holy Spirit.  Tell your children of your own experience of God.

Blessings on you all as we enter yet another new year.  May the coming year bring deeper faith, hearts full of peace and hope and most of all love.

CAROL LEMELIN OPA