Engaging the Gospel – Fifth Sunday of Easter

5th Sunday of Easter (Year C): Gospel – John 13:31-33a, 34-35

Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

The Catechism teaches:

The entire Law of the Gospel is contained in the ‘new commandment’ of Jesus, to love one another as He has loved us (paragraph 1970).

The New Law is called a law of love because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit, rather than from fear; a law of grace, because it confers the strength of grace to act, by means of faith and the sacraments; a law of freedom…lets us pass from the condition of a servant…to that of a friend of Christ…or even to the status of son and heir (1972).

Love, like the Body of Christ, is indivisible; we cannot love the God we cannot see if we do not love the brother or sister we do see (2840).

It is impossible to keep the Lord’s commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God. Only the Spirit by Whom we live can make ours the same mind that was in Christ Jesus (2842).

Question for reflection: Why do I sometimes fail to love others as I should?

Engaging the Gospel – All Saints’ Day

Solemnity of All Saints: Gospel – Matthew 5:1-12a

Jesus’ proclamation of the Beatitudes is a particularly appropriate Gospel for All Saints’ Day, for the lives of the saints provide powerful witness of the Beatitudes in action:

The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus’ preaching…The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity….They shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life….They have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.

— Catechism paragraphs 1716-17.

This is our game plan to follow, for we too are “called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity. All are called to holiness” (2013).

The Lord is calling each and every one of us — regardless of our place in life. But the specific ways we live out that call vary.

If you’re a parent, your top priority is to raise your children in the faith. If you’re a student, your path of discipleship is to study diligently. If you work, be a witness to faith in the workplace. If you’re battling health problems that keep you home, you can be a prayer warrior for the Church.

Wherever we find ourselves, the Lord has a particular form of discipleship in mind for us. And by living that out, we do our part to build up the Body of Christ.

We are reminded of this truth by our celebration of All Saints. Untold numbers of men and women have answered the call to holiness, across all walks of life, down through the ages. They weren’t famous in the world, but they have reached the only goal that matters — heaven. These “ordinary” saints serve as inspiration that we too can reach heaven by following the Lord.

Let us ask them to pray for us, that we may live out our discipleship as the Lord wills.

Question for reflection: How does the example of the saints help me to live the Christian life?

Engaging the Gospel – Mark 10:35-45

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B): Gospel – Mark 10:35-45

“Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all”

The Christian imperative to serve others is expressed in the Vatican II document Apostolicam Actuositatem (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity), which urges laypeople to “take up the renewal” of the world “as their own special obligation” (7).

The Council Fathers remind us that “charitable enterprises can and should reach out to all persons and all needs” —

Wherever there are people in need of food and drink, clothing, housing, medicine, employment, education; wherever men lack the facilities necessary for living a truly human life or are afflicted with serious distress or illness or suffer exile or imprisonment, there Christian charity should seek them out and find them, console them with great solicitude and help them with appropriate relief. This obligation is imposed above all upon every prosperous nation and person.

— Apostolicam Actuositatem, 8.

But our inspiration for serving others isn’t just philanthrophy or humanitarianism, as noble as those ideals are.

Rather, we serve because we are conformed to Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who came down from heaven to redeem us as the Suffering Servant: “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

By giving of ourselves on behalf of others, we unite with Christ’s own self-emptying. The more we grow in union with Christ, the “greater” we become in holiness:

Since Christ, sent by the Father, is the source and origin of the whole apostolate of the Church, the success of the lay apostolate depends upon the laity’s living union with Christ…

— ibid., 4.

Question for reflection: How do I answer Jesus’ call to serve others?

Engaging the Gospel – Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B): Gospel – Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Jesus inveighs against the Pharisees, who were so caught up in their own rules about external purification that they ignored the most important purification of all – the interior cleansing of the heart.

“The organ for seeing God is the heart,” Benedict XVI affirms:

The intellect alone is not enough…The heart – the wholeness of man – must be pure, interiorly open and free, in order for man to be able to see God…Purification of heart occurs as a consequence of following Christ, of becoming one with Him…The pure heart is the loving heart that enters into communion of service and obedience with Jesus Christ.

— Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. 1, pp. 92-95.

The pure of heart are “attuned” to God in three primary ways: “charity; chastity or sexual rectitude; love of truth and orthodoxy of faith” (Catechism paragraph 2518).

Although we have received purifying grace in baptism, we must continue the “battle for purity,” struggling against the weakness of our flesh (2520).

“Purification of the heart demands prayer, the practice of chastity, purity of intention and of vision” (2532).

Purity of heart “enables us to see according to God, to accept others as neighbors; it lets us perceive the human body – ours and our neighbor’s – as a temple of the Holy Spirit” (2519).

Question for reflection: What can I do to strive for purity of heart?

Difficulties in Prayer: Acedia

Based upon Catechism paragraph 2733:

One of the most pernicious temptations to infiltrate our prayer life is a certain sluggishness, laziness, or lack of interest in pursuing the things of God. The proper term for this is “acedia,” spiritual sloth.

While our emotions are subject to change, and it’s only natural for our energy or enthusiasm to level off, acedia goes deeper than feelings. It burrows into our will, where we make the choice to pray or not, to seek God’s will or not, to strive to be a better disciple, or not.

Acedia can be the result of presumption. If we take our salvation for granted, believe that God doesn’t expect anything of us, or think that holiness is for other people, we will likely not have much motivation for the spiritual life.

But we can overcome acedia by remembering the high stakes involved – nothing less than our eternal destiny. Do we want to accept God’s offer of salvation? Then we cooperate with God’s saving grace by attending Mass, remaining faithful to personal prayer, doing our best to avoid sin, and seeking forgiveness when we fall short. By fighting the fight, so to speak, we answer His call to holiness, even in the midst of our human frailty.

Because acedia can be described as insufficient love for God, reflecting on God’s intense, personal love for us can also fire our motivation. How can we be indifferent to the Lord Who has thought of us from all eternity, created the world for us, mapped out salvation history for us, became man for us, suffered and died for us, redeemed us, and wants to sanctify us so that we may delight in eternal life with Him?

Engaging the Gospel – Fifth Sunday of Lent

Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year B): Gospel – John 12:20-33

Jesus emphasizes the centrality of the Cross, in His saving mission and in the lives of everyone who would follow him.

Jesus’ “redemptive passion was the very reason for His Incarnation” (Catechism paragraph 607). Through the “great Paschal mystery – His death on the Cross and His Resurrection – He would accomplish the coming of His kingdom. ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself’” (542).

“This gathering is the Church, on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdom” (541) — “born primarily of Christ’s total self-giving for our salvation” (766).

Jesus calls us to follow His example of total self-giving, affirming that only by dying to ourselves can we enter eternal life. In so doing, the Lord offers each one of us “the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the Paschal mystery” (618).

We experience this reality most profoundly in the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. In Baptism, the descent into the water signifies “the descent into the tomb” (628), our “burial into Christ’s death,” from which we rise up “by resurrection with Him, as a new creature” (1214).

Having “become members of Christ” (1213), we are called to “become God’s fellow workers and co-workers for His kingdom” (307). We offer ourselves in union with the Lord’s sacrifice:

In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of His Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with His total offering, and so acquire a new value.

— paragraph 1368.

By embracing our own crosses, we advance in the spiritual life and grow closer to Jesus: “The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle” (2015).

Question for reflection: How has dying to myself helped me to follow Jesus more closely?

Hallowed Be Thy Name

God desires to draw us into His own life. Because He is indescribably holy, we are called to be transformed by His grace and become holy.

This is what is meant by the petition “hallowed be Thy Name,” that God’s Name be made holy in us, and in others. As sinners still on the path to sanctification, we pray for God’s saving plan to be accomplished in our lives.

God has entrusted us with a great mystery of intimacy — His revelation of Himself, first to the People of Israel, and ultimately in the Person of Christ.

But how do we respond to this divine gift? If we treasure the holiness of God and strive to live in accord with His grace, we hallow His Name. On the other hand, if we deliberately indulge in unrepentant sin, or disparage sacred things, we besmirch His Name, effectively telling God that we don’t care about Him or His friendship.

That is why the saints have been so zealous for the Holy Name: God’s friends yearn to glorify Him.

For more, see Catechism paragraphs 2803-15.

 

Engaging the Gospel – Matthew 11:25-30

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Gospel – Matthew 11:25-30

Take Jesus’ yoke upon you and find rest

Jesus presents us with paradoxes in Sunday’s Gospel. Revelation comes to the “little ones,” not to those who deem themselves wise, and by taking the Lord’s yoke upon us, we actually find true rest in Him.

These statements are integrally related: to accept the Kingdom of God, we must have a “humble and trusting heart” (Catechism paragraphs 544, 2785).

This truth contradicts our contemporary culture, which promotes pride of mind and heart. The culture often denies objective standards of morality and claims that we can fashion individual ideas of right and wrong to suit ourselves.

As St. John Paul II has observed, such moral relativism is essentially “a lack of trust in the wisdom of God, Who guides man with the moral law” (The Splendor of Truth 84).

“God, Who alone is good, knows perfectly what is good for man, and by virtue of His very love,” He teaches us what is good by giving us the commandments (35).

We are authentically free, not when we try to deny the truth of God’s word, but when we embrace God’s will and choose the good (35, 84).

Jesus Himself shows us the way: “The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness” (Catechism paragraph 459). “His exclamation, ‘Yes, Father!’ expresses the depth of His heart…this loving adherence of His human heart to the mystery of the will of the Father” (2603).

Question for reflection: When have I found peace in surrendering to the Lord?

Cultivate Purity of Heart

Summary of Catechism paragraphs 2514-57:

• With our nature wounded by original sin, we are given to “concupiscence,” an immoderate desire that goes beyond the bounds of reason, and thereby predisposes us to commit sin.
• If our hearts are dominated by concupiscence, whether toward physical pleasure or material goods, then we cannot open ourselves up to God; this is why we must put a proper check on our worldly desires, so that we are free to allow God to fill us with His desires – the far superior desires of the Spirit.
• For this reason, God counsels us to keep a strict guard over our desires; the Ninth Commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,” and the Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods,” together identify the roots of sin and prepare us for spiritual growth.
• Jesus calls us to purity of heart, including chastity, charity toward others, and a love for the truths of the faith; although God gives us grace to help us, we must also cooperate with Him by waging a spiritual battle against our unruly flesh.
• We must strive for purity of heart by praying consistently for the gift of chastity, disciplining ourselves not to indulge in impure thoughts, and avoiding situations (real or virtual) that tempt us or cause us to fall.
• Modesty is a prerequisite for purity, for it recognizes and safeguards the dignity of the human person; while this relates primarily to how we dress, modesty also pertains to feelings and emotions; we should avoid all forms of “entertainment” in which people’s lives are exploited or belittled for our amusement.
• Just as sexual sins originate in the thoughts of the heart, so do sins against the right use of goods; excessive desire for material things gives rise to the sins of greed and avarice, which can lead us to steal, defraud, or otherwise deprive others of their rightful goods.
• Envy is a sin because it causes us to grieve or regret the good fortune of others; if we want grave harm to befall someone more fortunate, then envy becomes a mortal sin.
• As an antidote to the allurements of wealth, Jesus calls us to prefer Him to all things, and exercise a radical trust in divine Providence; through this poverty of heart, we learn to rely on God, not on material possessions.
• When we cultivate purity and poverty of heart, we become more attuned to God and take our joy in Him; thus the Commandments come full circle, for now we are truly loving God above all.

Live Your Faith

Training for sports has much in common with training for the spiritual life. To achieve your goals as an athlete, you have to put in the time, the discipline, the dedication, to master the fundamentals. If you skip practice, slack off, and let things slide, your performance deteriorates.

Similarly, the spiritual life demands that we pay attention to the fundamentals: daily prayer, the sacraments, and striving to live a moral life.

An essential part of our training regimen is a regular examination of conscience. Only by recognizing our weaknesses, and getting to their roots in our flawed desires, can we work with God to improve our performance on the spiritual playing field.

Engaging the Gospel – Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sixth Sunday of Easter: Gospel – John 14:15-21

Jesus teaches us what intimate union with Him truly means: if we love Him, we keep His commandments.

This is not meant in the sense of clinical adherence to rules, but rather, as a profound interior transformation. Adopted by the Father, we are conformed to Christ, and desire to be like Him (Catechism paragraphs 2782-84).

This transformation takes place over time, as Pope Benedict XVI described in his encyclical God Is Love:

This process is always open-ended; love is never ‘finished’ and complete; throughout life, it changes and matures…

To want the same thing, and to reject the same thing – [this] was recognized by antiquity as the authentic content of love: the one becomes similar to the other…

The love story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God’s will increasingly coincide: God’s will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will, based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself. Then self-abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy.

— Deus Caritas Est, 17.

 

As St. Basil the Great (d. 379) observed,

If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves…If we obey for the sake of the good itself, and out of love for Him who commands, we are in the position of children.

 — Catechism paragraph 1828.

Question for reflection: In what ways do I love the Lord?

Engaging the Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23

3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Gospel – Matthew 4:12-23

Jesus begins to preach the Gospel and to call His disciples

Jesus begins his public ministry by preaching the Gospel. While “gospel” is literally translated as “good news,” the word has a much deeper meaning in its historical context, as Pope Benedict XVI has explained:

In Jesus’ time, the term ‘gospel’ was used by Roman emperors for their proclamations. Independently of their content, they were described as ‘good news’ or announcements of salvation, because the emperor was considered lord of the world and his every edict as a portent of good.

Thus, the application of this phrase to Jesus’ preaching had a strongly critical meaning, as if to say God, and not the emperor, is Lord of the world, and the true Gospel is that of Jesus Christ…an announcement that it is God who reigns, that God is Lord and that his lordship is present and actual, it is being realized.

The newness of Christ’s message, therefore, is that God made himself close in him and now reigns in our midst.

— Angelus of January 27, 2008

Besides preaching the Gospel, Jesus also calls his first disciples in today’s reading.

These two actions are profoundly related: the Gospel is “the revelation in Jesus Christ of God’s mercy to sinners” (Catechism paragraph 1846), and that divine mercy invites each and every one of us to follow Jesus intimately, calling all to “the fullness of Christian life” and “to holiness” (2013).

Question for reflection: When have I sensed that the Lord was calling me?

Grace and Justification

Summary of Catechism paragraphs 1987-2051:

• Grace is the “free and undeserved help” that God gives us so that we can respond to His call to friendship and communion with Him; through grace comes our justification – being cleansed of sin and infused with God’s righteousness.
• The Holy Spirit showers us with the initial grace of conversion, empowering us to repent, turn away from sin, and open ourselves up to receive God’s abundant forgiveness; not a single one of us can merit, or deserve, this initial grace, which is simply a sheer gift of God.
• But justification goes well beyond just canceling out our sins; it extends to our total interior transformation, our sanctification, and even more radical, our partaking of the divine nature.
• Our justification is so ardently desired by God that the Father sent His beloved Son, Who willingly endured death by the torments of crucifixion to accomplish it; as a result, justification is an awe-inspiring work of God, revealing the depths of His love and mercy toward us.
• Through Baptism, we receive justification: we are incorporated into Christ, adopted as God’s children, and filled with his sanctifying or “deifying” grace, which draws us into the very life of the Holy Trinity now, and makes us fit to share His glory for eternity in heaven.
• Sanctifying grace is an “habitual gift” enabling us to “live with God, to act by His love” (a state we lose by committing a mortal sin); besides habitual grace, God also gives us helps called “actual graces” at particular times, e.g., in the sacraments, graces for our state in life, and charisms, or special graces, to build up the Church.
• Although the grace of God goes before us, and seeks us first, we have the free will to act upon that grace and draw closer to Him, or to fritter it away; God does not treat us as automatons, but wants us to be free and willing co-workers with Him.
• Once we are members of the Body of Christ, we can merit additional graces for ourselves and others; even so, our ability to gather more graces is in itself due to the merits of Christ; His grace is constantly at work in us, supporting our own efforts every step of the way, and making our own “merits” possible.
• Because we share in the intimate life of the Holy Trinity, we are all called to holiness, each and every one of us; our vocation to holiness is fulfilled in the Church, where we are fortified by the sacraments, illumined by the Truth, and inspired by heroic role models – the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.
• Just as the Church infallibly transmits the doctrine of faith, so does she hand on authoritative teachings on morals; in this context, the precepts of the Church enjoin us to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days; confess our sins at least once a year; receive the Eucharist at a minimum during the Easter season; observe the days of fasting and abstinence; and support the Church materially.

Live Your Faith

Our justification cost Jesus His life. If God Himself went to such extraordinary measures for us, we have no excuse for settling for mediocrity, or imagining that a lukewarm, half-hearted “getting by” is enough.

Instead, we are called to give a similarly radical response — nothing less than total commitment to God. Such an extreme spiritual makeover would contribute to our personal growth, and serve as a powerful witness of our faith. Just by living morally, we become highly effective evangelizers.

Purgatory

Summary of Catechism paragraphs 1030-32:

• Perfect union with God in heaven requires perfect holiness: “nothing unclean will enter it” (Rev. 21:27).
• Those who die in God’s grace, but are still imperfect, are not yet ready for heaven; these souls must undergo purification, or Purgatory.
• Purgatory is not a second chance after death; rather, such souls are already assured of their eternal salvation, and need only to be cleansed of any lingering imperfections.
• Although this doctrine was formally expressed in such Councils as Lyons II (1274), Florence (1439-45), and Trent (1545-63), its antecedents date back many centuries earlier, as evidenced by Church Fathers’ reflections on Scripture.
• Jesus implied that some sins are forgiven in the “age to come” (Mt 12:32); He also said in a parable that “you will not be released until you have paid the last penny” (Mt 5:26).
• The Church has always believed that it was good and helpful to pray for the dead (see 2 Macc 12:46), especially by offering the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass.
• St. Paul refers to being saved “as through fire” (1 Cor 3:15), and a similar passage in 1 Peter uses the imagery of being “tested by fire” (1:7).
• A number of early Church Fathers wrote of souls experiencing a purging fire (such as St. Cyprian of Carthage in the 250s, Lactantius in the early 300s, St. Gregory of Nyssa in the late 300s, and St. Augustine in the early 400s.)
• Others mentioned souls paying penalties in a state of detention, such as Tertullian (early 200s) and St. Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 350), while St. Basil (ca. 370) described souls being detained because of stains or effects of sin.
• Church teaching on Purgatory thus explains and clarifies why we pray for the dead; our prayers and sacrifices help them during their purification.

Live Your Faith

Some erroneously imagine that Vatican II did away with the doctrine of Purgatory, but in fact, the Council reaffirmed it (e.g., Lumen Gentium 49 & 51).

We owe a debt of charity, especially to our deceased family members and friends, to pray for the repose of their souls.

Aside from the consolation we can afford them, we please God by performing this spiritual work of mercy, and we in turn benefit from their prayers for us.

Consecrated Life as a Sign

Summary of Catechism paragraphs 914-945:

• Every Christian – each one of us, no matter our individual circumstances – is called to holiness, but some are called to give themselves totally to Christ in the consecrated life.
• This is characterized by the profession of the “evangelical counsels” of poverty, chastity in celibacy, and obedience, within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church.
• The evangelical counsels are not to be viewed in the negative sense of giving things up, but rather in the positive sense: they provide the freedom to live single-heartedly for God alone.
• Consecrated life therefore focuses on our ultimate goal – our final destiny with God; as a result, it serves as a powerfully attractive sign of the mystery of eternal life in the Kingdom, the pearl of great price.
• From the beginning of the Church, faithful souls have responded to God’s invitation to seek deeper union with Him; this life of intense dedication has taken various forms over the ages, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Who even now continues to raise up new communities.
• Its most ancient expressions include hermits, who offer prayer and penance in solitude, and consecrated virgins, who are dedicated to the service of the Church.
• Communities of monks and nuns began to form in the early centuries, often by gathering around a holy individual who became their founder; from these groups, which first arose in the Middle East, “religious life” developed.
• Religious life is distinguished from other forms of consecrated life by its liturgical character, life led in common, public profession of vows, and witness to the union of Christ with His Church.
• These communities reflect their own distinct spiritual heritage: e.g., the Carmelites are inspired by the prophet Elijah; the Jesuits were founded by St. Ignatius Loyola; and the Benedictines, Franciscans, and Dominicans owe their names to their saintly founders.
• Religious orders, in all of their brilliant variety, have been a great gift to the Church throughout history; they proclaim the Gospel around the world, perform innumerable works of charity, and act as prayer warriors on our behalf.

Live Your Faith

Even if not called to consecrated life, we still live by the evangelical counsels in a way proper to us.

Although not bound by a vow of poverty, we should be detached from our possessions, and generously give to those in need (including the consecrated who rely on our financial support).

The unmarried are obliged to be chaste, and spouses should be faithful to one another in marriage.

While we don’t formally profess obedience, we are encouraged to curb our selfishness and practice self-denial.

Four Marks of the Church

Summary of Catechism paragraphs 811-70:

• The Nicene Creed describes the Church as “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic” – given by Christ, these essential characteristics are the “four marks” of the Church.
• The Church is one because of her divine Founder; our visible bonds of unity are our profession of one faith, common celebration of the sacraments, and apostolic succession of bishops in communion with St. Peter’s successor, the Pope.
• The Church instituted by Christ endures to this day in the Catholic Church; but sadly, our gift of unity has been wounded through sin, causing the splintering of believers into other ecclesial communities.
• These other Christian communities have elements of sanctification, and varying degrees of imperfect unity with the Catholic Church; the Orthodox Churches are nearest of all to us, with their apostolic succession and ancient liturgical heritage.
• We must never resign ourselves to the historical tragedies of division; urged by the love of Christ, and in fidelity to His will, we must pray and strive for the restoration of full unity among all Christians.
• The Church is holy because of her union with Christ, who sanctifies her and empowers her to sanctify in turn; the Blessed Virgin Mary is the perfect exemplar of the holiness of the Church, while the saints reflect diverse patterns of sanctity.
• Although the Church in heaven has reached the state of perfect holiness, the Church on earth is still made of sinners struggling on the journey; until the end of the world, the Church is simultaneously holy and yet ever in need of purification.
• “Catholic” comes from the Greek for “according to the totality,” or “in keeping with the whole,” and the Church is catholic in two senses: she has the fullness of the means of salvation, and she is universal, with a mission to the entire human race.
• The Church is apostolic because she is built on the foundation of the witness of the Apostles (from the Greek for “emissaries”), she safeguards and transmits apostolic teaching, and she is guided by the Apostles’ successors, the bishops.
• The Church should not be seen as a federation of discrete local Churches with merely organizational ties to Rome; even as particular Churches contribute their own culture to the rich Catholic tapestry, they are truly one in the Mystical Body.

Live Your Faith

We can sometimes take for granted the incomparable gift we have been given as Catholics – the fullness of the means of salvation that Christ wills for us! It is not triumphalism to want to share this gift with others.

On the contrary, we would be lacking in love if we failed to appreciate our Catholic faith. Let us be ready to reach out to non-practicing Catholics, and people of other faith communities, and invite them to come and see.