P
PDLO
Guest
Glory to Jesus Christ.
Here’s something to think about. Before her conversion, Edith Stien visited a Catholic cathedral. While she was admiring the art work she noticed a woman praying, with a shopping bag next to her. This simple act of devotion stuck in Blessed Edith Stien’s memory. She was inspired by the fact that this woman stopped in the middle of her busy day to pray to God. The woman with the shopping bag had no idea that she was inspiring a saint. Likewise, we can not measure the impact of our simple acts of love kindness and devotion.
Another example of a little good going a long way is in the life of Oskar Schindler. When Oskar was a boy he was friends with some Jewish children in his neighborhood. This childhood friendship prevented Oskar from accepting the Nazi view of the Jewish people. He knew that Jews are human beings and not a disease to be eradicated. He could not be blinded to the fact that the Nazis were killing human beings, which motivated him to save the lives of 1,300 Jews.
Now, the reason for this little history lesson is to illustrate the potential impact of our actions, good or bad. Imagine, if the woman who inspired Edith Stien had decided that she was to busy to stop at the Cathedral and pray. It’s possible that Edith Stien would not have converted to Catholicism, and our Church would be denied of her heroic witness. Likewise, Oskar Schindler would have had a much different view of the Jewish people if the Jewish children in his neighborhood would have rejected him or treated him unkindly. He would have easily embraced anti Semitism and the 6,000 descendants of Schindler’s Jews would not exist.
I know this little reflection is very sobering. However, it is essential to the growth and the health of our Church for us to scrutinize our actions and attitudes. We must ask ourselves if what we do or say builds up the Church or tears it down. For example, if we stand in the back of the Church after Divine Liturgy and cut down the priest because the sermon was not to our liking, we set a bad example for our children and visitors to the parish, who may overhear our conversation. In fact, we could discourage a potential vocation to the priesthood by treating our pastor badly.
Furthermore, all the ideas and plans for evangelizing our faith are fruitless unless we set aside our personal feelings and agendas and focus on building up the Church. It’s been said that our Church suffers from an identity crisis and I couldn’t agree more. At times it seems as though we loose sight of the most basic mission of our Church. That is, embracing and proclaiming the truth in order to bring people to Christ. We must keep in mind that disease spreads through the body from a microscopic organism, in the same way a seemingly insignificant negative act can do serious damage to the body of Christ. On the other hand, our small acts of love, devotion, care and compassion can grow like a mustard seed. A little good goes a long way.
God Bless
Pete
Here’s something to think about. Before her conversion, Edith Stien visited a Catholic cathedral. While she was admiring the art work she noticed a woman praying, with a shopping bag next to her. This simple act of devotion stuck in Blessed Edith Stien’s memory. She was inspired by the fact that this woman stopped in the middle of her busy day to pray to God. The woman with the shopping bag had no idea that she was inspiring a saint. Likewise, we can not measure the impact of our simple acts of love kindness and devotion.
Another example of a little good going a long way is in the life of Oskar Schindler. When Oskar was a boy he was friends with some Jewish children in his neighborhood. This childhood friendship prevented Oskar from accepting the Nazi view of the Jewish people. He knew that Jews are human beings and not a disease to be eradicated. He could not be blinded to the fact that the Nazis were killing human beings, which motivated him to save the lives of 1,300 Jews.
Now, the reason for this little history lesson is to illustrate the potential impact of our actions, good or bad. Imagine, if the woman who inspired Edith Stien had decided that she was to busy to stop at the Cathedral and pray. It’s possible that Edith Stien would not have converted to Catholicism, and our Church would be denied of her heroic witness. Likewise, Oskar Schindler would have had a much different view of the Jewish people if the Jewish children in his neighborhood would have rejected him or treated him unkindly. He would have easily embraced anti Semitism and the 6,000 descendants of Schindler’s Jews would not exist.
I know this little reflection is very sobering. However, it is essential to the growth and the health of our Church for us to scrutinize our actions and attitudes. We must ask ourselves if what we do or say builds up the Church or tears it down. For example, if we stand in the back of the Church after Divine Liturgy and cut down the priest because the sermon was not to our liking, we set a bad example for our children and visitors to the parish, who may overhear our conversation. In fact, we could discourage a potential vocation to the priesthood by treating our pastor badly.
Furthermore, all the ideas and plans for evangelizing our faith are fruitless unless we set aside our personal feelings and agendas and focus on building up the Church. It’s been said that our Church suffers from an identity crisis and I couldn’t agree more. At times it seems as though we loose sight of the most basic mission of our Church. That is, embracing and proclaiming the truth in order to bring people to Christ. We must keep in mind that disease spreads through the body from a microscopic organism, in the same way a seemingly insignificant negative act can do serious damage to the body of Christ. On the other hand, our small acts of love, devotion, care and compassion can grow like a mustard seed. A little good goes a long way.
God Bless
Pete