We see people from all walks of life answering God call
by Sister Elise Cholewinski
It has been an ordinary summer and yet, as I look back, I recognize the many new people whom I have met in these last three months. During the month of June my parish, St. Bernadette in Appleton, was honored to have the relics of St. Bernadette present in our church. For two days I watched hundreds of visitors coming and going, as they paid their respects to those relics and attended some of the special services. They came from several different states and represented different races and cultures, and yet they witnessed to a common love for the Church and its heritage. During July I was involved in directing a retreat. One of the retreatants was born into a Pentecostal family and had received very little religious education, having attended only a few Sunday School classes in her childhood. Her face radiated a constant picture of joy as she participated in every Mass and prayer service. She loved the silence and used the time to meditate on the Scriptures. Since early spring I have been tutoring a fifth-grade boy whose mother is from South Korea. He doesn’t have a strong background in the Catholic Faith, so when it came time to undertake longer sections of reading material, I chose a children’s Bible. One evening, as we were reading and talking about the Ten Commandments and the Ark of the Covenant, he put his elbows on the table and just stared at me, soaking in every detail that I was telling him about the people’s love for their God.
In the first reading for this Sunday’s liturgy (Isaiah 66:18-21) we hear that God will gather nations of every language, and they will come and see His glory. In the Gospel (Luke 13:22-40) Jesus tells us that people will come from all the four directions of the earth to dine at the table in the kingdom of God. Sometimes these realities are unfolding right before our eyes.
How have you discovered these realities unfolding in your own experience?
Whose face is waiting to light up at the telling of the Sacred Story?
What a beautiful reflection! It’s rather poignant for us in parish work who can’t get those who ARE catechized to do more than warm pews on Sunday. But at least they’re there!