Friendship Is the Way

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ONE

“And the Lord added to their number day by day”

Acts 2:43-46

The early Christian community committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, to friendship, to the breaking of bread – (which was the first title of the Mass) and to the prayers…they shared their food gladly and generously; they praised God and were looked up to by everyone. Day by day the Lord added to their community those destined to be saved.

It was not just the Apostles, the first Bishops and priests who spread Christianity. The whole Christian community and each individual took personal responsibility to bring Jesus to others by being committed to three things: learning the teaching of the apostles; friendship and to the breaking of the bread – which was the first title given the Mass.    

TWO

There are many reasons we Catholics are not good at evangelization.

Let’s focus on three: we think it is not our job. We think it is the job for the priests and professional Church workers; second, we don’t feel prepared – we feel we do not know our faith well enough to share it; third, we practically just don’t know how.

Let’s cut to the chase – as Christians we have a simple mission: Worship God and Build the Kingdom by spreading the Catholic Faith. If you're not doing both, then what are you? By your Baptism the Holy Trinity lives in you. With Confirmation you were given an official mandate from the Bishop to fulfill this mission and you were enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend our faith by word and by deed.

It is time for us to stop saying; “When will the Pope or the Bishops or the priests or the Church do this or that?” The time for that is over.

THREE

We may be afraid to share our faith because we feel we do not know enough?

That is a legitimate fear. We must make a commitment to learn all we can about Jesus and our faith. But it can’t be learned in a day. That is why we weave the teaching of the Catholic faith into the Rosary every day, so that you can learn your faith in daily bite-sized digestible portions. And we do so in the School of Mary in the Rosary.

But believe me, it is not about knowledge. It is about demonstrating to people that we really know them, understand them and care for them – and that is done in the family and through friendship.

If there are people in our lives whom we wish were closer to Jesus – are we doing our part to know, understand, love, and care for them consistently and perseveringly and patiently?

FOUR

Friendship is the key to build the Kingdom

My very close friend Jack is a Palestinian Catholic who has lived in Jerusalem his whole life. He has a friend named Rami who is married to a Catholic. Rami believes in Jesus but does not really practice his faith and his children are not baptized.

Like many European cities everyone walks here. Each day Jack passes by the shop of Rami, they share a coffee and talk. Jack has taken the time over many years to genuinely get to know him, understand him, and when times were tough, especially during COVID, they took care of each other financially. Most importantly, through friendship and good conversation Jack has shared his faith with Rami. 

Well, as soon as we got to Jerusalem, Chris and Cari Hillyer, part of the Movement of the Holy Family, went to his shop to see how he and his family were doing. After they caught up, knowing he was struggling with getting his youngest children baptized after the COVID shutdown, Chris, very humbly and simply, invited Rami, saying, “Let’s get your kids baptized.” Two days ago, I was in Rami’s shop, because he has the best icons in Jerusalem, and not knowing what Chris a few days had done before, I said “Rami, let’s get your kids baptized.” Well, all the years of friendship and good conversation and genuine care from Jack and the grace of God kicked in and Rami said “Yes, let’s do it.” 

Jack made arrangements with the Franciscans and today, Cari and I received the immense privilege of being the godparents of his children at their Baptism – and the Christian community grew!

FIVE

We can all do what Jack did. But where do we begin, because our lives are so busy?

We begin by taking back Sundays. If we live Sunday’s well, then we have a practical way to fulfill our mission of worship and evangelization.

God commanded that Sunday be about three things:

Celebrating all that God has done for us in the Mass;

Deepening personal relationships with family and friends;

Caring for the materially, spiritually and emotionally poor.

So, make the commitment to dedicate Sundays to these three things. Dedicate some time every Sunday to get together with family and friends. Share a meal, share life and be genuinely interested and care for one another.

Then do not be afraid to invite them to grow closer to Jesus.

Simply invite and leave them free:

Would you like to pray the Rosary with us;

Could I share this Rosary podcast with you;

I love you – would you ever consider learning about the Catholic faith