Church of the Resurrection issued the following announcement on Jan. 29.

Last Sunday, my homily on the text of Jesus calling the first disciples to be “fishers of men” ended with a homework assignment. Here’s how it ended:

“It’s easy to slip out of the fishing business. But if I discovered a product that could stop hair from falling out and didn’t share it with you, what sort of friend would I be? Think how you got here, how Jesus came to you as he came to his first disciples, calling you by name and inviting you to accompany him. … I challenge you this week to try to share your gift of faith (perhaps even with words). Write out on an index card the difference for good Jesus makes for you, just a few sentences. Then practice it a few times, so it becomes part of you, so if someone would say, “You go to church, right? What do you see in it?” … you would have an answer. How could you ever hope to have success fishing unless you have a lure, a worm? Your homework is to come up with that worm.”

So, I thought I would share my homework, in the paragraph below. This is what I would tell someone who asked me why I am a believer.

Catholicism isn’t primarily a code of conduct or a set of rules. Mainly it’s a set of promises … God’s promises, revealed through Jesus his Son. Christians aren’t automatically better people, but we ought to be better-informed people, which if not making us better than others at least should make us better than we’d otherwise have been. Faith isn’t an insurance policy to hold onto in case of a storm; it’s a way of seeing. And as with the glasses I wear, it makes all the difference. If my Catholic faith doesn’t make my life richer and fuller, then I am doing something wrong. 

I know, it’s sort of wordy, but you know me. After last weekend’s Masses, someone suggested I should have challenged everyone to bring their own “index card speeches” and throw them (unsigned) in the collection. Then maybe I could share the best ones with you. That’s not a bad idea, but I am much too timid to dare you like that. What if no one followed through? It would make me very sad. All the same, I hope you did (or are doing) your homework. And if you want to share it with me, I’d be happy to see it. No pressure!

On another front, I must tell you, I’m going to be gone for a week in February. No, this is not the pastor’s seasonal “flight to Florida.” Actually, I will be away attending a funeral in Ghana. Priests from that west African country have served in the Diocese of La Crosse for over twenty years, and one of them, Francis Abuah Quansah , became my good friend. “Brothers of different mothers,” he used to call us. I will tell you more about my brother in my column next week, but he died (somewhat) suddenly in early January, and the funeral will be in his home diocese the week of February 10th. I will be part of a tiny delegation representing the Bishop. There has been a lot of running around to iron out the details—booking flights, finding clergy coverage for the week, applying for a visa, getting my shots, and the like.

I think it is going to be something of an adventure for me. I’ll say more next week. Get to your homework now.

Fr. Mark

Original source: http://eastsideparishes.org/east/pastors-letter-february-2-2020/