Jesus has given each baptized Catholic a mission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). Our mission is to live this calling every day of our lives. People are at the heart of the mission of the Church. Strengthening
relationships, boldly growing engagement and connecting people to the mission are simple ways to bring people to Jesus. It is not complicated – we just need to bring people to Jesus. God is always drawing closer to us, so we can rest assured that he is the one doing the hard work – not us! In order to bring people to Jesus, we must start with loving and caring for people one at a time. It has to come from a genuine desire to love and show people that they matter. After all, why would anyone listen to the Good News from us, if we haven’t shown them God’s love? If we are all God’s children, then we have a responsibility to help each other. We are meant to live in relationship, and to be the living presence of God in the world – to show his love to the people around us. This means treating people like family, not transactions. It’s easy to do this with the people we enjoy being around. It’s a lot harder to put into practice when we are talking about a coworker or acquaintance who drives us crazy. But like it or not, we are all called to this. For me this is a revolutionary idea: I am not better than anyone else. The world tries to separate us all the time by putting us into categories of race, gender or socioeconomic status. Those don’t really matter. We are all children of God. It is important for all of us to try to see the people in front of us and love them like Jesus does. I invite you to join me in that, to strive each day to see people as your brothers and sisters and to treat them accordingly.
relationships, boldly growing engagement and connecting people to the mission are simple ways to bring people to Jesus. It is not complicated – we just need to bring people to Jesus. God is always drawing closer to us, so we can rest assured that he is the one doing the hard work – not us! In order to bring people to Jesus, we must start with loving and caring for people one at a time. It has to come from a genuine desire to love and show people that they matter. After all, why would anyone listen to the Good News from us, if we haven’t shown them God’s love? If we are all God’s children, then we have a responsibility to help each other. We are meant to live in relationship, and to be the living presence of God in the world – to show his love to the people around us. This means treating people like family, not transactions. It’s easy to do this with the people we enjoy being around. It’s a lot harder to put into practice when we are talking about a coworker or acquaintance who drives us crazy. But like it or not, we are all called to this. For me this is a revolutionary idea: I am not better than anyone else. The world tries to separate us all the time by putting us into categories of race, gender or socioeconomic status. Those don’t really matter. We are all children of God. It is important for all of us to try to see the people in front of us and love them like Jesus does. I invite you to join me in that, to strive each day to see people as your brothers and sisters and to treat them accordingly.