Now, for those who may or may not know, as a family we have received many graces and blessings from the wearing of the miraculous medal. We don't treat it as a charm or superstition, but a sacramental (something set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin). We all wear one--Deb and I, and the kids (well, when they aren't losing them).
We were on our way to Mass and I grabbed a handful of miraculous medals on chains, and fished out two and gave each kid one. I encouraged each kid to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to ask them to reveal someone at church to give the medal to, someone who may really need it or someone who God really felt could benefit from having one. "You guys have a mission," I told them on the winding road approaching the church, "you are young evangelizers and God has a job for you."
They held their medals in the pockets, and I kept encouraging them to pray about who God wanted them to give it to. When it came to time for the sign of peace, Monica turned to the woman behind us and extended her hand with the medal, which the woman took. She looked at me and I nodded "it's for you," just as someone had left a medal for us, maybe unknowingly, when we found it sitting in a pew at mass down at the beach.
David waited a little longer, til after the final blessing, when we were walking out. There is a man with Down's syndrome who collects the hymnals from people as they leave the church. David looked up to him and handed him the medal, saying "this is for you." The man took it and said thank you.
You know, Catholics have the world's best kept secret--the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Sacraments, and invitation to Eternal Life through baptism and being a member of His Holy Church. Someone gave them a priceless pearl and it is sitting in the garage or the attic somewhere in a box filled with junk, just waiting to be discovered. This is the Gospel seed. Seeds can last for hundreds of years if stored properly. But until they are planted, they are just seeds--not plants, or vines, or trees yielding fruit.
What if through our actions, taking seriously our baptismal commission, we were able to encourage someone to take that seed out of the box in the attic, out of the seed pack, and plant it outside. Maybe they don't do anything to it right away, but maybe taking it out of storage is the first step. Eventually by grace they are moved by the miracle of an unfurling of a tiny plant pushing its way through the soil from the seed kernel. They decide to water it, and as it grows, add fertilizer. Before they know it, it has matured and brought forth that first fruit that never would have been tasted had it remained just a seed. Eventually, when enough trees are planted, you get something like this:
Both of our children, like all of the baptized, were charged with a commission today; they were given a single seed to plant somewhere. Only God knows if it would bring forth fruit. But they were good and faithful servants, and I hope this little experiment is helping to foster a spirit of evangelization among our family.
We have to be intentional, in our own lives of course, but also with how we pass on the faith to our children, and how they pass it on to others. It takes grace, work, prayer, and living by example. Children approach the commission innocently, with a healthy amount of trepidation but without all the baggage that many of us carry. Our future as a church, and as a human race, depends on God. All he is asking us to do is take the seeds out of the seed pack, and plant them, and encourage others to do the same. He does the rest. As St. Mother Teresa said, we are not called to be successful, only faithful. Unless we start, we cannot hope to finish the race (2 Tim 4:7).
We were on our way to Mass and I grabbed a handful of miraculous medals on chains, and fished out two and gave each kid one. I encouraged each kid to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to ask them to reveal someone at church to give the medal to, someone who may really need it or someone who God really felt could benefit from having one. "You guys have a mission," I told them on the winding road approaching the church, "you are young evangelizers and God has a job for you."
They held their medals in the pockets, and I kept encouraging them to pray about who God wanted them to give it to. When it came to time for the sign of peace, Monica turned to the woman behind us and extended her hand with the medal, which the woman took. She looked at me and I nodded "it's for you," just as someone had left a medal for us, maybe unknowingly, when we found it sitting in a pew at mass down at the beach.
David waited a little longer, til after the final blessing, when we were walking out. There is a man with Down's syndrome who collects the hymnals from people as they leave the church. David looked up to him and handed him the medal, saying "this is for you." The man took it and said thank you.
You know, Catholics have the world's best kept secret--the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Sacraments, and invitation to Eternal Life through baptism and being a member of His Holy Church. Someone gave them a priceless pearl and it is sitting in the garage or the attic somewhere in a box filled with junk, just waiting to be discovered. This is the Gospel seed. Seeds can last for hundreds of years if stored properly. But until they are planted, they are just seeds--not plants, or vines, or trees yielding fruit.
What if through our actions, taking seriously our baptismal commission, we were able to encourage someone to take that seed out of the box in the attic, out of the seed pack, and plant it outside. Maybe they don't do anything to it right away, but maybe taking it out of storage is the first step. Eventually by grace they are moved by the miracle of an unfurling of a tiny plant pushing its way through the soil from the seed kernel. They decide to water it, and as it grows, add fertilizer. Before they know it, it has matured and brought forth that first fruit that never would have been tasted had it remained just a seed. Eventually, when enough trees are planted, you get something like this:
Both of our children, like all of the baptized, were charged with a commission today; they were given a single seed to plant somewhere. Only God knows if it would bring forth fruit. But they were good and faithful servants, and I hope this little experiment is helping to foster a spirit of evangelization among our family.
We have to be intentional, in our own lives of course, but also with how we pass on the faith to our children, and how they pass it on to others. It takes grace, work, prayer, and living by example. Children approach the commission innocently, with a healthy amount of trepidation but without all the baggage that many of us carry. Our future as a church, and as a human race, depends on God. All he is asking us to do is take the seeds out of the seed pack, and plant them, and encourage others to do the same. He does the rest. As St. Mother Teresa said, we are not called to be successful, only faithful. Unless we start, we cannot hope to finish the race (2 Tim 4:7).