Practice makes perfect!

As we enter into the third week of Advent and focus ourselves more pointedly toward the celebration of the Birth of our Savior, we're called to, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."  So much of our world and even our community is doing really well at decorating our homes with lights and trees and writing cards and Christmas letters.  This can be a really good metaphor for what we need to be doing with our relationship with God and our relationships with others.  Just as much as we are concerned with the dignity and beauty of our our physical houses this season, so we ought to put even more effort at the luminosity of our faith, hope, and love.  Have we made more room for quality prayer this advent?  Have we felt the call to penance in any area of our life?  Have we taken occasion to just rest in the presence of our family and friends?  Advent is a time to prepare with joyful expectation for the coming of Jesus in glory!

When my nephew Robert was in High School, he attended karate classes several times.  On one occasion I went with him and my dad and was taken with something that the coach said, "The way you practice is the way you are going to compete."  Last Tuesday our boys and girls basketball teams from freshmen to varsity had a scrimmage for the parents so that we could get a preview of what to expect.  This was a way for us to see the fruit of all the practices to this point.  I had RCIA that night so I was only able to stay for half an hour but was impressed by how many Catholics we have on the teams and how many parents were there.  What would it look like if we were able to do something like that with our faith?  What if it were possible to witness what each of us is doing in the community, in our schools, at work, and at home and to see what our faith practices have yielded?  Actually this happens all the time.  I am so like a happy father or a proud mother when I am made aware of the concrete contributions so many of us at this parish are doing around town and even for one another!

I am also aware that there is so much more to experience and to share with God and with those in our community who don't come to mass regularly or do not get involved.  I found out the other day that only about half of the members of the last confirmation class are still involved.  Unfortunately this is not atypical.  What would have to happen in order for this to change?  What kind of a community must we be in order for all of our family members, our parish "team", to be supported in the discipline of discipleship?  Today we as a parish will make another payment, $1,100, toward the bishop's appeal.  The reason this is necessary is that only 67% of our parish goal was pledged.  My prayer is that we meet our goal next year, that everyone not only contribute of their financial resources but of their time and talent as well.  I also pray that we are able to effectively reach out to those who come to mass only at Christmas and Easter. 

What an amazing gift to be Catholic!  What an incredible message we get to experience and proclaim!  The Son of God, eternal and all powerful, was born utterly helpless and poor!  He grew up in all but obscurity, sharing our human condition, the plight of the refugee, the depressed, the lonely, homeless, then in His public ministry knew ambivalence, confrontation, adversity, doubt, cynicism, and ultimately died a violent death.  Three days later, He rose from the dead and in so doing changed everything!  We are now the heralds of that good news!  Like an effective athletic team, we have to pull together, train hard, communicate, and witness to the profound power of God's redemptive love.  Practice makes perfect, let us practice hard!