From the Deacon's Desk

Each day, I reflect upon a word or a phrase inspired by the readings of the day. I encourage you to do the same and perhaps incorporate that word or phrase into your daily prayer.

“…we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us.” (2 Thessalonians 3:9)

Paul sent a message to the new Christians in Thessalonia. He made them aware that what they said and did mattered. He told them, and he tells us: Don’t profess to be a follower of Jesus Christ and yet choose to ignore His message.

It was a challenge then, and it is perhaps even more challenging now. We are bombarded daily with tempting choices. We expect to have choices, or I should say, we demand choices.

It is for this reason that so many have turned away from their faith. We want everything that comes along with being Christian to be available to us, but we want to view them as options. Jesus did not say, “Here are a bunch of options, pick the ones you like.” Rather, he reminded us that following him requires sacrifice.

Our faith is the only constant in a world teeming with what appear to be many desirable options, but in reality these options only serve to distract us from a life focused on Christ.

We return then to our opening thought from St. Paul: “…we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us.”

We are being watched. Parents, our children are watching us. They may not listen to you, but I can guarantee they are watching us. Would we want our children to imitate us? Would our children say, “My parents really love God?” or “My parents are people of strong faith”?

Our neighbors are watching us. They are wondering what it means to be Christian so they watch us to learn more. Will they learn what it means to be a Christian by watching us?

Our fellow parishioners are watching us. They stand next to us at Mass or see us across the Church. They see us professing our faith. When they see us outside of Mass do they see us living your faith?

In a world of choices, we must choose to model our faith. We must make ourselves worthy of being imitated.