With the approach of a new year, my thoughts turn to how God makes all things new. And how we can learn from mistakes made in the past year, ask for forgiveness, and move on, trying harder to do a better job knowing, loving, and serving Our Lord in the coming year.
We need to think well on this message at the approach of every new year. But this year, let’s go deeper into how we Christians can better know, love, and serve God. Let’s really ask ourselves if we are in a better position to perform these acts of faith. If we’re strengthening our faith and sharing the Truth with those around us, or simply causing scandal to the one True Church.
In 2021, I submitted a TED talk for a homeschooling group on this very subject. I’d like to share some clips with you. In them, I discuss why it’s so important for us to know more about our faith. I addressed this talk to homeschooling parents, but the message relates to everyone, so when I mention sharing the faith with our children, it applies to friends and family also.
In my opinion, a lifetime is not long enough to educate ourselves about coming to know, love, and serve God. So, wherever we are in life, whether we’ve spent all our days up until now learning what it means to know, love, and serve God, or whether we just got started, or maybe we haven’t even bothered until now . . . None of that matters. In the words of St. Francis of Assisi:
"Let us begin again, brothers, for up until now, we have done little or nothing.”
This year Father Mike Schmitz and Ascension Press are offering The Catechism in a Year. Click HERE to learn more. This podcast promises to help Catholics understand the essentials of the Catholic Faith and why they matter. And if you haven’t already, you should check out Father Mike’s Bible in a Year Podcast also. Learn more HERE.
As a Catholic fiction author, I desire to share God’s Word and Truth within my stories. To do that for His glory, I must know Him and His Word. I don’t want to cause scandal with my words about Him. But it’s not just my responsibility to share His Truth. It’s all of ours, in our everyday lives, with our friends and family and the people we meet, regardless of our positions and vocations.
We, as Catholics, have a ministry. When our priest sends us out every Sunday after Mass with the command, “go out and share the Gospel,” it’s a reminder of our responsibility as Christians. And we’d better know what that Gospel is.
Let’s all make a big effort this year to educate ourselves on the Faith! After-all, it’s who we are, right? And knowing, loving, and serving God is why we’re here.