In The Presence of Greatness

Go therefore and teach all the nations…Matthew 28:19

Westphalia, Michigan is a tiny little town of less than 950 people. We have one school and it’s a Catholic school and we have one church, St. Mary’s Catholic.

It’s a beautiful place to live, worship and raise a family. People here take a few things very seriously: faith, family, and farming. Our greatest asset is our children and the apple of our eye is not just our beautiful church but the disciples it works diligently to inspire. Many would consider the town a little “behind the times” or a bit like Mayberry but when it comes to the New Evangelization it’s a place way ahead of the game!

In the past several months our parish and the two parishes in the tiny neighboring towns have been inspired by Evangelistic giants like Deacon Ralph Poyo, St. Miriam Heidland, Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, Immaculée Ilibagiza, Chris Stefanick, and Justin Fatica, and we have Father Leo Patalinghug scheduled for a mission next month. The great news is that these awesome disciples speak not only to the adults but to our high school students.

We’re rich in Catholic tradition, deep into small faith communities and the area public high school that our Catholic students become a part of starting in 7th grade holds a Bible Study every Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. in the High School auditorium that is attended by more than 100 students.

So why am I telling you all this? Simple! In a world that seems to be coming unglued at the seams we need to remember that there are Westphalia’s all over, but they aren’t making headlines.

These are the places that give us hope. These are the places where peace and the love of Jesus Christ can be seen, felt and heard every day. These are the places of prayer our world desperately needs.

It’s easy to read the papers or watch the news and feel overwhelmed with despair but if being in the presence of all the aforementioned Spiritual Giants has taught me only one thing, it is that God can do anything He wants to! We are called to spread His word and trust Him with the outcome. It isn’t our world to fix, but it’s our world to pray for.

As inspiring and amazing as the human Spiritual Giants that have come to visit have been, there is one much greater…Jesus himself. There is nothing more powerful on earth than the living, loving, healing power of Jesus Christ present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. On a regular basis, we fill the seats with faithful souls who come to praise and worship Jesus.

That, my friends, will make all the difference in this world of ours. That, my friends, is what will unite us and bring us hope and peace. It’s not our job to convert the world, it is simply our job to introduce others to Jesus and then let Him take it from there. The stakes are high and the time for Evangelization is here and now.

We could all use a little hope and inspiration so please leave your comments below and share the good news of Evangelization and Christ’s hope alive and movin’ in your parish community.

Blessings on your day!

Image Credit, Abby Feldpausch photo used with permission