Hitting for the Sacramental Cycle

With my new assignment, I’ve been joking that I’ve “hit for the cycle” in my first month. For those unfamiliar with baseball, a batter who hits for the cycle gets a single, double, triple, and home run in a single game. Since starting here in Malta on July 1^st, I’ve baptized an infant, had a wedding, performed Anointing of the Sick, and had a funeral. This means in my first month here, I’ve performed the rites that nearly all Catholics receive throughout their lives.

Sadly, for many Catholics, these are the only rites they receive, not making regular attendance at Mass or reception of Confession a part of their lives. While they may be Catholics by baptism and Confirmation, they do not practice their faith. When challenged on their lack of practice, they might say something like, “I don’t need to go to church to find God,” or, “I’m a good person. I’m fine with God.” For those who seek to follow Our Lord and realize that being a “good person” is not enough, these phrases sound like trite excuses justifying laziness and pridefulness, with good reason. Sadly, this isn’t an isolated problem, but infests the Church throughout the United States and the rest of the so-called developed nations.

The challenge for us as Christians is to open these lukewarm souls to the fire of the Holy Spirit without coming across as condemning and turning them even farther from God. As Christians, we must pray for those souls and seek to cooperate with Our Lord in calling them back to His Church. We also must seek to always invite these lost souls into a deeper relationship with Christ and His Church. We do this first and foremost through our example of life, but we also must be willing to reach out and invite them to join us. Of course, approaching someone and extending the invitation is not a comfortable action, but Jesus didn’t promise us comfort in this life. Are you willing to get uncomfortable and invite someone to step beyond merely “hitting for the cycle”?