A chance to worship our Lord, serve neighbors

We are disciples of Jesus, what a wonderful thing! We have been blessed with being invited into the family of God. We know that God loves us—in fact, we know that God loves us enough to send His Son to die for our sins so that we could be reconciled. That, dear brothers and sisters, is good news!
However, there is a mandate for each of us who have received so much from the Lord.  We each are tasked with sharing the beauty of being a disciple. By virtue of our baptism, we are called to tell others of the goodness of belonging to Christ. 
This should be rather natural, shouldn’t it? If I find a great restaurant, I want to tell others about it. If I am happy with my doctor, I share his/her contact with friends. Let’s go out to all the world and tell them of the Good News of Jesus Christ!
The other mandate that comes along with our baptism is that we must face the reality that we will be judged by how we treat our brothers and sisters.  Jesus makes this abundantly clear in Matthew 25.  Jesus reminds us that the manner in which we treat our brothers and sisters will be the measure by which we are judged.  I find this chapter of the Bible to be very challenging.
Whether I like it or not, Jesus was very clear about what is expected of us.  The conversion of St. Paul echoes this.  When Saul was on his way to Damascus he encountered the Lord.  Saul was knocked off of his animal and there was a bright flash of light.  
A voice called out, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 22:7) The voice did not say, “Saul, Saul why are you prosecuting my Church? Or my people?”  No, Saul violently persecuted Christians, but the voice from heaven asks, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 22:7)
We have an opportunity coming up on June 15 to worship our Eucharistic Lord in a Eucharistic procession.  Tied to that there will be opportunities to serve our neighbors.  Please consider participating in some or all of the events offered that day.
For more information please visit mobarch.org/dayofservice.
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life. Email him at [email protected]