"You are witnesses of these things" (martyrs)
On Easter Sunday I spoke of Matthew Kelly's book the four signs of a dynamic Catholic. Those four signs were prayer, study, generosity, and evangelization (sharing our faith). We have to use these four simple signs in our own life so that we can witness well the gospel before others. It could be as easy as telling a story about praying with your family or what exciting things are happening at your parish - I mean, a new church and growing parish is something just about anybody can appreciate. If we who bear the name of Christian don't have any enthusiasm about our faith, why would others want it?
Peter (in acts of the apostles) and John (in the second reading), who show us how to witness, get at the main point of Easter in the readings today: the forgiveness of sins and repentance (the sacrament of confession).
If you want to witness the great mercy of God, try encountering it often yourself by going to confession every month! How often do we step on th scale or count calories or check our heart health or our bank balance? My guess is it is a lot more often then we go to confession! Probably even much more often than we even make a brief examination of conscience, something we should probably do every night.
If you want to witness the great mercy of God, try encountering it often yourself by going to confession every month! How often do we step on th scale or count calories or check our heart health or our bank balance? My guess is it is a lot more often then we go to confession! Probably even much more often than we even make a brief examination of conscience, something we should probably do every night.
Saint Peter didn't witness well until he had his own "confession" experience. After Peter denied Jesus 3 times by a charcoal fire, the Lord prepares a meal by the seashore - on a charcoal fire, then proceeds to ask him 3 times, "Do you love me?"
What is the point of having a winning lottery ticket if you don't cash it in?
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