On route 98, as I was driving to Holy Family Church in North Java, you will pass through Varysburg. There is assign outside the Catholic church that says: “Empty Pews, but filled with Prayer.” A sad comment on the fact that most church pews really are empty. However, the Mother’s Day gospel story was the formula how Jesus brought people into the pews
There's a famous line attributed to France of Assisi, "Preach the gospel at all times and only when necessary use words."
We talk a lot about meeting people where they are and leading them to where God is calling them to be. This essentially was Jesus' model of evangelization. Jesus never preached to somebody before he fed them, healed them, comforted them. This was his approach. He went out to the people. He met the people where they were, physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. He met them where they were. He ministered to them usually first in their human need, and then he ministered to them spiritually. He met them where they were and led them to where God is calling them to be.
Question to ask yourself, “are we really meeting them where they're at? Or are we standing down the road and saying, 'Hey, gals and guys, come to our church, because that's not what God calls us to. He calls us to walk back down the road, to meet them where they're at, to say, "What is troubling your heart?
And they may say, "I got a whole bunch of credit card debt because of my gambling addiction to scratch off cards." They may say, "I just lost my job because I stole money from my job to pay for my cocaine.” They may say, "Don't like my job. Don't get on with my boss at work. I'm worried about my son's health. I'm worried about my mother’s alcohol addiction? My mom's sick. My dad's sick." The things that are heavy on people's hearts. What's troubling your heart?
Because when we meet people where they are, we are first concerned with what's troubling their hearts. And there're so many ways that we can help people carry their burden. But the first way is just to recognize that people are carrying a burden, to listen to the burden that they're carrying, and then to do an inventory of our lives and say, "Okay, how can I help this person?
What talents or resources do I have available to me that can help this person?" The person may say, "I'm struggling with getting my medical insurance benefits?" We may think, "Hmm, I know this person who's really good at that or an expert at that. Maybe I can connect the two and they can help each other" We're here to help each other. It's the beginning of filling the empty pews..
A starving person cannot hear the message. You have to feed the starving person and then their ears become open. Our mission is about you and me listening and how we can we feed them so that they can hear the life-giving, life-changing words of Jesus in the gospel.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who like our nurturing women make the sacrifice of their time and use their compassionate hearts to care for the staring souls of the world. So, whether you are a mom or grandmom, a teacher, a nurse, a social worker or a generous neighbor and family caregiver, let me say “thank you” for your service, each and every day by following the mission of Jesus to bring His love to all the staring people in need.
