As we grow in Faith we move the Church towards Christ!

As we grow in Faith we move the Church towards Christ!

It is a blessed adherence that each one who worships and praises God will be one of many who causes the Church to grow in faith.  Evangelizing those whom have not fully understood the meaning of Christ’s mission will learn from our example alone and become staunch signs of the reason to follow him through us.  

The Pittsburgh Diocese has recently sent all parishioners a copy of “The Church Forward” a pastoral letter on the occasion of the 180th anniversary of the Diocese of Pirttsburgh.  Throughout this letter, in lengthy excerpts, Bishop David Zubiik has taken the short history of our growth which culminates with praise to all those whose efforts became the emphasis of building our thriving Church.  

As a deacon of this worthy establishment that promoted faith in more people than anyone can imagine, myself along with countless missionaries in parish work take some pride that we were called to just spread the good word of Christ.  This is a pride that we didn’t earn, just the answer to a call from the Holy Spirit.  

Reading this letter indicates the very beginning of our diocese with the former bishops who heralded the movement that many thousands enjoy today.  However, we could change the names of these bishops and many others along with them, to any diocese across the nation or around the world.  The movement really started with the prophets of the Old Testament who predicted that God would send his Son, as the awaited Messiah, to redeem all of humanity.  Within these pages of God’s promise we can move ahead centuries later doing the very evangelizing they predicted.  

When one of you is asked to take a position of any service work in the Church you will be carrying out the very premise of the pre-ministry that Christ would fulfill.  So when the call came to me towards the diaconate, or those who were called to the priesthood have accepted a precious journey, not for acclimation, but one that may also present suffering in one way or another.  Adding to this type of acceptance also includes in the same manner some type of suffering to the lay ministers as well.  All are called to spread the Good News either as clerics or lay people.  

Writing this article takes my attention to several snapshots in this letter of the Pittsburgh Diocese.   One is of students at Mary of Nazareth Catholic School, all young children, praying before a statue of the Blessed Mother.  The smiles on these young future leaders of our nation, not only catholic leaders, remind each of us; here is the future teacher or evangelizer of Christ and his Church.  They are precious and we must do everything to ensure the Church they pray about will still be intact.  The second snapshot shows young adults, maybe high school students, pondering questions that their age group may be challenged as following the very questions many of the prophets encountered.  Both of these snapshots could be mounted somewhere in our homes to remind us of the Church reaching out as Christ’s emissaries.  Being called is not an acclamation; it is an expectation of responsibility and accountability to Christ.

Ralph B.