The first reading for mass today tells how the good news about the growing number of new believers, traveled to places like Jerusalem, Tarsus and Antioch. The scriptures say that Barnabas rejoiced when he met the new believers and saw for himself that the grace of God was with them. He urged them to remain faithful to the Lord with a steadfast devotion. Perhaps he knew that when people first come to believe in the Lord Jesus, it is like a honeymoon phase that can wear off after a while and when it does, they would need encouragement to remain faithful to their original commitment to Christ.
Even in the spiritual life there is such a thing as infatuation but also a future danger of abandoning the faith when life becomes more difficult. Many cradle Catholics may not ever experience the infatuation phase, but many adults who undergo a conversion and become a Catholic through RCIA do. The new Catholics that are brought into the church at Easter, renew the church every year with their new found fire of the Holy Spirit. The burning flame of the Holy Spirit within them, sparks a response with everyone in the parish that they come in contact with. They bring all of us into a greater awareness of the triune God at work in the life of the church.
Not all news is good news though. There are a disturbing number of new Catholics that leave the church within five years of becoming a Catholic, often because of a lack of understanding about the church’s teachings. This is true with life long Catholics as well, and unfortunately this kind of news travels throughout our society and damages our church’s reputation. Catholics in general should try to learn more about our faith and be willing to explain to others why we believe the way we do. Many people leave the church because of a lack of understanding of the Catholic faith. But, all they really needed was a good explanation of some of our beliefs that are most questioned, such as why women can not be ordained, our views on marriage and divorce, birth control and abortion, etc.
Jesus tells us not to be concerned with what other people are doing though. He tells us to “Follow me!” in today’s Gospel. Don’t listen to rumors and gossip, or what other people think, but listen to him and follow his example.
One other bit of advise the Gospel has for us today is that John tells us there are many other things that Jesus did, but if every one of them were written down, the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. This is good advise for us today. We shouldn’t concern ourselves about every little thing people say, or think, or all the misunderstandings that occur, or even the many aspects of our faith that people question. We should simply focus on the basics. We should be careful to not get distracted onto all the other minor details demanding our attention, because they could lead us astray from the good Lord and his Holy Church. The Holy Spirit has guided the Catholic church for over 2,000 years and if it was not truly established by the Lord Jesus himself it would not have lasted throughout the many generations of people who have questioned her beliefs.
Today, let us rejoice to be a Catholic and continue to walk in the footsteps of Christ, together.
