My Dad was a Lutheran and didn’t really practice his faith. For the most part, when he would go to church, it would be to a Catholic church. Whenever anyone would ask him his religion, he would answer in jest, saying, “I’m a Pedestrian.”
When asked our religion, most of us would describe ourselves as “Catholic” or “Christian.” But we would probably back away from calling ourselves “Disciple” or “Follower.” That description rightly belongs to the great heroes of our fai...
My Dad was a Lutheran and didn’t really practice his faith. For the most part, when he would go to church, it would be to a Catholic church. Whenever anyone would ask him his religion, he would answer in jest, saying, “I’m a Pedestrian.”
When asked our religion, most of us would describe ourselves as “Catholic” or “Christian.” But we would probably back away from calling ourselves “Disciple” or “Follower.” That description rightly belongs to the great heroes of our faith: the saints and martyrs, people like St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Teresa of Calcutta, or Dorothy Day. Our lives probably seem too ordinary to imagine that we are doing the work of the Gospel in the name of Jesus. If we think this way, however, we are wrong.
A woman by the name of Denise Roy found that in her life as a wife and mother, she had been doing exactly what Jesus did. In her book entitled, My Monastery is a Minivan: Where Daily is Divine and the Routine Becomes Prayer, Denise writes: “For two decades I have broken bread, poured grape juice, preached, prayed, told stories, bestowed blessings, taken care of the sick… I have been a parent. These have been sacraments of my daily life… These are simple, sacred acts. These are how we mediate love, as we minister to our own little congregations – children, spouses, family, and friends.”
At one time in her life, Denise, who is also a psychotherapist and spiritual director, wanted to be a contemplative nun, but she found her family’s minivan to be her own ‘monastery’ of sorts. She spent so much time in it running from place to place doing errand after errand and carting the kids from one activity after another, that she recognized that she needed to bring a piece of her experience of Church, a piece of her faith to the place where she spends so much time.
Jesus’ invitation in the Gospel to the fishermen, tax collectors, farmers, laborers, and peasants to be His followers is extended to us, as well. Jesus’ call to discipleship transcends that moment on the shores of the Sea of Galilee to our own time and place, to our own homes and lives, to our own jobs and livelihoods. Our baptisms were acceptances of that invitation to take on the work of discipleship – an acceptance that we must renew each day and in every aspect of our daily living.
We are called to do this not just in this church when we gather to pray and worship and share in the Eucharist, but everywhere we live and breathe. May the faith we share in this church be expressed in every action of our lives.+
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