Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 10, 2014

       My favorite author, far and away, is the British Christian writer C. S. Lewis.  Early in his life Lewis had abandoned all faith.  As a young adult, he read several excellent authors (such as George MacDonald, G. K. Chesterton) and had several good friends (including J. R. R. Tolkien, who would later write The Lord of the Rings) who all shared one serious weakness, as Lewis then saw it, in that they were Christians.  None of them had directly tried to convert Lewis, but each one had an influence on his thought.  Eventually he had to admit that there was something much more positive in the Christians he knew and read than in those with whom he thought he agreed.  At that point, the thought of giving in horrified him.  Lewis told his story in a book titled Surprised by Joy in which he wrote, “Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about ‘man’s search for God.’  To me, as I then was, they might as well have talked about the mouse’s search for the cat.”  He goes on to describe the point where he knew he could no longer resist.  “I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”
People follow many different roads to come to Christ.  Some of us grew up in the Church and cannot imagine life without faith.  Many, like Lewis, search for meaning in life but at first discount the possibility that such meaning can come from God.  They are looking for joy in their lives, and as Lewis was, many would be surprised to find that only God can provide true joy.  Yet as God has created us, then our only hope for true fulfillment is to be what He made us to be.
       God uses many different ways to bring people to His love, as He reached Lewis through the author’s friends over a long period of time.  Perhaps, in the same way, God is using each of us to plant the seed of faith in someone’s heart, to show that Christ offers the joy they have been searching for.  We pray that we can be ready when the moment comes that we may offer an invitation to someone.
If you know of anyone – family member, friend or co-worker – who is ready to ask certain questions, feel free to invite that person to look into our RCIA, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.  The RCIA is the process by which those who wish to come into the Catholic Church prepare to do so.  In addition, we recognize that there are many who, like Lewis, come to God “kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape.”  The RCIA begins with an “Inquiry” stage, at which those who take part are able to ask any questions without fear of being judged and without making a commitment.        Those who come to the RCIA and decide that the Catholic faith is for them can move on to preparation for becoming Catholic or for coming back to the Church.  Others are welcome to say, at any time, “Thanks but no thanks.”  So if you know someone who is interested in the Church or who simply has some questions, feel free to suggest that the person calls me to ask about the RCIA, or let us know and we can make the offer.  We may be helping someone to be, as C. S. Lewis was, “Surprised by Joy.”

               Father H