Get ready! (Sunday homily)

One of hardest things for many of us to say is four little words:
“I do not know.”

On the other hand, the Lord gives us some things to which we can say, 
“I do know”:

We don’t know how the economy will go next year--
but we do know where our treasure will not rot or be stolen--
and that’s in heaven.

We don’t know when this world will be put right--
but we do know the one thing that will put it right: 
and that is the law of Christ, no one else.

We don’t know when the end of the world will come--
But we do know that it will.
And when it does, we’ll be face-to-face with God.
That is a 100% certain. 

So here’s an easy way to handle it: be ready!

There’s nothing like a good confession to take your worries away.
We have confessions here Fridays and Saturdays,11 to Noon.
We’ll have a Penance Service Monday, December 17, 7 pm, here.

Here’s another way to be ready.

This time of year, 
a lot of folks think about their spiritual lives and take stock.
As you may recall, this December, we’ll see some ads on TV, 
encouraging Catholics, especially those who maybe aren’t very active,
“to come home.”

You might recall that we took up a collection to help pay for these ads.

So now, here’s my question: if someone you know sees these ads--
and wants to respond--will you be ready?

A lot of those folks will never call me--they’ll call you. 
They know you; they know you go to Mass.
They’ll ask you, “what’s this about?”
They might even say, “I don’t know how to get back into church.”

Here’s how you can be ready for that question:

> If someone says, “how do I get back?” 
Tell them, it’s easy; go see the priest, go to confession. Easy!

> If someone says, yes, but it’s complicated. Tell them: 
all the more reason to call the priest. 

> If someone says, I don’t really know anyone at my parish. 
Tell them, “you know me. Would you like to come with me?”

Don’t just tell them, “go to confession”; 
how about, “I’ll go with you”?

Now, I know what you’re going to say:
“Well…but…I’m pretty rusty.”
Don’t worry about it. 
This is what’s so great about confession.
You could show up and just stare--
because you really don’t know what to do--so you just stare!
Don’t worry--the priest will know what to do.

Don’t worry: just get ready!