Home for the Holiday

After 51 years I finally got my chance to attend a Seder meal. A good friend of my wife invited us to her home. Maybe it was not as traditional as others, but it was a learning experience for me. During the day people had told me that I should eat before I went because the food was not so good, but I did not. I enjoyed the service, even if it was abbreviated. I learned what all the symbolism was about, thanks Marcie and Sue. And I got a little better understanding of what was the development of our shared meal, the Eucharist.
  In the middle of the meal, the woman next to me found out I was a deacon and asked a question. "So while Jesus was entering Jerusalem , was Moses in Egypt freeing the Jews?" I was a bit confused. She had mentioned that all she did was read the bible. I was not sure that anyone would actually think Moses and Jesus were a on earth at the same time.
  This has to make one wonder whether people are fully educated in our faith. What does the would know about us? A comment was made about hell and it was said that Jews do not believe in hell, at least not with the devil and a pitchfork. Yet neither do Catholics. Our belief is that hell is an eternal life separated from God's loving presence. We have a long way to go.
  We need to fully understand our own heritage as followers of the way. Yet how can this be done when so many stop attending mass. Since mass is where most of us will encounter the scripture and an explanation, my guess is that the majority of Catholics do not sit at home reading the bible, how will we ever fully understand who we are as Catholics and what we profess to believe by calling ourselves Catholic?
  It is time for Catholics to come home. Not just on the special days of Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday , Easter Sunday and Christmas, but everyday. It is time for each of us to reach out to those who have left behind our communal prayer and gathering in the belief that it is unnecessary. It is time for those who understand how necessary this gathering is to share that belief with those who do not understand. It is time, especially as Easter Sunday is upon us, to begin a new day of enlightenment in our churches. Use the humbleness of our new pontiff as a way of showing people the love that can be felt in our community and bring a friend or loved one back home.