{"id":32921,"date":"2018-02-05T13:36:57","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T19:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=32921"},"modified":"2018-02-07T12:55:25","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T18:55:25","slug":"stay-and-be-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/stay-and-be-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay, and Be Light…","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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This week, I want to share my testimony with readers, beginning with my calling into ministry…<\/em><\/p>\n

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THE\u00a0<\/b>homilies were dry. The music was dreadful. And the congregation was distant and disconnected. Whenever I left Mass from my parish some 25 years ago, I often felt more isolated and cold than when I came in. Moreover, in my early twenties then, I saw that my generation was completely gone. My wife and I were one of the few couples that still went to Mass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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THE TEMPTATION<\/p>\n

That’s when we were invited to a Baptist service by a friend of ours who had left the Catholic Church. She was pretty excited about her new community. So to appease her insistent invitations, we went to Mass on Saturday and took in the Baptist Sunday morning service.<\/p>\n

When we arrived, we were immediately struck by all the young couples.\u00a0<\/em>Unlike my parish where we seemed invisible, many of them approached and warmly welcomed us.\u00a0We entered the modern sanctuary and took our seats. A band began to lead the congregation in worship. The music was beautiful and polished. And the sermon the pastor gave was anointed, relevant, and deeply rooted in God’s Word.<\/p>\n

After the service, we were approached again by all these young people our age. “We want to invite you to our Bible study tomorrow night… on Tuesday, we have couples night… on Wednesday, we’re having a family basketball game in the attached gym… On Thursday is our praise and worship evening… On Friday is our….” As I listened, I realized that this truly was<\/em> a Christian community, not just in name. Not just for one hour on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We returned to our car where I sat in stunned silence. “We need this,”<\/em> I said to my wife. You see, the first thing the early Church did was form community, almost instinctually. But my parish was anything but. “Yes, we have the Eucharist,” I said to my wife, “but we are not just spiritual but also social<\/em> beings. We need the Body of Christ in community as well. After all, didn’t Jesus say, ‘This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’?<\/em>\u00a0[1]<\/sup><\/a>John 13:35<\/span><\/span>