Gospel: Luke 21:1-4

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on."

I borrowed the above scripture from the Association of Catholic Priest’s website. This is the reading for Monday, November 24^th.

I love the above scripture, as it describes the radical discipleship that is expected to follow Christ. I leave that to your meditation.

In the Church, this week, I was curious about what Bishop Michael Neary of Tuam Diocese, Ireland, had preached to a group of papal knights. The bishop was painting the picture of the Irish Church with his words, and that picture appeared to be a sad one indeed. However, what grabbed my attention was one of his solutions to the Church problem. He suggested the Church needed full and part-time lay evangelists. This is an idea that I continually promote.

I promote the idea of lay evangelists because the Church needs a new thrust in sowing the Word. As St. Paul says, "Let the Word dwell richly in you." The key to a vibrant Church is being immersed in the Word. That Word is naturally, Christ. It’s Christ or nothing. And in returning to the above scripture, that’s what the poor widow knew.

I have written to Bishop Neary to find out what he might be thinking about lay evangelists. Perhaps, it is the meeting of minds across the Atlantic!

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