When someone comes into a large amount of money by winning a lottery or signing a pro sports contract, the news reporters often ask about the first things this person intends to buy with their newfound wealth. A common response is that they will buy something really nice (e.g. house or car) for parents who cannot afford to do so. It is gratifying to know that some people really appreciate what their parents have given them and try to return the favor as best they can.
Catholics become rich when they are baptized. They receive from Mother Church more than can be known or appreciated by all of the folks at the baptismal ceremony combined, priest included! We receive in the Sacrament of Baptism a veritable treasure-trove of grace, along with a foundation upon which to build our sacramental and spiritual lives.
The Church does what any good mother does: she feeds her children. And she does so by sharing the Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scriptures entrusted to the Apostles to be passed on for generations to come.
There is no question that Catholics, in general, undervalue their religious heritage. The number who join other religions or who do not bother to practice their own is telling. Oftentimes adult converts to Catholicism are scandalized at how casually so very many Catholics treat their faith. And rightly so! Our Catholic religion is so rich and so inspiring and so sensible that there should never be cause for us to consider looking elsewhere for spiritual fulfillment. Even an elementary understanding of the apostolic roots and the historical continuity of the Church and its teachings by themselves provide sufficient reason to remain in (or join) the Catholic religion.
Smiles are contagious. The more you share them with others, the more you get them in return. Sharing the Faith has a similar effect. Our faith is strengthened even while we attempt to nurture it in another person. An irony regarding this dynamic is that the religions that have the least substance to share seem to be the ones that show the most zeal in sharing it with others.
Catholics tend to be rather reluctant to share the wealth of their faith, even though they clearly have an abundance to give away! Just as with stewardship, where God pays back a generous giver sevenfold, tenfold or even a hundredfold, so also God blesses most abundantly those who share with others the gift He has given to them. Want to grow in your faith? Then give it away!
Catholics who continue to learn about their faith and the Church’s impressive heritage are unlikely to drift or turn away from the practice of their faith. As we come to appreciate how much wealth the Lord entrusted to the Church that He established two millennia ago, we want to enjoy a bigger and bigger share of it. We are allowed to be greedy in this area because the nature of the faith is such that the more we have the more we want to share. This impetus for basic evangelization is what motivated the saints to work toward personal holiness and to desire for all people to be saved. Should we want any less?
