This article on solidarity and subsidiarity was an eye-opener for me. It explains something that I only had a rudimentary understanding of, and a fuzzy hunch about. It got me thinking about my role as father of a household, and what mistakes I have been making. While blogging is good for evangelization (assuming you did it well), as is joining in discussion forums, I was absenting myself from evangelizing my own family. Not that all bloggers do that: I'm sure the most successful Catholic bloggers out there are wiser than me in attending to home before attending to the blogosphere.
So here I stand corrected, in prayer and spiritual reading. It does not excuse me from preaching the Good News at every opportunity that God presents me with. And so I continue to pray and to study, first to my family, and then to others. Perhaps my parish next, and then my workplace (prudently; it's a highly secularized institution and culture now). But lest I forget St. Francis who taught "Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds." But not by deed only, I think: "and they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it." (Mk 16:15-20). What signs? There are the obviously miraculous ones, e.g., "cast out devils .. gift of tongues; pick up snakes .. be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; lay their hands on the sick who will recover." But there are also the changed lives, turned around and over to God, incredibly filled with peace and joy previously unknown.
If only my family would notice. :-P
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