That's Not My Problem

 Kristy and Don pulled into their favorite breakfast place after Mass. The restaurant was unusually crowded today. They waited a little longer to get seated, and once they ordered, they were informed the kitchen needed to catch up on orders. Polite as always, Kristie smiled at the waitress and told her that would be okay. After that, Kristy and Don had no problem filling the time talking about their kids, jobs, and upcoming events. After a while, there was a lull in the conversation. Kristy found herself thinking about the priest's homily. "What did you think of Father Tom's homily today?"

 "It was pretty good," Don replied. "Except I just don't know why having a good faith life is not enough. Why do you have to go out and tell everyone about it? That just makes me uncomfortable."

 "I understand what you're saying, but Jesus did ask us to go out and make disciples of all nations. A good disciple wants to share the good news of Jesus with others. Aren't you glad someone shared their faith with you? It didn't just happen on its own."

 Don made a face. "Well, parents should share their faith with their kids, and we've done that. I don't think it's up to me to tell everyone to go to church."

 Kristy took a sip of her coffee before she replied. "So what if your parents hadn't shared the faith with you because their parents never shared the faith with them. How will these people ever learn how amazing God's love is?"

 Don shrugged and said, "That's not really my problem." 

 "I think God would disagree."

 "I'm not about to hand out flyers inviting people to come to Mass. It's not my place to judge them."

 "I think you're looking at this wrong. Sharing your faith is different than telling people they should have faith. I find little ways to let people know my faith is important. You would be surprised how many conversations have begun because people notice my cross necklace at work. When people tell me about a problem, I give advice if I can, but I always let them know that I will pray for them. Sometimes people are surprised when I mention that I am still praying for them months later. My coworkers know I prefer to eat lunch alone to pray the Rosary or listen to my podcasts. Those are just some little ways. I may not exactly be yelling. "Hey, go to church!" but people know my faith is important to me, and some have even come up to me when they have questions."

 Don thoughtfully looked at his wife. She obviously had a better handle on this than he did. "Hmm, I see what you're saying. I'm not really sure how that would work for me. I'll have to think about it."

 Kristy smiled and added, "Oh, I think our waitress is coming with our food."

-Susan