"FAITH IS A SERIOUS MATTER"

Gospel Reading: Mark 16:15—20
Feast of St. Mark, the Evangelist

You and I know there are Catholics who do not seem to be living their faith. I don’t mean those who don’t go to Mass on Sundays. I mean those who lie and steal and cheat, those who take bribes, misuse their powers, sell drugs, even kill in order to further their own purposes. Yes, let’s face it, there are Catholics and Christians of other denominations who do such things. We would have to be blind not to see it.

Is there possibly anything you and I do that is not exactly the way we should live our faith? It is easy to focus the light on the bad deeds, or the lack of good deeds, of others while remaining unconscious of our own.

“Go into the world and proclaim the good news to all creation,” Jesus told his apostles. “The man who believes in it and accepts baptism will be saved; the man who refuses to believe in it will be condemned.” You and I know that to believe and accept baptism carries with it the obligation to live our faith and baptism. And not just when it is advantageous, and not only the part that appeals to us.

We are to accept all that Christ taught and let it transform our characters into his likeness. If we don’t allow that to happen, which takes effort on our part, lots of effort - if we don’t allow our belief in Christ and the promises we made at baptism govern every day and moment of our lives, we will be no better off than those who refuse to believe anything at all about God. We will be condemned! Faith is a serious matter. Let us be sure to put forth our utmost effort to accept all of the gospel and be faithful to our baptismal promises.