Do you know someone who no longer comes to Mass? If you do, Bishop Robert Gruss wants you to start praying for that person’s return.
He wants you to pray for that person by name each day, along with any other family and friends who have fallen away or are lukewarm in their faith.
“There’s a real absence of certain age groups of persons … two generations,” Bishop Gruss shared with nearly 500 people gathered at St. Mary’s Cathedral. “In very few parishes do I see high school kids and their parents … junior high kids and their families. I want you to help me get all those people back.”
It begins with praying every single day for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives, he said. “Prayer works. It really works.”
Bishop Gruss then shared how we can pray for others: “Lord Jesus, you have made me your disciple. Send someone to me today who You know needs to return to the Church so I can help them … so I can be Your instrument.”
Speaking at the First Friday gathering on November 1, which also was the Solemnity of All Saints, Bishop Gruss said the saints should be our models. They went out and invited people into life with the Lord … and we, too, are all called to be saints.
“If we are going to be the Diocese which Christ calls us to be, we have to become the disciples he calls us to be … and that means we go out and seek the lost.”
Praying for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives, praying for family and friends who are away from or lukewarm in the faith, and asking the Lord to send someone to us with whom to share the faith are all ways in which we can seek the lost. Bishop Gruss also challenged us to extend an invitation to someone the Lord has placed on our hearts and minds.
“It takes courage to do this, folks,” Bishop Gruss said. “Are you ready to share your faith with someone the Lord sends to you or places on your heart?”
The conversation with Bishop Gruss will continue in December. All are invited to Mass at 11 a.m. on December 6 at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption, followed by 12 (noon) meatless lunch for $7 and an informal presentation by Bishop Gruss in the lower level of the Cathedral.
If you plan to come in December, consider asking the Lord if there is someone He would like you to invite to come with you!