A few months ago I was sitting in a room in my house and I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye. I looked again, and there was a black ant crawling across the rug. I got him and put him out of the house. Well, a little after I sat back down, I noticed another movement. Another ant. Hmm, I thought, don’t tell me. I stopped and just stared still at the rug, waiting to see how many “movements” my eye would catch. There was another one, and another one. You know what, the whole family was on a little field trip through the dining room and into the kitchen. Well, after I did the 6-step ant stomp, I thought, now I’m with St. Francis in loving the ant the least of all animals. He loved them least because they stored up in the summer in preparation for winter. And now they were doing it in my home!
They had found a nice little food source in the kitchen and their day out led them from a corner of the house to the kitchen and back. Well, a visit to doyourownpestcontrol.com and a few days later and the buggers haven’t been seen again.
Then a week or so ago, I’m at the kitchen sink, and a little tiny ant comes out from the sponge. Then another on the edge of the sink, then another … yes, now the little guys were having a field trip. They found a nice spot of sticky stuff and the whole clan was out for a taste. Well, I put an end to their picnic. And after another visit to doyourownpestcontrol.com and those guys now are AWOL too.
How do so many ants find the good stuff?
Well, it only takes one. Once an ant finds some good stuff, he feeds on it and goes back to the nest. On his way back, he leaves a trail. When he gets to the nest, he’s full of the good stuff, he shares some with the other ants back at the nest, they get excited, and they want some too. So, they follow the trail back to the motherload. And viola, field trip is in progress.
All it takes is one ant to find the good stuff and bring a taste to others, and all the ants come and get it!
Just one ant!
Now, why am I talking about ants, the animal that Francis loved the least?
Well, one time when the Lord traveled across the Sea of Galilee, He met a man who had a lot junk going on in his life. He had a lot of demons and was out searching. When He encountered Jesus, He healed him, and after that He told the healed man, “Go into your house to your friends, and tell them how great things the Lord has done for you, and has had mercy on you.” (Mk 5:19)
The man went his way, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men wondered. (Mk 5:20)
You know, when Jesus returned a short time later, the whole Decapolis came to meet Him: And when Jesus and His disciples were gone out of the boat, immediately the crowd knew him: And running through that whole country, they began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. (Mk 6:54-55)
It was one man, giving witness to what God had done for him, the mercy God had had on him. And the whole countryside came to Jesus.
Now, here’s the point. What draws people to God? What brings people into His house, the Church? It’s not theology. It’s not explanations or presentations of true doctrine. Not apologetics. It’s not sound moral instruction or warnings, not spiritual wisdom or insight. It’s not the book called the Bible. It’s not exciting events. It’s not feel-good social time or catchy music or advertising or good church bulletins. Many people have gone these routes to bring people into their community with little fruits from their labors. What is it, then? What is the thing that doesn’t just bring a few people into the Church, but brings in whole towns?
It’s a person. A person who’s experienced the mercy of God. It’s a person who has found the Motherload of Mercy, has feasted on it and leaves a trail to it, a person who exudes it and gives it out to everyone he meets. “You give them something to eat.” (Mk 6:37)
It’s a witness of Divine Mercy.
All the Lord needs is one person to fill His Church and change a whole town, just one person.
Will it be you?
ALM 