One man told me his story of faith. When he joined the army they asked him his religion. He was not raised in any faith and told the recruiter that. The recruiter looked him over and said, You’re Black. I’m going to put you down as Baptist. That was just enough to get the man curious about religion which, after a long search, eventually led him to Catholicism. Jesus confronted his contemporaries because they were relying on their heritage, their ethnic group as the foundation of faith. They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said faith was not something you inherited but something you lived. We are experiencing the truth of that in our time when large numbers from groups that have been traditionally Catholic (Italians, Mexicans, Irish, etc.) are no longer practicing the faith. Our challenge is to help everyone have their own relationship with Christ whatever their background.
