By Deacon Dan Dombrosky
Jesus isn’t asking us to be spectators, watching from the sidelines – we are participants, we are disciples, we are missionaries.
We are called to be: serving others, humbling ourselves, surrendering our will, sacrificing, deepening our faith and accepting the challenges God gives us.
Now, doing all these things are great… but it doesn’t mean a whole lot if we don’t do it with a smile on our face. Agree?
We defeat the purpose of serving others if we grumble and complain the whole time.
Father Mike Schmitz once mentioned in a talk that the way our faces look by the time we’re adults is our fault. Kind of a strange idea, right? But what he’s getting at is that we are in control of how our face looks — as in, if we are smiling or not.
The Catholic life isn’t one of misery and dread — it’s meant to be liberating and uplifting. Who is going to be attracted to the Church if Catholics look like they’re always going to a funeral?
Is it hard? Yes. Is it demanding? Yes. Can we accept the challenge with joy? Absolutely. Do Dad Jokes help? You bet they do.
So, help me put a smile on people’s faces – send me your best Catholic Dad Jokes at ddombrosky@saintfrancischurch.org . It might end up in a future bulletin or maybe even in a Father’s Day homily…