'What's Next? Show Up!'
International speaker and author Katie Prejean McGrady began her second presentation to more than 220 Confirmation candidates from across the Diocese of Evansville on Feb. 9 by recalling something a young adult asked during Confirmation preparation several years ago.
“’OK … so we’re done with these classes, and the bishop is going to Confirm us. Then what? What’s next?’”
McGrady offered a simple answer. “Now comes the point where you are inspired to live your faith everywhere … every day. We are Catholic all day, every day,” she added. “We are called to be living witnesses.”
She travelled to Rome last year – at the invitation of the Vatican – to participate in a meeting about the Synod on Young People, which occurred in October 2018. “My roommate was from Communist China,” she said. “I met Kate from Belarus and James from India. I also met people from Egypt and Iraq. It was remarkable to see the glow of the universal Church.”
She used that story to transition into a thought from St. John Paul II: “If you are not present, then a part of the access to God is missing.”
“I want you to chew on that for weeks to come,” she told the candidates. “We as a Church suffer if you are not (present). So … what’s next for you? You show up and give of who you are. Show up!”
McGrady acknowledged that those in attendance are at a point where they are thinking about the future, about who and what they want to be. “We all want to be happy, satisfied and successful,” she said, “but nothing in this world will actually satisfy you forever. The things of this world are not bad, but they are not what we were made for.
“We’re made for greatness, holiness and to have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ,” she added.
McGrady asked the young people to remember the Gospel story about the man possessed by a “legion of demons.” “In those days, a legion of soldiers numbered 10,000; so this guy had a lot of demons. And Jesus exorcised all of them from him. If you recall the biblical story, they left the man and went into heard of swine, which ultimately went off a cliff and perished.”
She noted that the man asked to go with Jesus. “Jesus said no. He told the man, ‘go home and tell your friends what the Lord has done for you.’” She asked the candidates to live their own witness of what the Lord has done for them.
“Pay attention to the moment when the Lord is inviting you to be his hands and feet. And remember, Jesus loves a project!”
The Message photo by Tim Lilley
