Take a step back and think about your own journey to Christ. What has the Lord used to draw you closer to Him?
For me, good books have played a big part. So has Scripture — when I finally dug into it. The sacraments, of course. But before all of that, there was something else. Something more ordinary.
Friendship.
I’m a cradle Catholic, but it was in college that my faith really became my own. In my junior year, I started to actually live, or at least strive to live, the faith I professed to believe. And it was a few key relationships that made the difference. A mentor who recommended a book that was the spark for a lot of things. A friend who challenged the way I was living as a 21-year-old college student. My friendship with the young woman who would become my wife, who drew me closer to daily Mass.
Francis Fernandez puts it plainly: “Friendship is the ordinary means God uses to draw many people to Him, or for them to discover their call to follow Christ more closely.”
I think this checks out. In the Church we sometimes dress it up — evangelization, discipleship, accompaniment. And those aren’t wrong. But at the end of the day, it’s living life with people. Sharing life. Sharing faith. Sharing what the Lord has done for us.
That’s the ordinary means. And it’s available to all of us, every day.
Let us pray. Lord, thank You for the friends You’ve used to draw us closer to You. Help us to be that for someone else. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us.
