Easter is a wonderful time for evangelization for two reasons*:
- Many people who are only kind of interested in religion the other 363 days of the year are on board for Christmas and Easter. Whether their Catholicism is cultural, or just a childhood habit, (or based on something else) God is glad to work with these times of special grace to bring people around to a deeper faith.
- You may be getting together with some of these people at family gatherings this week.
Be a little bold and think about what you can do to nudge things in the right direction.
- Most important, start by asking the Holy Spirit to help you recognize opportunities. God is always working in people’s hearts to bring them closer to himself, but He tends to use people like us to make that happen.
- You’re planning to go to Mass, right? Invite someone to go with you!
- Another thing you can do is to talk to your wonderful, holy children about Easter ahead of time. Make sure they have a good grasp of what Easter is all about and then they’ll be prepared to talk about it with others. Your fallen-away-Catholic uncle John may not be interested in having yet another religious discussion with you, but he’ll likely listen to his adorable nieces and nephews explain the art on the Easter placemats they made to decorate the dinner table.
- Some cousins at your family gathering may never have heard the Easter story, but by preparing the Easter baskets or Holy Treasure Hunt in the Holy Week Activities lesson, you’ll be able to inject a bit of the story into some fun family activities.
- I have no idea what God is calling you to do over Easter, but I do know that your witness, even in the smallest things, can have eternal effects for those you come in contact with over this holy weekend.
Family Formation 