A few years ago, a well-known motel chain came up with a TV ad campaign that showed a porch light on and the words, “Come home to us, we’ll leave the light on for you.”
It’s was an effective approach because it appealed to something so basic to most folks — returning home and being welcomed, accepted and embraced.
Also, at schools and colleges, one of the best and most-welcomed times is home-coming weekend. Students and families sometimes bond together and actually enjoy one another more than ever.
During these early days of autumn, even before the leaves really change their colors, some good Catholic people of different ages might consider “coming home” to practicing the faith and being present at weekend Mass.
As far as being Church, it is so true that we look our best and are the better when more of us are present to each other and present to the Word of God and the sacraments of our precious faith. People carry in their heart and mind their memory and experiences different things that have kept them absent and away from the household of faith and the Mass. Some excuses are very shallow; some are serious.
But coming home to weekend Mass and participating with brothers and sisters who share the faith might need just one step — or a short drive and just one hour that can make a big difference for the whole week.
Is that something you might encourage friends or family to try?
Last fall, one young woman returned, and 20 minutes into the sacred liturgy she thought, “Lord, it’s good for me to be here.”
The light isn’t the porch light of the motel commercial; it is of course the light of the wisdom of God’s Word we hear and the splendor of the sacrament of the altar that is shared in Communion.