Double Dog Dare of the Week: The Power of the Invitation

The slogan/mission statement of this newsletter is “A Catholic Retreat in Your Inbox”.

Since Our Lady of the Fields Camp is a Catholic Retreat Center, my mission with Life’s Joyful Mystery is to recreate the feeling you get when you go on a spiritual retreat.

Of course, this is an email newsletter and trying to capture the spirit of an in-person retreat is very difficult.

However, this is what I keep asking the Lord to help me accomplish each week. If He can multiply the fishes and the loaves to feed the masses, making you feel like you’ve been on a retreat after reading this newsletter should be a piece of cake! (For Him!)

As I see it, one of the goals of a spiritual retreat is to open your heart to Jesus and let Him fill you with His love. In turn, you can share that love with those around you.

So, how can we translate this ideal through the medium of an email?

One idea is to start taking action. Each week, I will offer you a challenge that you can work on that will help spread the love of Christ. I firmly believe that if you share these challenges with God, He will present you with opportunities to put your faith into practice.

I will call these challenges the “Double Dog Dare of the Week”!

So, here is our very first Double Dog Dare:

One of the things I’ve always admired about Jesus is that He wants everyone to join Him. He doesn’t discriminate. In fact, He often sought out the folks on the edges of society to spend time with. In this day and age, that’s not so easy. We all lead incredibly busy lives with endless responsibilities and expectations upon us. It’s difficult just making it through the day sometimes. So, reaching out to others is tough.

However, Double Dog Dares are not supposed to be easy or comfortable!

This week, I’d like you to pray that God would present you with an opportunity to invite someone to go to Mass or a Bible study with you, or even just grab a cup of coffee where you can gently share your heart with them. To be clear: I’m not talking about any kind of hard sell. Try to invite someone in your life who you think may be in need of some loving attention.

I remember that many years ago, someone invited me to lunch, someone I respected, and before the meal, the man paused to say Grace. I had never prayed in a restaurant before. The act of saying Grace in public really made a positive impression on me and instantly formed a bond between me and this man. I felt closer to God as a result. This happened maybe 15 or 20 years ago, and I still remember how moved I felt at that moment.

I believe that if you open the door, the Holy Spirit will do the rest of the work.

I call this challenge “The Power of the Invitation”.

Go ahead, give it a try. I double dog dare you!