In Response to an Anonymous Poster

 This post is in response to an anonymous poster who wrote in my blog. According to his/her comment, which can be found here:

AnonymousJuly 14, 2024 at 12:56 PM

Everything you mentioned are things anyone can do even if they’re not walking in the Way. So, what makes you unique?

That is true. Anyone can bring flowers to the altar. Anyone can set up to make the place of the celebration beautiful. But how many of us can stop making judgments or take criticisms? The Neocatechumenal Way is an itinerary of Catholic formation at the service of the bishop as one of the diocesan ways of implementing Christian initiation and ongoing education in the faith. It is one of the many organizations in the Catholic Church that brings our conversion. 

Conversion takes place in a community. In the Way, it is no secret that we decorate the altar with flowers, but one would be surprised to find that the brothers can judge others over flowers. We cannot please everyone. Some people will say that the flowers on the altar is very little and more flowers are needed. Others will say that we put too many flowers on the altar that it looks like a jungle.  We can never please anyone. Nevertheless, comments like these can hurt the person who spent much time and effort arranging the flowers. One person I know took the judgment personally that she retaliated. This is a human reaction. Later, she returned to apologize for the outburst. Another person I know took the criticism with humility. She thanked the person for the judgement. Most people do not react that way. We can only say that she found the Holy Spirit to take the judgment with humility. As for the person making the judgment, I am certain that the humble gratitude shown may have made her think twice about her judging attitude the next time around. 

The Neocatechumenal Way is one of the many organizations in the Catholic Church to help people have a closer relationship with Christ and to convert. God said, "Be holy for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). Holiness is possible only with God. The holy saints in Heaven were once sinners like us. Therefore, it is possible that sinners like us can one day become holy saints like them. The Way is not for everyone. But God has created many organizations within His Church to help His people convert and be closer to Christ. 

Furthermore, our duty as baptized Catholics is to share the gospels to everyone so they can also come to know Jesus Christ. We have seen the miracles in our history, and we share our testimonies during evangelization.