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On this Feast of the Epiphany, we realize and celebrate the Magi who represent different nations coming to experience Christ the Newborn King. That He would become the ruler.

We hear in the Psalm today, “Lord, every nation on Earth will adore you.” That was the prophecy coming from the Psalms way back when Christ was born.

 “Every nation on Earth will adore you.”  And, 2,000 years later, it is true.

Every nation in this world has a Catholic in it. Throughout the entire world, there are nations populated with Catholics. God’s Word is being fulfilled right now in our midst.

Sometimes we can lose sight of that. We think in our country, “Oh it is so bad, we are losing the Catholic population. The Faith is decreasing.”  If we look at the entire world, Faith is exploding. Every single nation and this country is adoring God.

One of my spiritual directors who I go on my annual retreat with is Monsignor Esseff. He lives in Scranton, Ohio. Monsignor Esseff was a spiritual director to Mother Teresa. He would talk about the times that he would meet with Mother Teresa. One of the things she said to Monsignor Esseff (sometimes she would direct him) was, “You need to have a map or a globe in your office.”

He would look at her and ask, “What do you mean by that?” She said, “You need to use the map or a globe as a sacramental to realize that God has spoken, and we are called to be present to all nations throughout the. It has become a sacramental for me.

It has become a realization that I am called to minister to all of you here in Mentor, Ohio, at St. Gabriel’s Parish. I am also called to be a light to all the world.

It is so amazing that we can actually do that today. Some of you may know that I use social media a lot. I am on Facebook and Twitter and all that stuff. There are people from all over the world who view that media. Father Jeremy and I do a show on Monday nights on Facebook.

There are people from countries I never have even heard of sometimes watching the show. It is absolutely amazing.

Sometimes we can get discouraged.  Sometimes we can think, St. Gabriel’s might be shrinking or our families and their children away from the faith are. In the United States, the Catholic population is shrinking, but it is exploding around the world. Sometimes we have to keep a look at a perspective of that global picture.

There is actually only one country right now where the Catholic Faith is not present. Anybody know where it is?  Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is the one country where they cannot practice the Catholic Faith or they will be persecuted. The only ones that can actually practice the Faith there are immigrants.

Workers from the Philippines that are coming in to work there. There is even a Catholic population in Saudi Arabia. There are almost one million Filipinos who are coming into Saudi Arabia to work. Every nation on Earth will adore God.

The Faith is booming.

Do not be discouraged.  But, also realize that we are called to be a part of this growth.

We are called to take this Faith out into our world, into our office, into our workplace, into Mentor, into wherever you go. We are called to take this Faith.

You, too, are part of God’s plan of spreading the Faith throughout the world so ultimately, Lord, every nation on Earth will adore you.