“How to Become an Annoying Catholic”

Part of it is to “smile and be merry.” (see the meme!)  But there’s some more great advice from Emily Stimpson at CatholicVote, who includes this timeless advice: “Love.”

A snip:

After writer Andrew Sullivan was diagnosed with AIDS, he was shocked when Pat Buchanan sent him a kind note, saying how very sorry he was to hear the news and promising to remember Andrew in prayer. At that moment, Sullivan came to understand that “Love the sinner, hate the sin” isn’t just a saying for many Christians; it’s a way of life.

Be that Christian.

Love everyone. Smile at the clerk in the grocery store. Visit the elderly neighbor up the street. Give to the poor. Talk to the homeless. Call your mom. Babysit your best friend’s kids so she can take a nap. Make a meal for the lesbian at work whose partner just died. Send a note of congratulations to your socialist cousin who just earned his Ph.D. Tell your pro-choice college roommate who’s struggling with infertility that you’re praying for her. Praise the hard work of the gay couple that runs your favorite coffee shop.

Gay, straight, rich, poor, young, old, liberal, conservative, stranger, family—it doesn’t matter. Do unto others. You know the rest.

Read it all.  It’s a keeper.