The Right Bait

Doug Kephart had our admiration. In elementary school, Doug and his little sister spent the spring and summer digging for nightcrawlers after dark. They had a sign in their yard. Nightcrawlers for sale. And all the local fishermen would stop on their way to Lake Hendricks to get their bait.

I remember the teachers asking Doug, “How’s business?” Evidently, he was a pretty good entrepreneur. He was the first one in our little class of sixty-some students to have a car. Paid for by nightcrawler money. Years and years of nightcrawler money.


I’m thinking a lot about bait lately. Oh, not the kind that attracts fish. The kind that attracts men and women. The right bait for fishers of men, as Jesus called the disciples.


Because you and I - and all of the laity - are really in charge of bait. We live near the lake. We know what the fish (our family and friends) like. With a little effort, we can help the fishers of men (our bishops and priests) to have success.


Consider joining us in a novena for conversions, and ask God for His help in discerning the right bait – the right bait to catch lost souls.