We are all called to Mission that is to proclaim the Good News to all we meet, not in a confrontational manner but to display the fruits of the Spirit so that all may see God working within your soul.
Many tend to think that evangelizing our Faith is the priority of our Priests and Religious and the missionaries sent out to far of lands. We forget that there is a responsibility for each of us to give the reasons for our joy as it says in Peter, "But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame."
But in order for us to spread the Good News, we must also live it, for to speak one thing and live another is to dishonour God and your calling, which will bring discredit not only to yourself but to all your brothers and sisters in Christ. So in order to be effective Christian examples we need to embrace and live obediently to what God teaches us through The Word and the Teachings of our Church. Anything less that this would make us hypocrites!
We have a responsibility to live fruitful lives of piety and obedience to one's station in life, for we are the face of Christ to all we meet in our communities and also within our families. Saint Francis of Assisi also warns us in our Christian walk, "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching." Saint Francis recognised the need to not only speak our Faith but to live it for Faith is not only words it is also action, as this great Saint said, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."
As Christians we are called to be holy examples with a human face of the joy that we have received from God and then to live this Grace within our daily lives. This is not to say we will not make mistakes, indeed we shall make mistakes but it should make us compassionate to others as fellow travelers on an often perplexing path. But we must also learn that in order to live our Faith effectively we must embrace and speak Gods Truth, which takes courage. For we must never capitulate our beliefs in order to go along with the pervading and corrupting influences of society, just so that we wont be thought 'judgemental'.
When we look at the lives of the Saints we can see that, our Saints were made of steely material, they were tough people who lived lives of extraordinary love and compassion without compromising the Truth of God's Word or the Teachings of the Church. They were not wishy washy in order to attain friends, they stood firm on the Truth alone sometimes at the cost of their lives.
Yet our Saints are beloved by us all, we are full of admiration when we look at the courage they displayed and their heroic virtues which they lived unashamedly. These heroic figures were not afraid of name calling or threats to their lives; they were not swayed by the latest 'fad' or another way of 'enlightened thinking'. For these courageous people held the pearl of great price and they made no concessions to 'worldly ways', but instead loved God which expressed itself in charity to all they met. As St, Francis once again says, "While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart."
It behooves us all to take a closer look at how our Saints lived their Faith and their love of God and Church. These great Saints also understood that any good they did had its source in God, therefore what could they claim for themselves, nothing. As that great Saint Teresa of Avila reminds us, "To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience." Through her words Teresa is teaching that we have all failed but that is not the end but merely the beginning of gaining wisdom which is expressed in sincere sorrow for the offences we have committed.
When we look to Jesus and the Saints without the sentimentality that sometimes pervades our thinking we realise that the Saints were made of stern stuff. We also learn to live in true obedience to our Heavenly Father by following the example of our Lord and Saviour. And Saint Teresa of Avila bears this out when she said, "We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness, we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble."
In order to be courageous and speak God's Truth unflinchingly we must understand that we are not placed on this earth to be amenable to every pervading fad or thought. As Christians we must not be fainthearted but instead to stand on Truth alone, lest we find ourselves living...a lie.
Peace of Christ to ALL
Copyright © 2006 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.
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