Reflection for Wednesday, April 16, 2008: 4th week in Easter.
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Authors
Wirth, Eileen
Issue Date
2008-04-16
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Essay
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en_US
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Like a great many Catholics, I've always been uncomfortable wearing my religion on my sleeve . As a young religion reporter, I occasionally had to cover gatherings of Evangelicals who gave testimony and were in your face about whether you had been born again, accepted Jesus, etc.||The first time I heard people publicly confessing their sins and telling how they had found the Lord, I felt like I was watching them undress. When they would demand to know the state of my soul before I could interview them, I had to strongly resist the urge to say MYOB. It's just the way we were raised, I guess. |Today's reading from Acts about how Barnabas and Saul "proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues" makes me wonder how I would have responded to them. Probably a lot like I reacted to the people giving testimony. Most likely, I would have walked away, embarrassed for these nut cases.|Yet I believe as strongly as any Evangelical that Jesus is the light of the world who came to dispel our darkness. I believe all of us who share this belief have an obligation to help spread it. So how do we reconcile these two positions?|Today's reading from John offers a clue. "For I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world," Jesus says.|Surely there are many ways we can participate in that effort, most importantly by living the Gospel in our daily lives in countless small ways. If I am a Christian, I have to make an effort to forgive those who have hurt me and to seek forgiveness from those I have injured. I have to try to reach out to others in the ways that Jesus suggested through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.| I'll never be comfortable aggressively proclaiming my Christianity or trying to push it onto others. But surely Jesus will understand if I try to overcome my many weaknesses and live as someone who takes his teachings seriously.
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University Ministry, Creighton University.
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These reflections may not be sold or used commercially without permission. Personal or parish use is permitted.
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Lectionary number: 281