28 Apr 2015
[Scripture Readings: Acts 11:19-26; Ps 87:1b-7; John 10:22-30]
Jesus says: “The works I do in my Father’s name testify to
me.” In other words, “Actions speak
louder than words.” When the scattered
disciples of Jesus spread the gospel to the Gentiles and all those thousands of
people were converted, the disciples’ actions spoke volumes about who they
were. They were disciples filled with
the true Spirit of the One God. The
actions of their lives were proof enough that they were, indeed, Christians.
On Sunday we heard about the value of commitment; commitment
to God and our faith. Yesterday, we
heard about the catholic, universal, non-discriminating love of God. And today, we hear about the value of our
deeds. Just like the Jews who, in
effect, said to Jesus: “Prove that you’re the Messiah,” some people will say to
us: “Prove you’re a Christian.” And we
do that by our deeds, by how we live our life.
The most important “work” of the Christian is to love God and
be loved by God in return. That’s the
commitment we heard about on Sunday. The
second most important “work” of the Christian is to love our neighbors in a
truly catholic, non-discriminating spirit.
It isn’t about how much we do; it’s about the quality and depth of real
love that we put into all we do.
At work, in the office, in the home, in the parish, we prove
our Catholic Christian spirit by how we love others. And it’s not necessarily in big, grandiose
ways. In fact, it’s hardly ever
that. More usually, it’s in little ways:
patience, listening, a word of encouragement, taking an extra minute or two to
talk with someone and see how they’re doing.
That’s how the Church grows in the day-to-day world: by showing to
others the concrete love of the risen Jesus, one person and a time. And that’s how we show we are Catholic
Christians.
Jesus says: “The works I do in my Father’s name testify to
me.” And, hopefully, we can say: “The
works I do in Jesus’ name testify that I am, indeed, a Catholic Christian.”
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