Ordinary Time - Week 05b
Spreading the truth
(From Conversation with God, Fernandez Carvajal)As on so many occasions, Jesus rose early in the morning and went outside the city to pray. The apostles found him there and said to him, Everyone is searching for you. And Our Lord answered them, Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.
Christ's mission is that of spreading the Gospel, of taking the Good News to the very ends of the earth, through the Apostles and Christians of all times. This is the mission of the Church, which thus carries out Our Lord's command: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole of creation. The Acts of the Apostles give many details of that first evangelisation. On the day of Pentecost itself, Saint Peter preaches the divinity of Jesus Christ, his redeeming Death, and his glorious Resurrection. Saint Paul, quoting the Prophet Isaiah, exclaims enthusiastically, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! The Second Reading of the Mass tells us of the joyful responsibility of announcing the truth that saves: If I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! Using the words of Saint Peter, the Church has often reminded the faithful that God calls them to make use of every opportunity to spread Christ's doctrine everywhere.
Saint John Chrysostom anticipated all the possible excuses for not carrying out this most gratifying obligation. There is, he wrote, nothing colder than a Christian who is unconcerned about the salvation of others. Do not say ‘I am unable to help them', for if you are truly a Christian it is impossible for you to make such an admission. The properties of natural things cannot be denied them: the same thing happens with this affirmation, for it is in the nature of a Christian to act in this way. It is easier for the sun to fail to give its light or its heat than for a Christian to cease to give light and warmth; it would be easier for light to be darkness. Do not say that the thing is impossible; what is impossible is the opposite. If we order our conduct aright, everything else will follow as a natural consequence. The light of Christians cannot be hidden; a light that shines so brightly cannot be concealed.
Let us ask ourselves whether, in our own environment, in the place where we live and work, we are being true transmitters of the faith; whether we bring our friends to receive the sacraments more frequently. Let us examine ourselves as to whether we feel the urgency of the apostolate as one of the demands of our vocation; whether we feel the same responsibility as those first Christians did, because the need today is no less great. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!