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Gospel: Matthew 11: 25-27
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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A number of studies have suggested that the primary reason why Catholics do not share their faith is out of … fear.
There’s the fear of inability, the feeling that we do not know enough about our faith in order to explain it convincingly to others.
The fear of rejection. Deep down, aren’t we all afraid of being turned down? How much deeper does that fear run when we try sharing our faith, the deepest part of ourselves?
And the fear of failure. Such a fear leads to a variety of missed opportunities – not only in terms of relationships, our career, or life-experience, but also in bringing others to Jesus.
Yet we all want to draw our loved ones closer to the Lord.
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So, how do we overcome this?
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While some may find it hard to understand Scripture, or difficult to explain its relevance to our daily lives, the best evangelists are the ones who simply live their faith.
Think of people like Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day. They did nothing extraordinary in the world’s eyes – they clothed and fed the poor. Yet who has not been inspired by their example?
Or Saint John Vianney. He had to overcome multiple obstacles in order to be ordained a priest. He would’ve been the first person to tell you how difficult Latin and theology came to him.
Yet he transformed a large swath of Catholic Europe just by sitting in the confessional for 16 hours a day.
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While fear is something we all experience – certainly when trying to share our faith – some of the world’s greatest evangelists were ordinary people who changed people’s hearts, not by eloquence or persuasive arguments, but by love.
They were the “childlike,” the innocent ones, whom Jesus blesses in today’s Gospel.
This is, perhaps, what God is asking from all of us – to share the Good News by living simply and loving deeply. As the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.”
Be kind. Love your neighbor. God will do the rest.
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Image credits: (1) Inc. Magazine (2) Cato Institute (3) Linton Free Church