NOT WITH WORDS BUT WITH DEEDS
Tuesday in the 2nd Week of Lent
Mt 23:1-12
The best preacher is the best witness. The best homily is the preacher’s life. The best pulpit is the here and now. In “Evangelium Nuntiandi”, Pope Paul VI wrote, “Modern man no longer listens to teachers but to witnesses. And if he listens to teachers, it is because they are first witnesses.”
The perennial challenge for us who call our selves “Christians” is to maintain a positive relationship between our preaching and our living. We cannot expect others to believe what we preach when our lives do not reflect what we teach. We cannot lead others by mere words, no matter how inspiring, eloquent, and truthful they are. We lead others by the lives we lead. One of the sharpest blows we, Christians, received from a non-believer came from a man we greatly admire, Mohandas K. Gandhi. Once, when asked by a member of the press why he did not convert to Christianity, Gandhi replied, “If you, Christians, would live like Christ, then I would have been a Christian myself.”
A woman came to me one day, worried over her friend’s joining a non-Catholic group. “What must I do to save my friend,” she consulted me. I said, “You see, the more essential question is not what you must do but what you must be.” Seemingly puzzled, she asked, “You mean to say, I should not do anything to save my friend?” I answered, “Christ already save your friend. What you must be is a good practicing Catholic in word and deed. It is not a matter of what you do but what you are.”
We are prophets by virtue of baptism. We are meant to preach. But the best preaching we do is not with words but with deeds. Have we preached to someone today? How?
Mt 23:1-12
The best preacher is the best witness. The best homily is the preacher’s life. The best pulpit is the here and now. In “Evangelium Nuntiandi”, Pope Paul VI wrote, “Modern man no longer listens to teachers but to witnesses. And if he listens to teachers, it is because they are first witnesses.”
The perennial challenge for us who call our selves “Christians” is to maintain a positive relationship between our preaching and our living. We cannot expect others to believe what we preach when our lives do not reflect what we teach. We cannot lead others by mere words, no matter how inspiring, eloquent, and truthful they are. We lead others by the lives we lead. One of the sharpest blows we, Christians, received from a non-believer came from a man we greatly admire, Mohandas K. Gandhi. Once, when asked by a member of the press why he did not convert to Christianity, Gandhi replied, “If you, Christians, would live like Christ, then I would have been a Christian myself.”
A woman came to me one day, worried over her friend’s joining a non-Catholic group. “What must I do to save my friend,” she consulted me. I said, “You see, the more essential question is not what you must do but what you must be.” Seemingly puzzled, she asked, “You mean to say, I should not do anything to save my friend?” I answered, “Christ already save your friend. What you must be is a good practicing Catholic in word and deed. It is not a matter of what you do but what you are.”
We are prophets by virtue of baptism. We are meant to preach. But the best preaching we do is not with words but with deeds. Have we preached to someone today? How?
posted by Fr. Bobby @ 4:00 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
HiFatherBob,
I just like to ask where your parish is?And when do you hold confession?
Confused
Hi Confused,
I would like to reply in behalf of Father Bob. Our parish is the Archideosan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located at 1923 La Consolacion St, Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati City. If you know the street where the MMDA head office is located (along EDSA) just go straight there and you will find our church.
Masses are at weekdays 6am, 12nn and 6:30pm, Saturday anticipated mass is at 6:30pm. Sunday masses starts at 5:30am to 9pm.
God bless,
Bubut
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