Catholics are unique in the fact that we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ formally every day in our daily Mass readings. Informally we proclaim Jesus working in us by our actions. People watch what you do and only partially what you say. Our mandate which is called the Great Commission is from Matthew 28:17-20.
When I was in College I thought classes is Marketing were boring. Honestly, I never thought I would ever use those marketing principles in real life. It would not be the first time that my words would be a meal for me. Saint Paul used those principles to spread the Gospel of Jesus. How do we sell or market that message to the world?
Our first reading from 1 Timothy uses words like, Christ Jesus our hope, faith, grateful, strength, ignorance in unbelief, grace and love. People are so very very busy today. Even a retiree like myself is busy. We are not the first generation to be busy and have many things on our plate. Our Saint for the Day is Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. He was born in 349 AD and died in 407 AD. This was a time much like today that had eccleiastical and political corruption. There were many challenges in his day. We also have challenges to answer the ignorance of this world with belief.
Again, how do we market Christ’s message to the world? We do it like all Saint John Chrysostom and all the other saints of the past by our deeds. In our Gospel Can a blind person guide a blind person? No! The process begins with us. We have to take that beam from our eyes and look at every encounter with another human as a way to proclaim the gospel.
Last Sunday afternoon my wife, Anna, and I were in a local grocery store and as I paid for my purchase I thanked the cashier for working on Sunday. You could see the stress in her eyes from a long day at work. My wife and I have both worked shift work on many Sundays in our lives. Anna was a nurse and I worked for the Postal Service. It is the Lord’s Day but we both know that certain things need to be done everyday including Sunday. Earlier that same day we were both at breakfast after Mass and 12 fireman were eating when all of a sudden an alarm went off on their phone and 6 of them got up and left because of an emergency call. They left their meals. I offered to pay for part of their meal and the owner of the restaurant said that someone else had all ready beat me to it. We thanked both the cashier and the firemen for being there when we need them.
We market the gospel by our deeds. Showing our faith, being grateful, love and hope must be spread by our actions. The firemen are always stressed from their occupation but I could see stress in the cashier’s eyes, a deep sigh and the lack of a smile. We never know how our actions spread or market the Gospel but people do watch what we do. We spread the Gospel by showing people that they were noticed and appreciated and loved. This is the message of the Gospel and our Commission.
God Bless you always
Bob Burford
PS: Please pray for the people of the Bahamas.
