Many experiences have served to form my faith over my lifetime. Attending Catholic schools, being an alter server while in grammar school, the Marist brothers who taught religion, the Neuman Center at Southern Illinois University and at the University of Illinois. Attending Cursillo 5 years ago. There has been no one thing that I can point to that I can say THIS was IT. It has been like climbing flights of stairs with each level allowing me to see farther out towards the horizon.
I can also point to reading as a key element to my formation in the faith. Obviously the scriptures play a huge role but so does reading books recounting the faith journeys of others. I think some of us are moved by facts in these stories and others by the stories themselves. One book that really struck a cord with me is the book, A Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel. Briefly, the story goes that Lee was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and a devout atheist, as was his wife. They had one child at this time in their lives. One evening they were out to dinner and their daughter chocked on a piece of food and was close to dying. A stranger at the table near them dislodged the food and saved her life. Mrs. Strobel commented on how lucky it was that the woman was there at that particular time. The woman responded that it was God who put her there. Continued contact with this woman resulted in Mrs. Strobel’s conversion to Christianity. But not Lee. And the divergence of their beliefs threatened their marriage.
Lee then took it upon himself as a reporter and researcher to prove this Christian thing wrong and, in the process, discovered the facts that led to its truth. The truth of the resurrection, on which EVERYTHING hinged. He also converted to Christianity, served as a pastor at Willow Creek Church (a mega church in the Chicago area) and finally as a speaker and apologist for the faith.
Mrs. Strobel’s conversion took place because of a story. The saving of her child and the witness of the person who was at the right place at the right time. And Lee was saved by the facts. He approached it in the way that best resonated with him. He interviewed people who convinced him of the resurrection and the truth that Jesus Christ was God. It took people with different skills to come into the lives of Lee and his wife so that they could see out towards the horizon to begin their walk with God.
And this is what today’s readings are calling us to be. The world cannot believe if they do not hear. And they cannot hear if people don’t preach. And people cannot preach unless they are sent. WE are those that are sent, are we not? Even in just the reaches of our Catholic Moment community, we stretch around the globe. To the far reaches of the earth. Where we can live our lives as beacons of God’s word. By not being afraid to say grace in a public place. By being willing to say Christ is God and you believe because he rose from the dead. By telling of the empty tomb, how women (not well respected in Jewish culture) were given the place in the story as being the first to see the risen Christ. How many hundreds saw the resurrected Jesus. And how the apostles gave their lives for HIM. They gave up the things that tied them to their Jewish culture and the support that goes with it. And many were martyred for their beliefs. Not something most would do for a lie.
On Tuesday our pastor talked about the things today that function as lamps that light up the path to belief in God and to eternal life. The scriptures and the Church. The sacraments. But also each one of us. We are the lamps with our stories, with the facts that we have come to understand and with the way we live our lives. Jesus chose simple fishermen as His first disciples. If he were here today would he choose accountants, IT people, engineers, homemakers? In fact He IS here. He is choosing airline pilots, doctors, actors, singers, politicians and athletes. He is choosing US to carry His word as preachers to the ends of the earth. To tell our stories to those we meet. To tell HIS story. To be a lifesaver, an eternal lifesaver, to someone in need.
