As the new school year began I had my first evening Mass at
St. Scholastica last night. While
there I met a woman from Zimbabwe named Evangelista and was reaffirmed in my
love for African names. Each time
this young woman hears her name she is reminded of our most basic task as
Christians—to spread the Gospel.
This
is what Jesus came to do. In
Capernaum the people held onto him having seen his miracles and heard his
teachings. Yet Jesus told them, “To the other towns also
I
must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because
for this purpose I have been sent…”
We
see a successful evangelist in St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians as
well. We don’t know much about
this man—Epaphras—but we do know he was crucial in the building of the Church
in Colossae: “Just as in the whole world [the
Gospel] is bearing fruit and growing, so also among you, from the day you
heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth, as
you learned it from Epaphras…”
In
the final weeks of summer we saw evangelism take place here at St. John's, though many of
you were probably unaware of it happening. Remember the four or five high school students who came to
daily Mass? One of them had never
been to Mass before, and thanks to one of our kids invitation she began
coming! That is evangelism.
Today
we pray for the grace to be prepared to spread the Gospel. May God give us opportunities to
witness to Him in our words and actions.
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