Become a witness to God’s love

In seeing what is happening all around us, we may wonder where God is. There have been moments throughout history that make that question even more present. In 1956, Pope Pius XXII invoked the name of God crying out: “God, God, God! as he witnessed the invasion of Hungary. That cry for God then mobilized many Catholics to commit themselves to live the Gospel wherever they were, thus offering God the possibility to “return” into society. To strive to live like the first Christians, witnessing the living presence of God. 

This cry “God, God, God” is resonating also today, strongly calling all of us to become missionaries, who with our lives can bring back God everywhere, in hospitals, police precincts, schools, farm fields, factories, corporate offices, homes and military bases. 

In his Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium,” Pope Francis shared his profound desire: “I dream of a missionary Church.” I share in the same dream. 

As your bishop, I call everyone to be missionary today. That is to become witnesses of God’s love and presence to the world surrounding us. We can all do it: once we have become children of God, we are also asked to bring his love to everyone. We are all called to be “missionary,” on a special mission, sent out. The vocation of every Christian is first to be deeply rooted in a life with God, to go out towards other people, seeing in them brothers and sisters in Christ, and announce the good news of the Gospel with our lives and actions, and if necessary, with words too. 

But how can we do so, you may ask? 

We become witnesses when we make Jesus’ lifestyle our own – having an attitude of acceptance and sharing with the people we meet every day; in our family or at work when studying or relaxing. It means having at heart the plan of God for all people — to live as one family. We are here, to be “missionary” addressing the errors that abound among us through our witness. We are also called to go beyond the mentality of comfort in our clubs, groups, associations and organizations. We are called to go beyond ourselves. We are invited to go out to those who don’t come and sit with us at Sunday Mass. They too thirst for truth and meaning; they also are calling out for God. 

During the Solemnity of Corpus Christi this year we had an opportunity to do so. It is still vivid in my mind – the faces of the homeless who made the sign of the cross as we “walked” with Jesus in the Eucharist through our city. The image of the prisoners at the county jail who enthusiastically banged on their windows to make us know that they too were present and wanting to receive God’s blessing and our love in prayers. 

We realized the power of unity among us and unity in God. We saw how strong we are when we are together, helping one another, praying for one another. That night we had confirmation that united in the Eucharist a small amount of leaven can be effective on the streets of a city.