“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34
Once we have encountered God’s love in an authentic way, we cannot help but share that good experience with others. Simply put, God’s love makes us evangelizers.
And evangelizing is precisely what we find Paul and Barnabas trying to do in the first reading for this Sunday, which comes from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. As we find out, sharing the good news won’t always make us very popular.
The passage for this Sunday picks up the story as Paul and Barnabas are traveling to the city of Lystra. They had previously fled the city after a crowd attempted to stone them to death. Upon returning, Paul tried to encourage the Christians who still remained by saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships for us to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
With this in mind, we should not be surprised if people get mad at us for sharing the good news, just as Paul and Barnabas faced persecution for what they preached. It is one of the hardships Jesus said we would have to face. People simply do not like being told that they need to change, but that is exactly what the reality of our Lord’s Resurrection should compel each of us to do. As Saint Paul explains, “You must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).
If the Gospel calls us to be fully alive, then that means our sinful habits must die – a painful process that all of us naturally shy away from. So, how do we move from simply hearing the Good News toward letting it completely transform our lives and the lives of others? Love is how. Love must be at the heart of our efforts to evangelize. It must be our motive for sharing the Good News, as well as the method. Love must be the way we lead others to Christ.
Love must inform all of our actions and temper all of our conversations. Our words must be true, but not harsh, or else they will turn people away. Likewise, our words must be kind, but not untrue, or else they will lead people astray.
Above all, we must perform acts of charity alongside our preaching. Only acts of love will build the bridge by which our words can travel into the hearts of those who hear them. No one will listen to us unless we ourselves are living the message of the Gospel by loving one another.
Merciful Father, flood our hearts with the Love that raised your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ from the dead. Help us to share that good news with others through acts of kindness and words of truth. Amen, alleluia!
