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Tag: Witnessing

  • To bring others closer to the Lord

    To bring others closer to the Lord

    January 22, 2021 – Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012221.cfm)

    An encounter with the Lord leads to discipleship and to be on mission. This is message for us today. But for us to grasp better the message, let us make a step by step discovery.

    First, the call or the invitation is God’s initiative. It means that it is God who calls us and God chooses us to be His servant, to be his disciple. God’s way of choosing is not through the wealth we gathered, or how much power and influence we possessed. God calls us when we are open to him regardless of our profession, status and state in life. This is how Jesus summoned the ordinary 12 disciples and then sent them to proclaim the kingdom and free people from the slavery of sin and evil.

    Second, we need the help of our family, friends, and community to lead us to God. An encounter with God, though that can be very personal but it is essentially always in the context of the community. Thus, seek the help of others. It will be easier for us to recognize God when we have a friend who will help us to see God.

    Third, our God-experience or personal encounter with God is the most wonderful experience we will ever have. Because it is so wonderful that we cannot just keep it by ourselves. Our encounter with God leads us to action – it leads us to follow the Lord and leads us to tell others about what we have seen, heard, felt, and experienced with God. The 12 apostles’ personal encounter with Jesus led them to this point where that encounter moved them to action to become healers, witnesses and preachers.

    Each of us today, whoever we are and wherever we are, as Christians we are called to preach Christ, to preach the Gospel by our life that we may become agents of healing and reconciliation, and bring other people closer to God. This is what it means to become an apostle.

    May we always remember this and become true Christians in the way we live our life, in the way we perform our work and in the way we relate with others and with one another so that we who have experienced God’s goodness will also become instruments in bringing other people closer to God. Hinaut pa.

  • When the Lord opens our heart

    When the Lord opens our heart

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    May 17, 2020 – Monday of the 6th Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051820.cfm)

    “Lydia” is a very popular name among women. Lydia with its Greek origin, actually means “kind.” And among the many Lydias I met, there was one particular Lydia that I could not forget.

    I met “Nanay Lydia,” as what she was commonly called by many, in one of my mission areas when I was still a seminarian. Nanay Lydia was a simple old woman, widowed but surrounded by her children and grandchildren who loved he very much. Despite her poverty, she was the first one to offer her humble home to accommodate us, missionaries.

    It was in her home that I experienced, that joy and contentment in life is very possible even with less material things but filled with love. She was very much cherished by her children and grandchildren. She was highly respected by their neighbors. And as I stayed in her humble house for few days, I received so much kindness from her.

    “Kindness expressed in her grateful response to people around her was her way of life.”

    This attitude from Nanay Lydia is found in her knowledge of the Lord. Her knowledge of the Lord was not out of theological studies but through her experiences of pain and joy, sorrow and comfort, and of death and life. And according to her, she brought all these experiences always into her prayers. This was how she would see things clearly, feel and be comforted of God’s presence in her life. Through her prayers, she listened to God, who also opened her heart.

    This woman reminds me of another Lydia, whom the Acts of the Apostles speaks today. Lydia was one of the women who listened to Paul’s preaching. She was particularly described as a God-fearing woman. However, what was more interesting was her attitude to Paul’s preaching. She listened.

    She welcomed what Paul was saying and by doing that, the Lord opened her heart. It was not her who opened her heart to the Lord. That small inclination from her “in listening” allowed the Lord to come into her heart and opened her heart.

    And when the Lord opened her heart, she began to see clearly how God worked in her life through the preaching of Paul. As a response, she asked for baptism, meaning, she wanted to commit her life to the Lord who opened her heart. Her commitment now was transformed into a generous and grateful action. She welcomed the Apostles, Paul and his companions into her home.

    This is how the Gospel of John is being unfolded to us today also. The Spirit of Truth that Lydia received made her a witness of God’s kindness. Because of the kindness that she experienced from Jesus, reflected in her name, Lydia, she too was inspired to become a witness of that kindness. Her generous and hospitable action to Paul and his companions was a grateful response to God’s kindness.

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    This is the invitation for us today. We are also called to allow the Lord to open our hearts. It is when we listen to God speaking to us through our Sacraments in the Church, through the Bible, through our experiences and daily affairs with the world, that we allow God to challenge us to see God’s surprises in our life.

    Hopefully, as we allow God to open our heart, then, we too will be moved to become a witness of God’s kindness, or goodness or faithfulness to others. Thus, let that be expressed in our actions and words as we struggle today to live in this prolonged community quarantine. This kind of witnessing is very much needed today. This very difficult situation may inspire us then, to become true witnesses of the Resurrected Christ. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

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