Faith Shared is Faith Strengthened

Beginning in October of 2012 and concluding on the Feast of Christ the King 2013 the universal Church is celebrating a Year of Faith.  This year is also tied closely to the mandate to evangelize and, in the Archdiocese of Boston, to The New Evangelization. 

Pope Benedict XVI, in his message for World Youth Day 2013, addresses this connection.  He reminds, not only youth, but every believer, that we are responsible to spread the Good News in whatever way we can.

The Church, in continuing this mission of evangelization, is also counting on you. Dear young people, you are the first missionaries among your contemporaries!

Basic to this concept of mission is what the Holy Father calls “our personal journey of faith.”  Conversion and the acceptance of the Gospel message both begin with the “evangelizers” themselves.  It is our personal relationship with Christ that forms the bond that enables us to share what we have been given in an authentic manner, since we have already made it our own.

What does it mean to be a missionary? Above all, it means being a disciple of Christ. It means listening ever anew to the invitation to follow him and look to him: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Mt 11:29). A disciple is a person attentive to Jesus’ word (cf. Lk10:39), someone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Teacher who has loved us so much that he gave his life for us. Each one of you, therefore, should let yourself be shaped by God’s word every day. This will make you friends of the Lord Jesus and enable you to lead other young people to friendship with him.

Faith shared is indeed faith strengthened.  As we celebrate Thanksgiving, may our faith be first on the list of those gifts for which we are most grateful.

-Rev. Rodney J. Copp, JCL