Wednesday, January 4, 2017

"A Christian life lived with charity and faith is the most effective form of evangelization. Evangelization testifies to the transformative power of the Gospel and the mission of the church to sanctify society…


“If you happen to be with an atheist who tells you that he does not believe in God, you can read him the whole library, where it says that God exists, and where it is proven that God exists, and he will not believe. However if in the presence of this same atheist you witness to a consistent, Christian life, something will begin to work in his heart…. It will be your witness that brings him the restlessness on which the Holy Spirit works.— Pope Francis Homily, February 27, 2014

Gospel Text: (JN 1:35-42)
John was standing with two of his disciples,
and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,
"Behold, the Lamb of God."
The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,
"What are you looking for?"
They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher),
"where are you staying?"
He said to them, "Come, and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying,
and they stayed with him that day.
It was about four in the afternoon.
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,
was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.
He first found his own brother Simon and told him,
"We have found the Messiah," which is translated Christ.
Then he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said,
"You are Simon the son of John;
you will be called Cephas," which is translated Peter.

What does "to follow someone" mean? If you "follow someone" on twitter or the social network, you read his/her posts to find out what he/she is doing, feeling and thinking. In the game "follow the leader," the leader is followed and those following imitate whatever the leader is doing.

How do we "follow Jesus"?

We follow Jesus in the same way his first disciples did, this Jesus we know from the Scriptures, the Church and in our prayer-interactions with him.  Like the first disciples, we hopefully urge and lead others to follow him, most particularly by our actions. 

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