“WOE TO ME IF I DO NOT PREACH THE GOSPEL” (1Cor 9:16)

⏰Friday of the Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time 2 (11 Sept. 2020)

📖1 Cor 9:16-19, 22b-27; Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6, 12 (R.v.2); Luke 6:39-42

🎤”WOE TO ME IF I DO NOT PREACH THE GOSPEL” (1Cor 9:16)

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.

Can you try to be silent for some time today and listen to the world around us? You would notice that there is so much noise in the world. Everyone is talking, even the deaf and mute. If you want to prove this, log on to any of the social networks and see things for yourself. Step out of your room, you must hear people talking.

Wait a minute! Do we actually need to prove this? We join to constitute the noise. We are always talking. But we still need to pause and ask ourselves, “What constitutes my contribution to the society? How many people have I ever told about Christ and the need to follow him?

In his letter to the Corinthians, St Paul cites himself as an example of an evangelizer who saw his work of evangelization as a duty and a means of working out his own salvation (cf. 1Cor 9:16-27). Reflecting on that, I asked myself:

👉🏽How often do I preach the Gospel of Christ?

👉🏽What are my motives at those times; to be praised by people or for financial benefits?

👉🏽Does my proclamation affect my own life too or am I just like the signpost that directs people to a place without making effort to reach there?

Note that evangelization must not necessarily be verbal.

🌲We can actually evangelize by supporting those who go on mission (our pastors and those who actively engage in evangelization).

🌲We can also evangelize with good works and services in imitation of Christ who went about doing good and curing all who were under the torment of the devil (cf. Acts 10:38).

With all these available options, woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel, and well too.

May God grant us the grace of being good disciples of his in the world and so gain his approval at the end of our life on earth. Amen.

Have a favourable day spent in imitation of Christ, the evangelizer par excellence. Peace be with you.