Love for others, God is built on communication

    Recently, while dropping off a friend at home, our conversation turned from a broad school-related conversation to a more personal conversation about personal insecurities. As he got out of the car, he noticed the picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that I keep on my dashboard and jokingly apologized for unburdening himself. Pointing to the picture, he said that since I was a Catholic, he felt he could confess to me.
    I think that everyone experiences these situations, where we act almost as therapists to friends or coworkers. In my particular situation, I had trouble parsing his words. Unable to tell if he was making fun of my Catholic identity, I mulled over the scenario for a few hours before letting it pass. Later in the week, however, in the daily newsletter that I receive from my university, I read a verse from Matthew 10:14, “Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words – go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.”
    Oftentimes, when we hear this verse from Matthew, we think that Jesus is telling us to walk away from anyone who refuses to regard our words. But this, in fact, is not what is happening in the passage. No matter what, we must spread the message of Jesus’ example. The point is not whether or not someone heeds our words. The point is that they hear the message, and hopefully that message will fall on “good soil,” to use another of Jesus’ parables.
    As Catholics, we are called to preach the Gospel and to enact its teachings. At the end of each Mass, we hear the deacon dismiss us by telling us to go and preach the Gospel. We are constantly reminded that we must not only listen to what Jesus tells us, but we also must use our words and actions to preach and to serve God by our example.
    Reminding myself of these words, I realized that maybe the idea of “confessing” or “unburdening” is simply the act of friendship that was recognized by my qualities as a Catholic, as someone who is a good listener, and who can offer advice. Perhaps in seeing someone who is willing to help others, my friend recognized a virtue of Catholicism: our love for our neighbor and our willingness to care for others.
    All relationships take work. In our friendships and in our families, we recognize that love is built upon communication, and that communication takes a lot of effort. We see this, too, in our relationship with God and in our desire to be good and faithful Catholics. If we are called to live by Christ’s example, we must work at our relationship with him in order to be the examples that he calls us to be.    
    Just like our relationships with the people around us, we need to dialogue with God through prayer and try to come to a deeper understanding of our faith. We, too, must learn from God, who gave us his Son and the Holy Spirit, to guide us. But most importantly, we must learn the example of selfless love modeled by Jesus on the cross.
    Only when we learn to love can we truly portray what God has called us to do. Only through love can we follow Jesus’ example. And sometimes, when we least expect it, we’ll be called out for our Catholic identity and be able to recognize the ways in which we serve as examples of our faith in the world.
    Heather Bozant Witcher can be reached at [email protected]