Scrutinizing Scripture: We ‘preach’ the Gospel through our actions

Second Reading for Feb. 7 (the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time):

“Brothers and sisters: If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the Gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the Gospel. Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the Gospel, so that I too may have a share in it. – 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23

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As baptized children of God, all of us are called to preach the Gospel.

However, “preaching” is not just about our words. As baptized children of God, we are all called to preach the Gospel through our actions – by the way we live our lives. In other words, one of the main ways we can preach is through the way we love and care for one another on a daily basis.

How blessed we are that Jesus shows us the way!

In Scripture – the story of Jesus Christ – Jesus teaches us how to be a good person: how to love, respect and care for one another. Jesus tells us to be kind, to love our neighbor, to welcome the stranger and those who are different from us, to tirelessly forgive others and seek forgiveness when we are at fault.

As a young person, you can “preach” the Gospel every day by being kind to others, by listening to your parents, by respecting your teachers, by helping at school, by being attentive to those who might be hurting, by not gossiping.

This is how Jesus teaches us to act; this is how Jesus wants us to preach the Gospel – by being people of kindness.

St. Paul makes another important observation in this reading: He is asking us to preach the Gospel not because we have to, but because we want to.

When we preach the Gospel willingly – knowing how good God has been to us and having experienced the joy and peace that comes when we follow Jesus – we can’t help but share that joy with others! In other words, when we love others the way Jesus wants us to, it makes us feel so good that we want to extend that same love to everyone!

This is the “recompense” of which St. Paul speaks.

I was blessed to get a good grounding in these lessons from an early age. My parents taught me and my three brothers the importance of respecting our teachers and other elders. I was taught to always say thank you to those who helped me and to apologize when I did something wrong. When I did make a mistake, my parents made sure that I not only apologized, but explained to the person why I had made the mistake. It wasn’t – and isn’t – always easy to love like Jesus loves. As the only daughter in my family, sometimes it was very difficult for me to be kind to my brothers, because they wouldn’t always let me join in their games. Sometimes they would hurt me with their words or by ignoring me, but I always found a way to forgive them.

Sometimes, I would feel left out by my classmates at school, but there were always friends there who made me feel better. I am so grateful to God for good friends!

My parents loved their children so much, and I am convinced that this is one of the main reasons I decided to become a religious sister. There was a lot of love in my house – a lot of tender care – that rubbed off on me and my siblings. I just felt like I had to share this love; I felt I had to be a preacher living out my parents’ example of loving others. Becoming a sister, for me I think, is one of the best ways I can do that!

Teresian Sister Gloria Murillo is assistant director of the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center, whose mission is to help adults grow in their relationship with Jesus so they can continue to be living witnesses to the Good News in the Gospel.