If you have ever been to a talk I have given at OLP, you have likely heard me reference today’s Gospel: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28:19-20). These are the final words Jesus speaks to the apostles before ascending to heaven, His final instruction to the Church. “Go … and make disciples.” That is the mission of the Christian life. The question is: how do we do that?
Today’s first reading from Acts gives us the answer. Jesus tells the apostles, “... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8). We make disciples by receiving the Holy Spirit and bearing witness to the goodness, love, and mercy of God. We receive these gifts most especially in Confirmation, the sacrament our youth celebrated this past Monday at the Cathedral of Saint Paul. The more we live according to the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, the more naturally we witness to God’s love.
For many Catholics, living a life in the Spirit can feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. Yet the Christian life has always been charismatic in the truest sense of the word. As one recent article in Evangelization & Culture from Word on Fire notes, being a charismatic Catholic simply means embracing the gifts (charisms) of the Holy Spirit, given for the building up of the Church.
So how do we actually live this out? How do we become witnesses in the Spirit and fulfill Christ’s commission?
I think today’s responsorial psalm offers us a simple and straightforward answer: “clap your hands… shout to God with cries of gladness… sing praise to God… sing hymns of praise” (Ps 47). In other words: praise God.
Not only at Mass, Magnificat Night, or Adoration, but in the ordinary moments of daily life. Speak about the good things God has done for you. Share the joy you have received through a life lived in communion with God. Let others see what it looks like to delight in God and to be loved by Him.
When we live joyfully in communion with God, evangelization stops feeling scary. Love of neighbor begins to flow naturally from love of God. And sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ becomes not merely possible, but inevitable.
James Pike
Director of Parish Life
