A WORD FROM THE PASTOR

Taking it with us wherever we go.

Jesus sends his apostles, in today’s Gospel to preach the “Good News” and to heal the sick. A young boy who had been blind from birth had just been operated on. The new procedure offered the possibility of sight for this young boy who had never seen the light of day. As the parents waited for the doctor to remove the patches which had covered his eyes since surgery, they were uncertain about what his response would be. Blinking his eyes, adjusting to the sights and colors around him, the boy suddenly began to take it all in. Full of excitement, he said to his parents, "Why didn't you tell me it was so beautiful?"

There are innumerable people in our town and around us that they have not yet experienced the good news of salvation. When are they going to experience ‘it’s so beautiful’? One thing is true that this is the work of evangelism. It is the business of helping persons open their eyes and see the world as they have never seen it before. It is the introduction of persons to a new way of living, a new way of relating, a new way of perceiving the meaning of existence.

The police deal with symptoms. Welfare workers deal with symptoms. Crisis- intervention persons deal with symptoms. When we seek to do the work of evangelism, however, we are going beyond symptoms to causes. What is at the heart of people's distress? What is it that causes them to mess up their lives, betray their values, and barter their futures?

We who have heard the Good News and experienced freedom through Christ are responsible to proclaim it to others who are still enslaved by sin.  Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message? Have I spoken to my kids who are away from the church for long time?

How do we get the Gospel out?  By taking it with us wherever we go! We must do more than just point out the right road to others, we must be on that road ourselves.