St. Anne & Joachim
July 26, 2010
You Will Be My Witnesses
A few years ago, a U.S. President was facing his last term and began to wonder about his “legacy.” In other words, what would he be remembered for? Jeshua ben Sira, whom we know as Sirach, wrote the answer about a hundred years before Christ. If you really want to be remembered, be wise, keep the covenant of God, be merciful and perform righteous deeds. Then you will see what the prophets longed to see—the face of God that is the holy face of Jesus, dying for us on the cross. Then you will find ultimate goodness, which is union with the Father.
Archbishop Gomez realizes that “our culture today is dominated” not by a search for ultimate good, but “by materialism, by a sense that 'this world,' the things we can see and touch, is all that there is. Our culture is governed by a philosophy that says that there are no higher truths, that concepts like beauty, good and evil are 'relative,' and that the only standards that matter are those of efficiency and practical utility.”
You laity are the only ones who can help “open our culture to the purifying force of the Gospel.” You do this by a patient witness to Christ, helping people see “how their work should participate in the transcendent purposes of God.” (26) You cannot be deterred by any perceived lack of expertise. The first apostles “were men of labor, former fishermen.” They were not members of the ruling elite, “not noble, powerful, or wise according to worldly standards. But after the people heard” the Word of God, they knew that these men “had been with Jesus.”
Your words and witness of your daily lives can proclaim the same truth, that you are “with Jesus.” Anyone who sees and hears us should know that “we are living for Jesus and with Jesus and that we want to share the joy of this way of life with everyone.” We all have to live to proclaim Jesus Christ. Just as the apostles said when the authorities told them to stop speaking in His Name, we must respond to all “we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” When it comes to Jesus Christ, we must be filled with both the “bound-tos” and the “can't help its.”
