Evangelizing our families

Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the 1st week of Advent
November 30, 2010
Available as a Good News Ministries Podcast:
http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/podcasts

Today's Feast: St. Andrew
Pray for relationships with family members:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Andrew.htm

Today's Readings:
Romans 10:9-18
Ps 19:8-11
Matthew 4:18-22
http://www.usccb.org/nab/113010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_11_30.mp3

Evangelizing our families

In today’s Gospel reading, we see Jesus calling people into apostleship. Saint Andrewwas the first Apostle (see John 1:40-42), and although he would later lead many others to Christ, he started with his brother, Simon (who became Peter our first pope).

The most difficult people to evangelize are usually our own family members. We're too close. We care so much about them that we're too hard on them. And since they knew us before our conversion, we don't have much credibility.

Apostleship means being sent forth to do whatever God calls us to do, and whatever he calls us to do he gifts us, enables us, and empowers us to do. Romans 10:9-18 describes why God gives us apostolates: The message must go out! And it describes our importance: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!

If we each fulfill our part in the Body of Christ – together – the voice of Jesus goes out to all the earth and our words (his words) reach to the ends of the world. However, not enough of us are accepting our call to apostleship.

As baptized members of Christ's Body, we all have apostolates. And it starts in our homes. We could be the best evangelizers in the world or the best at what we're gifted to do, but if we can't bring Jesus to our families, something's wrong. Our priorities are out of order or we're a bad example of what it means to be Christian.

Being good apostles and terrific evangelizers does not mean that we're going to be successful at changing the hearts and minds of family members. "Not everyone has heeded the good news." But it's at home where we're challenged to grow. It's at home where we learn to love others unconditionally. It's at home where we become good at forgiving. And it's at home where we're tested and strengthened in serving others without complaining or resentment.

Being an apostle at home does not mean preaching conversion and debating the need to go to Mass. To be effective apostles for our families, our first priority must always be to purify ourselves and keep growing spiritually.

Then, we can show them what Christ is really like by giving them persistent, unconditional, undeserved love. We can evangelize them by treating them the way Christ wants to treat them.

And when they ask questions and show an openness to learning from us, then we can evangelize through words.

How well do you imitate Jesus when you're with family? Consider every interaction as an opportunity for them to meet Jesus, even if they stubbornly refuse to recognize him in you. If you're a good reflection of Jesus, eventually, this will make a difference. Maybe not as fast as you'd like, but this hardship will help you grow more fully into the image of Christ if you truly want to live the Good News that we proclaim.

© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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