Faithful to give witness to our faith
Today, the gospel reading invites us to trust in the Lord. Luke introduces us to Lazarus and the rich man. What an encounter! It is a continued invitation to welcome our brothers and sisters; to adopt the stance of Jesus and to look at them with love, compassion and generosity of heart.
This third day of the Novena is an opportunity for an encounter: to see with the eyes of Jesus the people and families who are suffering around us; to be sensitive to their struggles; to respond in some positive way. Yes, Jesus is calling us to encounter Him through these men and women who are living difficult social situations, who are looking for respite or who have given up any hope of a respite and angrily push others away.
These encounters touch us and change us. They make us aware of the presence of God within us and within the other. There is a richness and grace in the encounter to be discovered and shared. We are called to give witness to this. How? “The only way for us to give witness is to live where we are, and be what we are in the midst of the banal, everyday realities,” explained blessed Christian de Chergé, Cistercian monk of Tibhirine (1937-1996). Our faithfulness to our encounter with the living Jesus is part of our witness.
Saint Joseph, by his attentiveness and listening, brought the grace of his faith to his encounter with others. He was in a privileged place as he cared for both Jesus and Mary, as husband, father, teacher, protector, guide, and provider. Joseph lived the encounter in a way very few of us will ever understand. His friend, Saint Brother André, lived it in the same way.
May we aspire to that depth of faithfulness and understanding. May we seek to fashion a world where love and truth, peace and mercy prevail.
