Life

We are capable of doing a lot more than we think

We all have opportunities to witness to our faith - we only need to trust in God to find them, says Fr Dominic McGrattan

Pope Francis prays at the tomb of St Francis during his visit to Assisi in 2013. St Francis's enjoinder to preach the Gospel always and use words if necessary remains true today, says Fr Dominic McGrattan
Pope Francis prays at the tomb of St Francis during his visit to Assisi in 2013. St Francis's enjoinder to preach the Gospel always and use words if necessary remains true today, says Fr Dominic McGrattan Pope Francis prays at the tomb of St Francis during his visit to Assisi in 2013. St Francis's enjoinder to preach the Gospel always and use words if necessary remains true today, says Fr Dominic McGrattan

MY nephew and his wife were blessed this summer with the birth of a baby boy, their first, and the most recent addition to our wide and increasingly numerous family circle.

They live in Australia and so most of us have not yet had the opportunity to personally greet the little one and welcome him into the family fold.

From the many pictures his proud parents have sent us to keep us up to date on his staggering rate of growth, I've noted in particular how big his eyes are.

When I remarked this to my mother, she agreed. She also reminded me that all small children have big eyes.

They're always watching you, taking everything in - often a lot more than you realise.

They learn from what you do just as much from what you say, if not more so. Every minute spent with them is an educational opportunity, with you being the teacher.

In St Luke's Gospel (14:1-6), Jesus is presented with a teaching opportunity.

Invited to supper in the house of a Pharisee, we are told that Jesus was "being watched", for it was a Sabbath, and much to the Pharisees' displeasure, he had a habit of healing people on that most holy of days.

All eyes were on Jesus, and it would appear that his captive audience wasn't so much childlike as it was childish - not good for the digestion.

To be invited to dine in company where you are being scrutinised is never a pleasant experience, still less when your fellow guests are seeking to entrap you. The food is stale, the talk insincere and the atmosphere false. As one wise preacher observes, "a false atmosphere is as false as the worst kind of lie".

Yet Jesus does not feel bound by the narrow expectations of his hosts.

Yes, he bows with reverence to the traditions of the past to which the Pharisees cling, but he doesn't feel bound to observe them rigidly when they yield injustice and hardship.

Jesus, without being asked, does what he knows to be right. He cures a sick man. He sweeps away the falsity of the situation and he acts to bring home the lesson that the Sabbath is made for healing and salvation, and not for the slavish observance of rules.

In that graced moment of healing and teaching, Jesus reminds us that we all have opportunities to witness to our faith.

Like Jesus, we are being watched, and that is especially so when those around us know we are Christian.

On a recent pilgrimage to Assisi, I was reminded of St Francis's oft-quoted enjoinder to preach the Gospel always and use words if necessary.

Every time we interact with other people, they will pick up some kind of message from us and whether we realise it or not, they will associate Christianity - and maybe even God - with what they see in us.

In a couple of weeks' time, my grandnephew will be baptised and the responsibility to be an ambassador for Christ, as St Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:20, will fall to him.

It seems an all-too-heavy burden to place on the tiny shoulders of a wide-eyed newborn.

Yet all that he is called to be is himself, just as Jesus was in the Pharisee's home.

The call to be Christ to the world, is the call to be fully human. For no-one else will have his sense of humour. No-one else will have his way of relating to people. So if he stays close to Jesus and tries to be the best version of himself, he'll make an impact.

The same is true for us. God will use us, with our talents and abilities, our weaknesses and limitations, to reach people in ways that no-one else can.

For our witness to be authentic, we need to trust in the Lord, much the same way that my grandnephew trusts his fledgling parents.

On the day of his baptism, they will cradle him in their arms, just as they've been doing since he graced their world with his presence.

It is because of this familial trust that the seed of faith planted at baptism can grow to bear fruit.

We too need to allow ourselves to be cradled once again in the loving embrace of our good God and to trust that, with the help of his grace, we are capable of doing a lot more than we think.

For Christ is in us, and he wants us to touch everyone with his love.

:: Fr Dominic McGrattan is curate in St Patrick's Church, Belfast and chaplain to the Mater Hospital.