I was reading Benedict XVI’s catechesis, whose theme was: “How we are to speak about God to our contemporaries?”
My mind was a blank; I didn’t know what to write about. That night I arrived in Orlando, FL at the Disney Dolphin convention center for the National Conference for Catholic Youth Ministers (NCCYM) where more than 3000 youth ministers gathered for three days. There, the words of St. Paul came to mind:
“Faith comes from what is preached and what is preached comes from the word of Christ.”
And that’s exactly what we’re doing at Disney above all places. No Mickey parades, Space Mountain, or Epcot rides, but Christ alive in His Catholic Church!
But what does St. Paul means by the “word of Christ?” Forgiveness, generosity, self giving, love, prayer, sacrifice, joy, peace, justice, confidence, understanding, perseverance…the list goes on. This is what I saw at the NCCYM, thousands of Catholics living and acting the words of Christ. We can say that they were charging their batteries to go back home and be light for others, that light of faith that all human hearts are seeking to follow.
Let’s make the most of this advent season to charge our batteries to be beacons of the light of Christ, so we can transmit what we have received from the Cross, what we received in the Eucharist: Forgiveness, generosity, self giving, love, prayer, sacrifice, joy, peace, justice, confidence, understanding, perseverance.
Prayer: Lord, grant me the grace to open my mind more fully to your light, to see your truth, which reveals the grandeur of our human dignity and vocation.
Action: “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier”. (Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
