"So, preach what you practice, and practice what you believe..and trust that the Holy Spirit will do the work needed.."
HOMILY
Most Rev Peter A Comensoli
Australian Catholic Youth Festival
Thursday 7 December 2017
Can I ask you a question? (At least, ask the question of yourself.)
If you want to share your faith with a friend who doesn’t believe in God, how do you go about it? What do you say? What might you let them know? Is there anything you would do?
A uni student asked this exact question of Pope Francis recently at a lunch he had with a group of young people. During the lunch someone asked him: “What do I have to say to a classmate at university, a friend, who is an atheist? What do I have to say to change him, to convert him?” The answer Pope Francis gave her was this: “The last thing you have to do is say something. Live the Gospel, and if he asks you why you do this, you can explain why you do it. And let the Holy Spirit activate him. We are witnesses, witnesses of the Gospel.”
That’s a pretty neat answer, I reckon. (Maybe that’s why he’s the pope and I’m not!) It’s not the words we use, not the clever arguments we might have, that we best convince someone that Jesus is worth following. It is our actions, what we do, that speaks most loudly.
Why? I think you know the answer already: it is our actions, and not our words, which reveal our true authenticity. This is the point that Jesus was making in the gospel reading we just listened to. He said: “It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
People can be good at talking about what they are doing, but in fact do little other than talk. Others do a lot, but don't talk about it. Interestingly, they are the ones who make a community live. The same goes with our faith communities. It is the do-ers of God’s Word, who are our best builders of a great faith community.
There is an expression we’re all familiar with: practice what you preach. Well, maybe that's not quite right. Maybe Jesus is saying to us: preach what your practice. The really authentic witnesses to the Gospel are those who speak to it by the way they live their lives. And their kind of speaking – doing-speaking – is what will win over others.
So, preach what you practice, and practice what you believe. And trust that the Holy Spirit of God will do thework needed. Share your faith by your actions, even if you think it is weak and unimpressive, because your active faith is more nourishing to you and to others, than all the talking about it.