There is a story that
will help us to fully understand the gospel of this Sunday[1]. The
renowned artist Paul Gustave Dore once lost his passport while travelling in
Europe[2].
When he came to a border crossing, he explained his predicament to one of the guards.
Giving his name to the official, Dore hoped he would be recognized and allowed
to pass. The guard, however, said that many people attempted to cross the
border by claiming to be persons they were not. Dore insisted that he was the
man he claimed to be. "All right," said the official, "we'll
give you a test, and if you pass it we'll allow you to go through."
Handing him a pencil and a sheet of paper, he told the artist to sketch several
peasants standing nearby. Dore did it so quickly and skilfully that the guard
was convinced he was indeed who he claimed to be. His action confirmed his
identity.
Christians
have always had the problem of how to tell the world who we are. At some
periods in history and still in some places in the world, uniforms have played
a very important role in announcing our identity to the world. The quest for
uniforms, habits, badges, or banners designed to distinguish believers from
non-believers does indeed have its place in the celebration of who are. We are
symbolic beings who need to express our faith in symbolic ways. Jesus himself
wrestled with the question of how to distinguish his followers from the
non-believers around them. But his prescription goes much farther than external
habits and uniforms. For Jesus the essential
mark of distinction between Christians and non-Christians is not in the way
we dress but in the way we live: I give
you a new commandment, that you love one another[3].
Love
is the Christian identity. Love is the Christian uniform. Love is the Christian
habit. If we are wearing the habit of love, we are in. If we are not wearing
love as a habit, we are out.
Jesus
wants the world to recognize us as Christians, I mean, we need to evangelize
and witness to people around us. But effective evangelization and witnessing
has less to do with how fluently we speak and more to do with how faithfully we
live. As St Francis of Assisi told his friars, "Preach the gospel at all
times and use words if necessary."
Mahatma
Gandhi was once asked about his view of Christianity. What he said could show
us what probably is keeping two-thirds of the world away from the Good News of
Christianity: “I have a great respect for Christianity. I often read the Sermon
on the Mount and have gained much from it. I know of no one who has done more
for humanity than Jesus. In fact, there is nothing wrong with Christianity, but
the trouble is with you Christians. You do not begin to live up to your own
teachings”
The
greatest homage we can pay to the Christian faith is to live in such a way that
through us people begin to have a glimpse of the unbounded and unconditional
love that God has shown us in Christ ■
[1] Sunday 28th April, 2013, 5th
Sunday of Easter. Readings: Acts 14:21-27. I
will praise your name for ever, my king and my God - Ps 144(145):8‑13.
Apocalypse 21:1-5. John 13:31-35 [St Peter Chanel].
[2] French artist, engraver,
illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel
engraving.
[3] John 13:34-5.
