Monday, May 18th, 2020

Part of being holy - which is what being a saint is - is being a witness to Christ. Specifically that each of us is called to evangelise. When we start talking about this, we can feel the urkh of discomfort in our heart - for many reasons.

One way to quieten this feeling, and put it in its place, is to remember that people out there want to believe in God. The general data has shown that the majority of those around us want to be in a real relationship with God. We see this in today’s first reading: Lydia “listened to us”. She was interested in what the apostles had to say. And it satisfied her so much that she invited them round to hear more. She, a lady who was not thought of in relation to Christianity till that day. There was a real openness there: “The Lord opened her heart to what Paul was saying.”

So the problem is not others. It is not that others aren’t open. The question is our openness: are we open to the desire of the others to hear the Gospel? Or have we locked them into a stereotype? And are we open - to share, with prudence and love, the contents of what we live with Christ? Do we even pray for opportunities? The Lord will give them - if only we are open to them.