Make Sure To Inform Correctly

25 May

“My job is to inform, not to convince.”  ~ St. Bernadette Soubirous

Sometime, from the simplest of people comes the most profound of thoughts.  St. Bernadette was a very simple young girl.  When she began experiencing apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she did not even know that it was Mary.  All she knew was that it was a beautiful woman who was appearing to her.  She gave the woman her undivided attention and, later, total devotion.  When asked to carry a message to the local bishop, she did so even though she did not understand the message.

She saw her job as informing the bishop, and others, about what she had seen and heard.  She was not out to convince anyone.  She was merely trying to recount as faithfully as possible the message that had been entrusted to her.  Because of that, she “got out of the way”, if you will, and allowed Mary to intervene and bring her message to a whole new level in awesome miracles.

Our job, quite simply, is to do the same.  Jesus entrusted His message to us.  He did not ask us or demand us to browbeat anyone.  He did not instruct us to force people to believe.  He simply commissioned us to proclaim the Good News.  If other people believed, all the better for them.  If other people did not believe, it was on them and not on us.  We are just the messenger.  Jesus works in and through the message.

I think this is one of the many reasons that some people do not act upon the call of Christ.  I think that they believe they must do more than speak about Jesus.  They think that they must convince people that what they are saying is the truth.

Don’t get bogged down in that kind of thinking.  It will drive you crazy really quick.  Instead, keep it simple.  Talk about the Lord.  Proclaim His Good News.  And let Jesus work through your words and deeds.  Don’t get in the way of God by trying to embellish His message.  Just proclaim the Good News and leave everything else up to Him.

FAITH ACTION:  Pray for those who forget that the best way to bring someone to the faith is by example and proper information rather than by coercion.