Be God's Voice

A Reflection on the First Reading for September 6th, 2020:
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Ezekiel
33.7-9

Thus says the Lord: “So you, O son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. “If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked one, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked person shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand.

“But if you warn the wicked person to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, they shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.”
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

God gave Ezekiel a big job to do: he was made a watchman for the house of Israel, implying that he was responsible for each person to lead a good life — a life that is pleasing to God. This reminds me of the Great Commission in the New Testament, to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). 

Then, as now, God has been calling us through his prophet Ezekiel in the Old Testament and through Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. The message is clear — we should live a life that is pleasing to God and lead others to do the same thing. We bring the others to God! That is our call to evangelize!

The concept of evangelization is very daunting. The first question is always ‘How?’ I always say, if you don’t have the gift of words, then you do it by actions — by being a witness to His love, mercy, and goodness. It starts with a love for God and a lot of sincerity. When we love God, we do things out of love for Him. A person begging in the streets is not met with contempt. He is helped with love and compassion. Our kindness toward someone in need brings God closer to him. In this way, sometimes we can be an answer to prayer.

When we are a happy Christian, someone who is fun to be with, maybe full of humour or someone who has a lot of funny stories to tell, the people we meet and talk to are uplifted by our presence. The crosses we bear are not evident because in spite of all our sufferings, we are still happy because God is with us — especially during tough times. It never fails to attract attention to our being a Christian when we are happy in the Lord.

A pastor once shared some pointers on evangelization:
First, pray for help. We cannot do it alone, we need the help of others to evangelize and to spread the word of God.

Second, pray for boldness. For me, once I’ve captured my fear of speaking to others about God or the fear of meeting opposition and even hostility, the rest will just follow.

Third, pray for opportunity. The opportunity to bear witness to God sometimes does not come easily. Even Saint Paul asked for prayers from his followers.

Lastly, pray for results. The fruits of our labour is seen when we see or hear of increasing numbers attending our services. I am always elated when during our Sunday live-streamed mass I see people comment that they are from away. That proves that someone reached out to them. Someone evangelized them.
 
I hope and pray that even during this pandemic we are able to share our faith and be God’s voice and witness to others. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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Liz Venezuela

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