Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Social media was in an uproar recently with a YouTube video post of a priest who unequivocally stated that voting for a Democrat for President should bar one from the reception of communion. With unremitting passion and unfailing sincerity, this priest was obviously motivated by the Presidential election that is less than six weeks away.
The priest’s Bishop eventually intervened to caution him with fatherly love to reexamine both his judgements and tone and to correct what, obviously, was creating a great deal of confusion, since what the priest was saying did not represent the official teaching of the Catholic Church.
Ministers of the Gospel and all Christians, for that matter, need to listen with an attentive heart to the wise admonition that we find in Paul’s letter to the Philippians in our second reading today: Only conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ. My friends, how quickly we forget that wisdom of the ages in the midst of the passion of the moment when we are more prone to react rather than thoughtfully respond.
The word, “Gospel” means “Good News.” As Christians, we are called to put flesh and bones on the Good News of Christ by the quality of how we live our lives, interact with one another and finally, by the words we speak.
We Christians will bring others to Christ far more by the silent witness of our understanding, compassion, mercy, forgiveness and unfailing love than by the self-righteous judgments that we might make in our fanatical obsession with trying to second-guess God himself.
Let us pray for the wisdom, as St. Francis of Assisi is quoted to have said, to preach the Gospel always, and sometimes, use words!