Second sunday

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Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel we continue our reflections on Baptism. We are called today to be witnesses of Jesus for the world. We are given the courage to do this by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are asked to point the way for others to Jesus. Also in the readings today we have the psalm which states “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will”
So how can I witness to the message of the Gospel? We live in a society that can be relativity hostile to organized religion. The numbers coming to Church are dropping generally and the number of young people in our parishes seems to be at a new time low. I don’t mean to paint a bleak picture but this is what sometimes in many communities the reality is. But this is not the whole story or the whole picture. I believe that there is a deep thirst for spirituality but not necessarily for organised religion. There are so many people who ask for prayers and even come into the Church to light a candle and say a prayer. But, there is something stopping them coming into the Church.
I believe strongly that there are two things that attract a person to the Church. The first thing is that we need to install the personal invitation by going up and welcoming people and being a community that allows all kinds of people to worship.  We live in a world where we have so many prejudices and they show themselves even when we think they are well hidden. A look sideways at someone or a look can express more than words how we actually feel.
 But, also the Church needs to be authentic witnesses to the Gospel. When I say the Church I don’t mean the Vatican but when I say Church I mean every Catholic Christian that means you and me. It means that we are not just Church here on Sunday but, are Church and witness’s everyday of our lives. We need to be witnesses to the Gospel and share that life with others.
I suppose the difficulty is that we sometimes do not have the courage to be witnesses especially maybe in the work place or down the pub or our shopping it is easier to go through the motions.
What we do know is that at our baptism we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit will help us to find the courage to witness to the Gospel.
People are looking for spirituality, they are looking for people who can authentically witness to the Gospel, and they are drawn to who they are and how they conduct themselves. One example of this and a man who could speak to all ages was the late John Paul II. Here was a man who showed authentic Christian witness and people were drawn to him but ultimately to the Gospel. On May 1st the Church will recognize this in Rome with his beatification. Let us pray that we may live in the example of this great man and live a life of witness to the Gospel and live with the courage to proclaim the Good news and ultimately have the courage to say “Here I am Lord I come to do your will.”

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