Word of Life

October 2007

We need to speak out. But we can also proclaim the Gospel just by how we are, by our love. Our witness is strongest if it is about how we are with one another—about our unity. This gives wings to our words.

Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. (2 Tim. 4: 2)

Yes, we ought to speak, to everyone, always!
Many times the Word invites us to live, to be an expression of love. But we need also to pass the Word on to others, to proclaim it, communicate it, to the point that they join with us in a life of giving, of fraternity.

These were the final words of Jesus: ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation’. (see Mark 16: 15; Matt. 28:19)

This was the passion that drove Paul to travel through the whole of the then known world and address people of different cultures and faiths: ‘If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe betide me if I do not proclaim the gospel!’ (1 Cor. 9: 16)

Becoming like an echo of the words of Jesus, and having been strengthened by his own experience, Paul urged his faithful disciple, Timothy, and each of us to:

Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.

For our speaking to be effective, it must, whenever possible, be built first on a relationship with the people we address.

Even when we cannot speak with the mouth, we can always speak with the heart. At times, a word can be expressed only through a respectful silence, with a smile, or by being interested in other people’s lives, in their concerns, their problems, by calling them by their names, so that each one realizes he or she is important to us. And they truly are: we can never be indifferent to anyone.

These silent words, if well-chosen, cannot fail to make an opening in people’s hearts and often the other will take an interest in me and ask me questions. This then is the moment for proclamation. We should not hesitate, but go ahead and speak clearly, saying even just a few words – but we must speak and tell of the reason for our lives as Christians.

Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.

How can we live this Word of Life and proclaim the Gospel even when just brushing by? How can we share it with everyone?

By loving each person, without exception.

If we are real Christians, living what the Gospel teaches, our words will not be empty.

Our proclamation will be even more clear if we know how to bear witness to the heart of the Gospel—unity among us—knowing that ‘by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’. (John 13: 35)

This is the uniform that ordinary Christians, men and women, married and single, adults and children, sick and healthy, can wear, everywhere and always, to give witness with their lives to the One they believe in, the One they wish to love.

Chiara Lubich