Preaching

When Jesus sent the disciples to spread the gospel, the first thing they were instructed to do was not to preach, or pray, or work miracles. They were first to wish peace to the household that welcomed them. They didn’t simply bring a message. They brought peace. In the disciples, the people experience the presence and peace of Christ, even before they hear a gospel word.

And that’s what our faith is about–experiencing the presence and the peace of Christ in our daily life and living our life accordingly. Pope Francis said recently, “The Christian faith is fundamentally an encounter with Jesus Christ.”

The desire for connection with other people and with God is seated deep within the human soul. Sometimes that desire gets short-circuited, and we substitute things for people or for God, things that we need to let go of, in order to recover our deepest values.

What are the things in your life that you need to let go of to reconnect with or to connect more deeply with your deepest values? What object, relationship, attitude, practice keeps you from being your true self, the self that God calls you to be? And what are those things in your life that you need to hold on to and nurture?

“Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you.” (Luke 10:5-6)