Rom. 10: 9-18; Ps. 19: 8-11; Mt. 4: 18-22

Faith comes from hearing the proclamation of the Word.  The question is not are we called to proclaim the Word the question is how are we called to proclaim the Word?  Today is the celebration of the Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle the first called by Jesus to follow him.  St. Andrew was a follower of John the Baptist before Jesus called him.  This reminds us of the first action of any follower is repentance as John the Baptist preached.  Repentance comes with a conversion of the heart.  Conversion of the heart comes from faith and faith from hearing the proclamation of the Word.  Who is called to proclaim the Word? 

The call to follow is for all of us.  We are all called to proclaim our faith.  The question that remains is how we are called to proclaim our faith.  Little is known of St. Andrew in scripture and according to tradition, St. Andrew preached in Greece and was martyred on an X-shaped cross.  The call to proclaim the Word in preaching is not a human gift but a divine grace guided by the Holy Spirit.  St. Teresa of Calcutta wished to be a pencil in God’s hand for she proclaimed Word by service to the poorest of the poor.  Preachers are called to be a tongue for truth in proclaiming the Word to bring souls to repentance and awaken the faith. 

The call of all the faithful is to proclaim the Word by actions of love for God and neighbor.  St. Francis of Assisi is known by tradition for saying “Preach always speak when necessary” though there is no written history of it.  The statement is a testimony of his life mission to preach by acts of love.  He overcame his struggle in accepting lepers who were seen as sinners and found the love to embrace them.  If we are to be witnesses of God’s love it begins by loving the sinner and not the sin.   The first step to love a sinner is to recognize the sin in our own lives as forgiven sinners.  Do unto others what God has done for us, forgive.  That is in the prayer he left us, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Our first call begins with acceptance of God’s mercy and forgiveness. 

My “day job” is heading a non-profit company that works in the field of addictions.  The field of addictions has developed along evidence-based practices including medication assisted treatment to overcome the grip of substance misuse.  The field has never abandoned the Twelve Step tradition of recovery.  In the Twelve Step tradition there is a realization of our own powerlessness over the substance misuse and only a power greater than ourselves we call God can restore us to sanity thus we turn our will over to our God.  In surrendering our will over to God we become the best proclaimers of our faith in our struggles of life.  It becomes our testimony of love and our compassion for others is magnified by recognizing our own weakness and sinfulness. 

We all have our story of struggle and the misuse of our own gift of life leading us to sin.  We also have our story of redemption from God’s love and mercy.  In those intimate struggles we can offer others the same hope of recovery in their struggles and the same call to turn their life over to God who has the power to give us a rebirth of wholeness and life of love.  Proclaim the gospel of God’s love and grace will perfect us in the divine image of his Son Our Lord Jesus Christ.